The TOP Majors By Gender: Forbes List

According to a recent UCLA survey, business is the most popular major for both men and women.

Surprised? You might be once you see the other popular majors for each gender. Let us know what you think -- and check out Forbes for the full lists of women- and men-preferred majors.

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1. Women/Men: Business

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Degrees awarded to women in 2008: 164,276 Degrees awarded to men in 2008: 170,978

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Degrees awarded to women in 2008: 164,276

Degrees awarded to men in 2008: 170,978

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Comments

[ATLBravesFan]

12:59 PM on 08/17/2010

Why are all the stats from 2008?

[Michelle Perz]

08:42 PM on 08/23/2010

All of the stats are from 2008 because that is the most recent data which the Department of Education has.

[ATLBravesFan]

09:36 PM on 08/23/2010

Oh ok. Thanks! :-D

[Camille Michelle]

10:26 AM on 08/17/2010

I think Business is a valuable major, but may be a little vague here. Like I'm doing Marketing, which is in the business school I go to (Robert H. Smith UMD, woot woot!). But I also declared Economics AND I'm also getting an MBA. Don't be so quick to judge us business majors.

At least I'm not doing Sociology or Criminal Justice like all the other idiots at my school.

[rikster]

05:02 PM on 08/12/2010

what happened to basket weaving..?

[Hematite]

09:30 AM on 08/13/2010

It's now called 'business.'

[Meranda F]

04:10 PM on 08/12/2010

Health for women is spot on!

For some reason, I do not think undergrads are aware of how many different fields exist that they could enter and fill a void. Lots of ppl going for ultimatly the same thing makes finding a real passion AND job harder/

The implication on number 5 is hilarious. He's in love!!

[veritas88]

02:28 PM on 08/12/2010

Business is not really a major. Economics is, but not "Business".

[suec03]

02:43 PM on 08/12/2010

I think you are confusing single-subject majors with interdisciplinary majors targeted to a particular job's needs. Colleges and universities do allow students to declare "business administration," "business economics," and "business management" as majors. Business is not a discrete field. It is probably one of the oldest interdisciplinary majors. It would include courses in economics, accounting, finance, management, etc., correct? Nursing would be another major that draws from different disciplines, from anatomy and physiology, to psychology, to clinical patient care, etc.

[ixington]

01:02 PM on 08/12/2010

Women are making inroads into the physical sciences, perhaps as a result of the extant gender imbalance within the university system. 57% of university students are female, and that number is climbing.

[huffponewbie]

12:09 AM on 08/19/2010

"Because of the conflicting statements no charges were filed in the accident." -- Just one of the myriad reasons I entered grad school.

[NewUnderTheSun]

10:01 AM on 08/12/2010

What purpose does this study serve? The media is so quick to condemn sexism, racism, and any other form of discrimination, unless of course it serves their purposes.

The funny thing is, people are naturally inclined to these traits, and it tends to be harmless. The media on the other hand demands to put every one in their own group, thus making it easier to market junk in the form of commercials and terrible programming to them.

"86% of blacks say polls based on race are as racist as those reporting them".

[alahnar]

01:14 PM on 08/12/2010

You know, pointing out that there are differences in the way, for example, African Americans and Caucasians view current events isn't racist - it's factual. Pointing out that more women than men pursue careers in education isn't sexist - it's factual. Pointing out differences doesn't make one prejudiced - it means you have eyes, ears, and the ability to look at facts. It's when we say, "women major in education versus computer science because they're not as smart" that we become sexists. Pointing out facts doesn't make it so.

[noaxe397]

02:10 PM on 08/12/2010

Agree. It's funny today how, as soon as you mention race, then YOU are labeled as racist.

My reply: It is not racist to call a racist a racist.

[Montaignelover]

03:41 AM on 08/12/2010

The USA is in desperate need of English majors.

[noaxe397]

02:09 PM on 08/12/2010

I majored in English, when you had to read REAL literature, including a full semester of Shakespeare and of Chaucer. The Morte D'Arthur in middle english, no less.

Funny thing is, my degree got me into technical field because, while I did not have the technical expertise required for the job, the company was desperate for people who could read and write well, and they would teach you the technical side.

Today, more than 30 years later, co-workers still ask me to proof read their more important emails before they send them off.

The tech guys would help me with any problem, anytime, as long as I was their comma jockey.

[red wolfe]

11:37 AM on 08/13/2010

Just curious, was that Malory or the earlier alliterative Morte d'Arthur? Former English majors gotta have something to talk about. (I found the alliterative version a fascinating variation before the whole courtly love notion took root).

[veritas88]

02:27 PM on 08/12/2010

Amen! People really undervalue the importance of writing well and comprehensive, qualitative analysis.

[rbryanh]

02:41 AM on 08/12/2010

My how the idiocracy loves a slide show.

This is the worst presentation of statistical data I've seen in ages.

[VeryGrood]

08:23 AM on 08/12/2010

I was thinking the exact same thing.... and I read clinical data for a living.

[rbryanh]

02:49 PM on 08/12/2010

It's a pity that access to a medium doesn't automatically include mastery of its content.

[Wide Stance]

09:13 PM on 08/15/2010

They must be business majors. (Powerpoint 101.)

[rbryanh]

03:10 PM on 08/16/2010

When opera was invented, there was an ongoing conflict over which should dominate: the poetry or the music. But as the centuries passed, a dark horse won: the spectacle is paramount. The image is all.

We now prefer images to both knowledge and experience, to the point where many (most?) people don't seem to believe they exist without regularly watching themselves on video. Most American's internal model of existence is based on the comic book, with the exception that the text of comics books is more articulate than many of us.

