Having double majors could make you less vulnerable to layoffs and AI

• Double majors are less likely to experience "earnings shocks" like job losses, per a new paper.
• Having diversified skill sets could also help workers adapt to the AI future. 
• Double majoring has become more popular in recent decades. 

Double majoring in college could do more than pad your résumé. It could boost your job security in a future made uncertain by AI. 

That finding is from a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in January. The authors, who include Stanford and Ohio State University professors, analyzed data from the American Community Survey between 2009 and 2019, which included nearly 1.5 million working US adults.

Their key finding: Individuals with a double major were 56% less likely than similar single majors to experience negative “earnings shocks” — deviations in earnings related to factors like job losses or pay cuts. 

In a future where emerging AI technologies like ChatGPT could replace certain job tasks — and entire jobs altogether — double majors could be better positioned, Andrew Hanks, an associate professor of consumer science at Ohio State and the lead author of the working paper, told BI via email.

“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."

While it’s unclear why graduates with double majors offered workers this protection, the researchers speculated that it had something to do with their diversified skillsets.

“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."

Double majoring has become more common

Double majoring might do more than help workers avoid earnings shocks. A University of Pennsylvania research paper from 2021 found that double majors tended to earn more money over the course of their careers — STEM and business double majors saw the biggest income boost. 

Having a double major has become more popular in recent decades. Between 2000 and 2008, the percentage of students who double-majored nearly doubled to roughly 6%, according to the US Department of Education. As of 2015, about 13% of Americans between ages 20 and 29 were double majors, per American Community Survey data. Roughly 10% of the individuals analyzed in the working paper were double majors. 

Majoring in two subjects can be stressful and more expensive for some students. But if it helps prepare them for a future in which AI tools are more common in the workplace, this path could be worthwhile for many of them.

While Gen Zers are more likely to have used AI tools than older generations, they still have concerns about these technologies. In a LinkedIn survey from last fall, 45% of Gen Zers said they were worried they didn’t know enough about AI.