A declining number of students are participating in liberal arts programs and are instead choosing to take the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) route for their future endeavors. As of 2020, U.S. News reports 20% of Mississippi State University students majored in business and 17% chose a sector of engineering, while only 8% studied humanities, like social sciences and communication.
The effects of these numbers result in a decrease in funding for humanities and a lack of necessities for teachers and students participating in these fields. Educational institutions neglect to promote the humanities when choosing to incorporate large amounts of funding into STEM fields. This leaves faculty in humanities departments without the funding for necessary tools as essential as dry-erase markers. It forces them to take a percent out of their own paycheck, so they are able to have the resources needed to teach their students.  
This semester, my philosophy professor complained about the decrease in department funding after having to ask students for a spare dry-erase marker; this is just one example of departments at MSU who are not being properly funded.
Students can generalize the value an institution places on a major when comparing the quality of academic buildings, amount of faculty in a department and number of classes available to take in a subject. If the university does not supply resources equally among departments, then it is clear there is a higher value amongst some over others.
Students have the liberty to choose the major they feel best represents their aspirations, but the reputations of majors can also affect an individual’s decision. The reputation of STEM subjects as superior, respectable and profitable draw students towards majoring in these fields. These assumptions put the liberal arts on the back burner as secondary options and make it seem as though a career in humanities is unattainable. George Calhoun of Forbes.com explains how the technological advancement of our society has increased the value of STEM degrees. This influences the pathways of students who are focused on maintaining success and generating a profit off the major they choose.
Liberal arts majors offer a broad range of beneficial skills needed to succeed in the job market after college. The New York Times’s Patricia Cohen takes note of the research done by the American Association of Colleges & Universities who claim that employers are focused on the analytic, communicative and problem-solving skills typically obtained by humanities degrees, rather than an applicant’s individual major. STEM majors focus on specific skills needed to perform a certain task, while humanities offer skills that could be applied in a vast number of different fields. A humanities degree refrains from attaching a student to their chosen academic major and teaches different aspects of thought.
Freedom is accessible with a humanities degree while a STEM degree can prove itself to be binding to the chosen field of study. A humanities degree is an option for those who find themselves considering multiple opportunities after undergraduate school and can even branch out in graduate school beyond their undergraduate studies.
A humanities degree should be equally respected compared to a STEM degree because it provides a proper understanding of relevant career skills and includes the space to go beyond the degree one earned in college. Interests should guide a student instead of societal value of a subject.