ZapperZ links to an interview with David Saltzberg about careers for students with an undergraduate degree in physics. As is often the case, ZapperZ proclaims himself “disappointed” with things that I think are about right. In particular, he writes:
[W]hen asked on why one should major in physics, is the best that can be answered is that “… you really like it.. “? What happened to the fact that the skills one acquire majoring in it can be quite useful in one’s career, be it in science or outside of science?
Actually, I think that really is the best reason for majoring in physics. Or any other subject, for that matter. When you choose a college major, you should do so because you enjoy the subject, not out of some sense of obligation or careerism.
The “physics teaches you skills that are useful in other fields” thing is not a good affirmative reason to major in physics. It’s a reason not to feel obliged to major in something else for career reasons– if you want to be a software engineer, and you can do that just as well with a physics degree as a computer science degree, you can feel free to major in physics if that’s what interests you. You don’t need to major in computer science to end up where you want to be.
Ultimately, though, the only affirmative reason to major in physics– or biology, or English, or ancient Sumerian theater– is because you like the subject and want to study it in more depth. I don’t think that there’s any specific field that you have to major in to get a specific career (we’re talking undergraduate majors here, not graduate or professional training required to obtain a specific credential). You can go to med school with a degree in physics or history just as well as a degree in biochemistry, and you can go to law school with a physics degree just as well as a philosophy degree.
What the AIP statistics about useful skills show is that a physics degree is not an impediment to doing other things. That doesn’t mean that employers are actively clamoring to hire physics majors (some may be, but not all), just that physics majors do well when they end up in those other fields. That’s a good reason to major in physics if you’re leaning that way already, but not a reason why a student who likes biochemistry or computer science should choose physics over either of those fields.