[rishi851]

01:20 AM on 08/12/2010

I am majoring in scriptwriting -A postgraduate no less......My plans are to eventually move to Vancouver or Los Angeles to make it as a scriptwriter...................................Is everyone laughing at me ?

[deridaa]

09:08 AM on 08/12/2010

"yes" she said.

[NewUnderTheSun]

09:58 AM on 08/12/2010

Well, that works I suppose. Scriptwriting should be a night course you take to learn structure and some key elements, but the real elements of a story shouldn't be learned in a strictly "Script"-minded sense.

But that's my opinion. If it's true, it still doesn't mean you can't do it. Plus you can access copious amounts of marijuana in ether city, if that's something you fancy.

[hottingers]

12:58 AM on 08/12/2010

I thought that the number one major was selling your soul to the devil...............................Oh, I see Business is no.1....................never mind.

[rbryanh]

03:19 PM on 08/16/2010

Wharton: Satan's finishing school where the undead are taught to rot on the inside, where no one can see.

[MJVs Common Sense]

11:49 PM on 08/11/2010

ugh, why do so many people go for Business in undergrad? get a real major that will actually give you some marketable perspective, then get an MBA (even better if you can convince your employer to pay for you to get one). Twice as marketable, if not more. If I were hiring someone for a job in business I would want to know that they are capable of doing more than crunching numbers and creating an org chart, I'd want to know they understood the subject matter of a given area like technology (engineering major), R&D (sciences), publishing (english majors), policy (political science or IR majors), or communications (com, journalism, pr majors). Those are the kinds of people who can hit the ground running at the right company, move into management quickly, and easily become experts on the business aspects of their field. Business majors are just cubicle filler.

[Brendan Diamond]

01:06 AM on 08/12/2010

At this point, and with the way America's version of "capitalism" is rigged for big firms, MOST majors are "just cubicle filler."

[BlueZoo]

11:32 PM on 08/11/2010

Sigh... This female math major and scientist finds this so discouraging! Are we still teaching our daughters they can be anything they wish to be but should concentrate on getting a man? We have a family of beautiful strong women who have degrees in computer engineering, international finance and medicine. Our mother believed women are every bit as smart as any man and she brooked no dissent on that issue. Encouraging young girls to take an interest in the sciences is not as easy feat when such a premium, in this country at least, is put on how women look and who they are marrying/divorcing. If nothing else will peak their interest, tell your daughters that the sciences are where all the men are! They just might find they enjoy the sciences more than the men after all!

[Courtney Cobbs]

01:25 AM on 08/12/2010

I think it has more to do with women not seeing how they can help people by majoring in science. I think if there were more focus on helping develop life changing or life saving medicines, teaching science to the next generation, etc. then MAYBE you'd see more women in the STEM fields.

I don't think it has to do with society teaching young girls they HAVE to have a man. Sure they might learn this as a kid but once you hit high school, you should know you don't have to have a boyfriend or husband by the time you're 25 to "have it all."

If STEM departments emphasized how much science, technology, etc. can help people, they might see more people graduate with those degrees. We also need more female science and math instructors.

[blackkatya]

01:30 AM on 08/12/2010

That's one of the biggest things I want to accomplish as a female mathematics instructor. Getting girls interested in the subject (well, all students, really, but given the male/female ratio in my college courses...)

[rbryanh]

03:31 PM on 08/16/2010

The most insidious sexism is that which considers a degree in engineering, finance, or medicine somehow more valuable than teaching, cooking, or being a brilliant parent.

The problem isn't women who're uninterested in "male" fields of endeavor, it's men and women who automatically assign greater value to anything perceived as "masculine."

People have innate talents and abilities, many of which are partially genetic in origin. The notion of equal gender representation in a field is quite different from that of equal opportunity. The latter is justice; the former just another form of oppression.

In automatically valuing a doctor more than a mother, your attitudes perpetuate not only oppression but a highly suspect value system. For example, no achievement in any field has ever exceeded that of taking a squalling primate fetus and growing it into a fine human being.

[BlueZoo]

06:01 PM on 08/16/2010

You are so right and I fan you for it; however, when teaching that fetus as it grows, if it is a female, please ensure she learns that EVERY field of endeavor is open to her! If she chooses to be a wife and a mother, the value of that should not be diminished. If she chooses to be a mathematician, fireman, teacher, etc., those too are valuable.

[DnDCfromChi-town]

10:50 PM on 08/11/2010

In our personal ambitions we are individualists. But in our seeking for economic and political progress as a nation, we all go up or else all go down as one people.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

[FTracy3]

10:21 PM on 08/11/2010

Isn't this exactly the kind of subject that got Lawrence Summers into pc trouble at Harvard? What I found ironic about that was one angry female professor stated that she was so upset when he merely suggest the possibility of an inherent brain difference between men and women that she almost fainted.

[BlueZoo]

11:34 PM on 08/11/2010

Yes, Lawrence Summers did get in trouble for saying women weren't in the sciences because of a brain difference in male and female. What an idiot!

[FTracy3]

12:58 AM on 08/12/2010

He didn't say they weren't in the sciences because of brain differences, but ..he suggested it might be a possibility in what they are interested in (and the above stats support that). There are other articles on Huffpo confirming gender brain differences and there's nothing discriminatory by admitting it. And what I found ironic was some dopey professor saying she "almost fainted" when he said this, something a guy would never say. And for the record, I'm a feminist who believes in gender equality under the law and in employement. But it's stupid to deny that there are fundamental differences (generally) between men and women.

[Blues02]

12:22 AM on 08/12/2010

How is that ironic? There is a lot more to the Lawrence Summers controversy beyond him pointing out brain differences.