Why Study English?
Explore the World Through English
Maybe you love books and want to build a career around them. Perhaps you're passionate about teaching, fascinated by how language works, or simply drawn to the power of stories and ideas. Whatever your motivation, studying English—whether as a major, a minor or even through just a few classes—can help you build a strong foundation of skills you can carry into a wide range of fields.
Career Possibilities
Many people come to college with one thing in mind: preparing for a future career. Majoring in English challenges you to develop transferrable skills in communication, critical thinking and analysis. Graduates with English degrees have gone on to pursue careers as:
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023. Some positions may require additional schooling.
Our bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in English offer students broad preparation in writing, analysis and communication. This background can support a wide range of career paths, including work in:
- Teaching (elementary, secondary, postsecondary and collegiate levels)
- Law
- Publishing
- Business
- Broadcasting
- Government
- Advertising
- Freelance and creative writing
- Nonprofit organizations
- Marketing
- Content creation
- Museums and libraries
For more information about career outcomes for English majors in the U.S., visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational outlook.
Pursuing Postgraduate Degrees
With a focus on research, writing and critical analysis, the skills you develop in English studies can help serve as a strong foundation for pursuing a graduate-level degree, such as:
- English MA/MS or Ph.D.
- MFA in Creative Writing
- Master of Library and Information Science
- Master of Journalism
- Law Degree
- Master of Business Administration
Developing Career-Related Skills
While these are all exciting options, maybe you’re considering something else entirely for your career. Majoring in English can still help set you up for success. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report, some of the top skills desired by employers are:
- Analytical thinking: no matter what kind of English courses you take, these courses will invite you to critically approach the world: analyzing how language works, how people communicate and how we weave stories. Working with faculty across our subdisciplines challenges you to not only analyze specific texts, but to practice developing new analytical skills you can apply beyond the classroom.
- Resilience, flexibility and agility: the study of English is, in many ways, more flexible than other disciplines. Sometimes there isn’t one right answer or way of thinking. Instead, in our classes, you’ll practice how to adjust ideas and methodologies to fit your current needs.
- Creative thinking: writing, in any of its forms, is a creative act, one you will have plenty of space to hone in our classes. Beyond that, English courses invite you to view the world differently, to approach language and people with a different view in order to understand them better, which is a skill pivotal to thriving in many careers.
- Empathy and active listening: reading involves stepping into the perspective of the author. Doing so, over and over again, alongside a range of authors and narrators, can help strengthen your ability to empathize with others and your willingness to seek other perspectives.
Developing Future-Ready Skills
The rise of generative AI may make it seem like there’s no use in learning how to write; the computers will just do it for us, right? Actually, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report, many employers are looking for complex thinkers to do the jobs that AI can’t. Along with the skills listed above, some of the qualities in highest demand are:
- Technology literacy: while many people have an image of English majors that involves reading physical books and writing in paper journals (which does happen), writing and analysis happen in so many more media than that. Our students learn how to both navigate and compose digital media, including (but not limited to) film, podcasts, video essays and websites, preparing them for jobs in a variety of tech fields.
- Curiosity and life-long learning: one of the most common refrains of an English scholar is, “Why?” Why do people write things the way they do? Why do we communicate in such ways? Why does this part of culture show up in texts this way? Because very few things are clear cut in the study of English, questions become our best avenue for understanding the world, and this curiosity can be an asset in the workplace.
Honing Marketable Skills
Need a second opinion? The National Association of Colleges and Employers has also developed a set of eight competencies that employers find most beneficial in the workplace, especially from employees coming right out of college. Beyond the skills already listed above, some of these competencies are also nurtured in the study of English, such as:
- Career and Self-Development: while people often joke about the feel-good nature of many English courses, the flexibility and creativity of our courses do allow for a significant amount of self-reflection and development, often building these skills for later use. Our major also includes opportunities to learn more about career development through our Capstone sequence.
- Communication: this skill is probably a no-brainer: of course English majors work on communication skills; that’s practically everything we do! But what might be less obvious is how important those same communication skills are in any work environment.
- Teamwork: many people imagine writers scribbling away alone in their room (again, sometimes), but our department thrives on collaboration, both in the classroom and beyond. English courses teach students how to work with others to approach difficult questions, navigating group dynamics and finding compromises around often complex concepts.
Beyond Career: Growing as a Whole Human
While career elements are important, there’s more to you than just your job. Exploring an English major or minor, or even just a class or two, can have other benefits:
- Feeding your love of literature and language
- Strengthening your understanding of how to read and communicate with the world
- Providing an outlet for your creativity
- Deepening your empathy by introducing you to people and ideas different from yourself