What does it mean to be a humanities major in a time of rising STEM majors?
Humanities majors and funding are falling at an alarming rate. What’s it like to still be one?
Photography by Jeanine Huang/The Barnard Bulletin
March 13, 2025
Once considered the heart of a well-rounded education, the humanities are now in rapid decline as college students seem to be increasingly prioritizing financial security over intellectual exploration of the arts. Over the past decade, the number of English and History majors has dropped by a third. Between 2012 and 2020 Ohio State’s main campus saw a 46% decrease in humanities graduates, Boston University lost 42%, and Vassar, Bates, and Tufts each saw their numbers cut in half.
At Barnard, the number of STEM majors has increased significantly, with over a third of the class of 2019 graduating with degrees in math and science, a percentage that has only been growing since then. In response to this relatively new interest, Barnard and Columbia created the 4+1 engineering program that allows students to obtain an MA from their home institution and an MS from Columbia Engineering in just five years. In 2024, 49% of Barnard’s graduating class majored in a STEM field, up 6% from 2023 and 15% from 2019. Barnard economics majors in particular have been on the rise, having doubled in the last decade.
This trend is not confined to the United States — it’s a global shift. Four-fifths of countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation reported falling humanities enrollments in the past decade. Although there is no one definitive answer to this widespread phenomenon, factors such as rising higher-education costs, a saturated job market, housing shortages, declining intergenerational economic mobility, and the climate crisis make the decline of the humanities not so shocking.
Faced with an increasingly unstable future, many people understandably tend to bend towards economic security rather than literary curiosity. As STEM majors on average are more likely to make a steady income and find a stable job, they have become an enticing choice for many Gen Z-ers simply trying to get by in such a competitive and chaotic world. This shift also aligns with the general global trend towards conservatism, for in a time of despair and anxiety, self-preservation and safety become a necessity, especially those already in disadvantaged positions.
But what does it feel like for the few who are still willing to follow their passions in the humanities field? When interviewing the increasingly slim minority of Barnard students who major in the humanities, I found that many feel a looming sense of disapproval from fellow students and society in general. History major, Clara Seleski (BC ‘26), said that she often gets “funny looks” when telling people her major, often followed by ostensibly judgemental questions such as “What are you going to do with that?” Another history major, Ava Devlin (BC ‘27), similarly felt “an added pressure to explain or justify” her major. To avoid unsolicited critical assessments, she has gotten into the habit of “preemptively explain[ing] why [her] studies are still valuable as well as how [she] intend[s] to use them to pursue a career.” On the surface, disapproving remarks and questions about one’s major may seem harmless, but having to constantly defend one’s choices to pursue passion over profit (an increasingly taboo subject) can be exhausting.
Despite these external pressures, many humanities students remain committed to their fields — not just because of career prospects, but because of the deeper intellectual and societal value they offer. As Seleski noted, studying history is about more than just being trained for the workforce; it’s about cultivating skills like critical thinking, communication, and analysis. While those skills can still certainly be translated into the workforce, Seleski explained, “I’m not learning solely for that reason.”
This sentiment speaks to a larger truth: that the humanities are not just academic or pre-professional disciplines, but a means of understanding the human condition.
For over two millennia, humans have emphasized the importance of education in the shaping of values, behavior, and perspective. Plato’s “Republic” argued that a well-rounded, educated populace is essential for a functional society and the proliferation of rational, moral actions, while thinkers like W.E.B. Du Bois, John Stuart Mill, and William James reinforced the idea that education — particularly in the humanities — is crucial in a democracy where power rests in the hands of the people.
However, the idea of “education” in college has shifted significantly. Whereas philosophers once emphasized its role in understanding the human condition, education has become more about preparing students for the workforce, leaving behind a crucial democratic element. As early 20th-century intellectual Randolph Bourne warned in his essay “Twilight of Idols,” “The allure of fresh and true ideas, of free speculation, artistic vigor, of cultural styles, of intelligence, has not come, and can hardly come, we see now, while our reigning philosophy is an instrumental one.” This reflection rings particularly true today, as the STEM fields, focused on the instrumental tools of scientific development, receive more attention and funding than ever before.
A prime example of the dangers of “education” devoid of a humanities foundation is our current head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk. Though he is well-versed in coding, engineering, and mathematics, Musk lacks a fundamental element that the humanities teach: an understanding of human connection, the intricacies of the human condition, its differences, and its role in our society. Questioning universal truths and morals is central to humanities studies, yet STEM fields often place little emphasis on this kind of inquiry, viewing it as a potential distraction from a direct path forward. Ethics and morals are not simply side dishes to human society; they are essential features that humanities studies help cultivate in students.
Recently, DOGE cut $900 million from the Department of Education, further showcasing the crucial need for a re-evaluation of what education means to our democracy and how far we are willing to go to protect it. Now, these cuts are not only harming humanities majors, but also vital research fields. This makes the need for educated watchdogs — those equipped with the historical and philosophical knowledge needed to challenge the Trump administration’s overreach — more urgent than ever. Without a substantial and comprehensive education system, the very idea of America as a democracy becomes an empty promise.
If colleges are increasingly becoming manufacturers of cogs in the technological machine of capitalistic society, what will happen to the human connection largely safeguarded by the arts? There is, inevitably, a lack of individuality and connection in the process of coding and solving formulas, but will this shift bleed into society as a whole? “It’s a shame,” Seleski explained, because “the reality is, as a society we value the wrong things.”
Of course, STEM majors have contributed immensely to the progression of society in every imaginable field, improving the human condition manifold—even allowing me to write this piece on my computer. Additionally, the entry of women and underprivileged minorities into a traditionally white and male-dominated field is groundbreaking and helps further the pursuit of real equality. However, the undervaluing of the humanities is still an issue, especially when it is not currently seen as such.
When one must choose between passion and security, a clear dilemma arises. The study and contemplation of human existence through literature, music, and fine art develops both one’s mind and one’s humanity. The increase in industry and production may improve the efficiency of life, but the patrollers of democracy must rely on history, literature, and on the study of human society as a whole to be able to recognize when those seeking security and stability are being exploited, and when the risky pursuit of accountability and truth is most needed. The Trump administration’s recent educational spending cuts only bolster my claim that humanities and its essential elements that teach students to question power, the status quo, and the “truth” need a revival and a permanent place in the American higher-educational system.
As James Shapiro, an English professor at Columbia, explained in an interview with journalist Nathan Heller, that the decline of the English major is tied to the decrease in attention spans and funding since 2007. He drew a parabola of monetary aid starting with the 1958 National Defense Act, which granted billions to education, then bending downwards after the financial crisis of 2007-2008. “This is also the decline-of-democracy chart,” he said.
While STEM may be the technological path forward, the humanities provide the railway that tries to keep society on an ethical and just track, for without reflection upon our supposed progress, where would we be? To save the humanities, colleges must embrace and financially support their continuance, promoting democratic values like skepticism, speculation, and the proliferation of new ideas that go beyond merely lucrative and instrumental ones.