Should I change majors so a subject I'm not as passionate about, but will likely provide better jobs?

[:)]

I'm a junior considering changing majors because I'm not 100% sure about attending graduate school anymore. Before I had a tunnel vision and planned to get a Ph.D in psychology (without doing a Master's first) and go into non-academic research for a business. This would likely involve I/O psychology.

Since I'm not sure about graduate school anymore, the rational in me is telling me to major in business and marketing education (or human resource development) and minor in psychology. Higher education is basically trade school now so it'd be worthless to have a BA in psychology. On the other hand, business nor HR is not intellectually stimulating at ALL. Despite it not being intellectually stimulating, organizations assume you have more knowledge and more to offer simply because of the degree. Am I wrong? Please tell me if I am. No sugar-coating bs though. The idea that "you can major in anything you love and get a job" is not true. Even though business/marketing and HR seem to be a bunch of common sense, the system values these degrees a hell of a lot more than anything in the social sciences.

To get the most out of higher education economically and monetarily, one should go for some sort of business, HR or engineering degree, right? Marketing research is a field that sounds very appealing to me. Strategic/analytical HR does too, but I fear that career is too low paying and is simply answering phone calls from prospective employees. I don't want to risk a mundane job. I am terrified of ending up in sales ("marketing") or call center representative ("HR") as an entry level position. I am a problem solver and strategic/analytical person, so I would not like this type of career. I get emotionally drained VERY easily with people. Not that I can't deal with people, but I couldn't do a job that's 75%+ "dealing with people".

[Juan]

For the most part, the things I see people mentioning they're "passionate" about won't allow them to earn a living.

[Vicki D]

No! If you are not interested in a major, what makes you think you would want to do it as a career? Also, there are plenty of unemployed business and HR majors.

I have to disagree with your statement that "higher education is basically trade school now." Unless you major in Nursing, Accounting, or Engineering, a major does not lead into a specific job - and even then you could be unemployed (14% unemployment in Architecture)

Finish your degree in psychology. It is a great, general major. The fact of the matter is that you will probably need to attend Graduate School and get least a Masters degree. You can have a Bachelors in Psychology and go to grad school for HR or business if that's what you want to pursue.

If you do not like working with people, then HR may not be a good fit. Have you thought about Statistics? This is an important area and your background in Psychology would help.

Go to your college's Career Services and take the Strong Interest Inventory or Myers Briggs Type Indicator to learn about possible careers.