English Honours Degree: Worthiness and Future Prospects Essay

This essay critically examines the value and worthiness of majoring in English Honours. It delves into the career prospects available to English majors, including creative writing, teaching, and opportunities for further education like law school and medical school. The essay presents data on salary expectations, comparing English majors to other fields like STEM and fine arts, and analyzes the skills developed through an English Honours degree, such as analytical thinking and effective writing. The author uses data from various sources including studies from Bankrate and Georgetown Economic Value of College Majors to support the arguments. The essay concludes that, while English majors may not always be the highest-paying field, the skills and knowledge gained make it a valuable and worthy degree to pursue, offering a foundation for various future endeavors and emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and communication skills.

RUNNING HEAD: MAJORING ENGLISH HONORS 0
Majoring english honors
Student’s Details-
DECEMBER 12, 2019

MAJORING ENGLISH HONORS 1
Majoring in English Honours
English Honours is crucial for the academic experiences in advanced English majors.
It is a specialized degree in the English language and literature having three-quarter senior-
year program (Stanford, 2019). This course provides an opportunity to the students to gain
educational experience and also provides a competitive edge wherein students can apply for
law school and teacher education. Here, the essay will discuss the worthiness of majoring in
English honours for the students.
Studying English can provide an opportunity to the students to pursue various fields
in the future. Mainly, English majors prepares the students for the creative writing, career in
teaching and double major in English prepares for the application in medical school
(Roosevelt, 2019). As per the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average
salary of English majors had starting salary of $33,574 in 2014 and along with this in 2013,
Georgetown Economic Value of College Majors had stated that the people who had degree in
English language and literature had made the annual income of $53000 (Masscv, 2019).
Besides, English major gives highlighted awareness of the power of English and also
strengthens the analytical ability and also enhances the deep knowledge of English literature
and creates engagements with the modern creative writing.
Worthiness of English Honours can be understood from the fact that the degree can
better income to the students as compared to the courses such as fine arts and drama. As per
the released Bankrate study, it has been observed that English majors have ranked very low in
the median and unemployment ranking by taking the position of 132 amongst 162 colleges.
The students can earn median income of $47,800 which is far better than the drama, fine arts
and drama in which the income is $35,500 and $37,000, respectively (McGurn, 2019). Thus,
English majors can be the worthy career to choose as it will comprehend the skills and
analysing the complex thoughts for the poetry and prose and a guarantor of formal and
effective writing.
Moreover, the English majors are not getting as much respect that they deserve.
Besides, STEM majors that includes science, technology, engineering and mathematics have
more earnings than the English majors and are considered to be high paying career. Even,
Jonathan Pidluzny who is the director of academic affairs had observed that employers give
priority less priority to the critical thinking and communication skills which are the core

MAJORING ENGLISH HONORS 2
requirements of the liberal education under American Council of Trustees and Alumni
(ACTA) (McGurn, 2019).
To conclude, it can be said that the English major is the good career to be chosen for
ahead in future as it provides the ability of analytical thinking and having creative ideas.
Besides, the students can adopt for the creative writing by majoring in English Honours as it
also offers a very good salary. The essay has determined the significance of majoring in
English Honours through the well-informed arguments that shows that the degree is worthy
to be pursued in the future.

MAJORING ENGLISH HONORS 3
References
Masscv. (2019, March 1). How Much Money Do English Majors Make? Retrieved December
12, 2019, from Dear English Major: http://www.dearenglishmajor.com/blog/how-
much-money-do-english-majors-make
McGurn, W. (2019, September 9). Is Majoring in English Worth It? Retrieved December 12,
2019, from WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-majoring-in-english-worth-it-
11568068987
Roosevelt. (2019, January 1). WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH AN ENGLISH MAJOR? Retrieved
December 12, 2019, from Roosevelt University:
https://www.roosevelt.edu/academics/programs/bachelors-in-english-ba/career-guide
Stanford. (2019, January 1). Careers After an English Major. Retrieved December 12, 2019,
from Stanford: https://english.stanford.edu/information-for/undergraduates/careers-
after-english-major