How to choose a degree: a step-by-step guide

Does your degree subject decide your career?

Only partly. Careers fall into three broad groups, depending on how closely they are tied to a degree subject. The same career can sit in different groups in different countries. In accountancy, for example, employers in some countries recruit graduates of any subject, while in others an accounting degree is the usual route and accredited degrees often give exemptions from some professional exams.

Knowing which group your possible careers belong to shows how much your subject choice really limits you:

• Subject required: regulated careers such as doctor, nurse, pharmacist and architect need a specific accredited degree in almost every country.
• Subject preferred: careers such as software developer or engineer usually recruit from related subjects, but strong candidates from nearby fields can often get in.
• Any subject: many roles in management, sales, public administration and marketing, and many graduate training programmes, accept graduates of any discipline.

Start with what you enjoy and do well

You are more likely to finish a degree, get good results and stay motivated if the subject genuinely interests you. Three or four years is a long time to study something you dislike, and weak results can close more doors than a subject with a less obvious career path.

UNESCO's international classification of fields of education groups subjects into broad fields: education; arts and humanities; social sciences, journalism and information; business, administration and law; natural sciences, mathematics and statistics; information and communication technologies; engineering, manufacturing and construction; agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary; health and welfare; and services. Looking through these fields can remind you of subjects you had not considered, such as pharmacology, agriculture or urban planning.

Ask yourself these questions, then test your interest before you commit:

• Which school subjects do you enjoy even when they are difficult?
• Do you prefer working with people, ideas, data, living things or physical objects?
• What matters most to you in work: helping others, security, creativity, pay, independence or travel?
• Read the module descriptions and first-year reading list for a subject you are considering.
• Try a free online course or recorded university lectures in the subject.
• Talk to current students and recent graduates about what the course is really like.

Work backwards from careers that interest you

Pick three to five careers you could imagine doing, even if you are unsure. For each one, find out which subjects people usually study, whether a licence is needed and what the first job looks like. The career pages on this site show typical degrees, routes and official pay data for each job.

Check the rules in the country where you expect to work, not only where you will study. A degree that qualifies you as a teacher or nurse in one country may need extra steps in another.

You will often find that one subject leads to several careers, and that one career can be reached from several subjects. Some examples:

• Nurse: in most countries you need a nursing degree or diploma approved by the national regulator, so the key decision is made at the start.
• Secondary teacher: you usually study the subject you want to teach, such as biology or mathematics, then take a teaching qualification, or you take a combined education degree.
• Software developer: computer science is the most direct subject, but mathematics, physics and engineering graduates are also hired.
• A psychology degree: working as a psychologist needs postgraduate study, but many psychology graduates use their skills in human resources, marketing, research and social care.
• A biology degree: many research and laboratory jobs expect a master's or PhD, while graduates also move into teaching, healthcare and environmental work.
• A business management degree: flexible for commercial careers, but because many people study it, work experience is what makes you stand out.

What if you do not know what career you want?

Many students are unsure, and that is normal. Choose a subject you enjoy that also builds skills valued across many sectors, such as analysis, writing, working with data and solving problems. It is often easier to move from a quantitative subject, such as mathematics or economics, into a less quantitative field than the other way round.

Some education systems give you time to decide. In the United States and Canada, many students take a wide range of courses before choosing a major, often by the end of their second year. Scotland and Hong Kong have four-year bachelor's degrees that allow some breadth, and liberal arts programmes exist in many countries. Joint degrees, majors and minors also let you combine two subjects.

In many other systems, including much of Europe, Latin America and Asia, you apply directly to one programme, and changing later is harder. Where entry depends on a national exam, such as the gaokao in China, ENEM in Brazil or the national entrance exams in India, your score may decide which subjects are open to you. Plan your options before results arrive. If you later feel you chose the wrong subject, conversion master's degrees and graduate-entry programmes still let you change direction.

How to compare degree programmes

Two degrees with the same name can be very different. Once you have a shortlist of subjects, compare specific programmes using official university and government information rather than advertising. University rankings mainly measure research and reputation. They say little about the teaching you will receive or the jobs graduates get, so treat them as one factor among many.

For each programme on your shortlist, check these points:

• Content: read the compulsory and optional modules for every year, not just the course title.
• Teaching and assessment: check the balance of lectures, practical work, projects and exams.
• Work experience: look for internships, placements, a year in industry or clinical practice.
• Accreditation: in fields such as engineering, accounting, psychology and nursing, check that a professional body accredits the programme.
• Recognition: make sure the institution is recognised by the education ministry or quality agency in its country, especially for private and online providers.
• Graduate outcomes: look for official data on employment and earnings, where your country publishes it.
• Entry requirements: check required school subjects, grades, entrance exams and language tests.
• Total cost: tuition, living costs, travel and the number of years before you start earning.
• Length and language: compare how long the programme takes and the language it is taught in.

Should you choose a degree for the salary?

Pay matters, and it is sensible to check it. Official data in several countries shows that average earnings differ between subjects, with medicine, economics, engineering and computing often near the top. But averages hide large differences within each subject, and strong results and experience matter for the best jobs in any field.

Think about the whole route, not only the final salary. Medicine usually takes five to six years of study plus further training, and competition for places is intense. Some well-paid careers need postgraduate study or years of professional exams. Labour markets also differ: a subject in high demand in one country may have many unemployed graduates in another.

Our guide to the highest-paying degrees and careers explains how to read pay data carefully.

Common mistakes to avoid

Most regrets about choosing a degree come from a few avoidable mistakes:

• Choosing a subject only for its prestige, or because friends are taking it.
• Letting family decide for you. Parents help most by asking good questions and supporting research, not by choosing.
• Assuming a subject leads to only one job, or that a general subject leads nowhere.
• Ignoring mathematics requirements, which are common in economics, psychology, the sciences and computing.
• Forgetting to check licensing rules in the country where you want to work.
• Enrolling with a provider that is not properly recognised.
• Not finding out what the job is like day to day, including shift work, travel or long hours.