Are STEM degrees still worth it in 2026? I don't have anything else in mind to major aside from something technology related.
>>34536240The short answer is yesI recommend not dwelling on the long answer
Engineering: absolutely. Doubly so if you're a woman or minority. Bachelors in hard sciences or math are decent degrees but often just lead to a masters program. Engineering leads to a job.
The big engineering majors are still worth it, compsci is not. Also if you're leaning toward comp eng because you want to design chips just get an EE degree instead, you open way more doors. Aero seems like kind of a meme but if you're autistic enough and live in a defense contractor hub maybe it'll work out for you
>>34536312>design chips What if I just want to build electronics and work on machinery? Do I go for EE still?
>>34536436At my school we have a different degree for that, its applied engineering/electrical engineering. It's actually practical and you get more hands on than a traditional degree. You really need to focus on what exactly you want to do though so look at companies and what they're looking for in new hires. You could also go the tradie way which is much cheaper and faster but idk about that. You still have to really know what you want to do, dont go in blindly thinking you're guaranteed a job
>>34536436Yeah you'd still do EE. I suppose depending on what you mean by>work on machineryYour actual passion might lie somewhere closer to technician/tradie work. An EE degree is extremely math heavy, probably the greatest quantity and difficulty outside of a physics or pure math degree. A lot of EE jobs never use more than V=IR and P=IV on the job, but some need way way more. Maybe look into power engineering, instrumentation/controls engineering, and power electronics engineering. Those might be up your alley
>>34536453>>34536478Yes. This. I might lean towards the technician role then. Power Engineering sounds cool honestly, I'll check it out.
CS used to be the dummy degree that anybody could coast through and get a decent job. Now you’re competing with 1000s of people with 3-5 YOE for those entry level jobs who’re swimming perpetually in an ocean of overqualified immigrants and Ivy League grads who’ll put way way way more effort into leetcoding than you’ve ever put into anything in your entire life. And even when you get the job, a single bad quarter could mean your entire team gets laid off. Then you’re buried under that ocean of unemployment, separated from the surface by layers and layers of people who’re better than you because they’ve just cared more for longer than you. This isn’t a hobby to them. It’s literally the difference between being a dirty brown bug in the dirty brown bug country and being an extremely wealthy immigrant in one of the best countries on the planet.TLDR: pick something other than CS unless you’re really the type to put 60 hours a week into your craft. It’s not a degree for coasters anymore.
