Double majors have better chance of surviving AI disruption: Study

A working paper, the authors of which include Stanford and Ohio State University professors, says that a double majors in college may help make your professional future secure in a market soon to be disrupted by artificial intelligence solutions. The paper has been published by US-based National Bureau of Economic Research.

The authors made analysis of data collected in American Community Survey between 2009 and 2019 to arrive at the conclusion. The data has information about 1.5 million working US adults.

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One of their key findings was that professionals with double majors were 56 per cent less likely to experience negative 'earning shock'.

Negative earning shocks refer to deviations in earning due to events like pay cut, job loss. The authors said that with AI tools like ChatGPT rapidly posing threat to certain roles in job market, those with double majors had greater chance of surviving such a scenario.

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“Our findings do show that those with a double major tend to have a broader set of skills and work in a broader set of jobs relative to those with single majors,” he wrote. “This might help them adapt more quickly to impacts of AI as they can draw on their broader skill set to adapt and remain competitive in the market," said Andrew Hanks, associate professor of consumer science at Ohio State University as quoted by Business Insider. Hanks is the lead author of the working paper.

“Compared to single majors concentrating in a specific occupation or industry, double majors have the flexibility to distance themselves from income shocks originating from that particular occupation or industry,” Bruce Weinberg, an Ohio State economics professor, told BI via email. “For example, when tech firms cut salaries of many computer science graduates, double majors with one major in computer science working in government sectors are not affected at all," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)