"Why Don't More Students Get Engineering Degrees?" Again

Recently writing about the reality of American higher education I have found myself debunking the myth of a labor market awash in holders of "useless" degrees amid a shortage of trained STEM workers. The reality is that more Americans are going for STEM degrees, and especially the engineering training for which STEM can seem a euphemism, as the production of humanities graduates collapses--while those recently graduated STEM degree holders, even amid the tight labor market officially prevailing, face significant risk of underemployment and a rapid decline on whatever wage premium their degrees afford them as their skills, in their employers' eyes at least, obsolesce.

Still, it does seem worth admitting that the percentage of students who go for arts degrees of various kinds is high--higher than many observers of the scene would like, thinking it better that they go for engineering degrees, quantitative business degrees, and the like instead. The plain and simple answer is that, apart from the hopes of many that they will be the one to beat the odds to become a superstar (far more widespread, I think, than is usually admitted), and in many cases thinking that if they have to "fall back" there is always teaching (certainly I have made my case that this keeps English departments in low-cost adjunct labor), there is the matter of their loving what they do. Contrary to those who ceaselessly rant and rave about young people's choices (in either ignorance or bad faith) few will get an engineering degree if they do not expect it to pay and pay well soon (indeed, pay better than the publicity may be making them think it does). However, where art is concerned more are willing to take their chances.