Humanities to science?

[Nomini]

I often find myself wishing that when I was a bit younger, my teachers and parents had not given me the advice simply to study what I enjoyed and was best at. In my case, I was pretty even accross all subjects both in enjoyment and ability, but I went down the arts/humanities route, and ended up with a humanities degree not really worth the paper it's written on (albeit from a university generally ranked top 5 globally, so with some prestige value for employers).

I wish to remedy my scientific shortcomings for two main reasons:

1) I want to bring my worldview into balance with a more scientific perspective
2) I think it would be useful to have an education qualification which gives access to higher paying and/or more secure employment. It seems to me that some manner of hard-to-replace vocational expertise is the key to both

As a result, I've been toying with the idea of formal scientific higher education. The only issue with this is the financial side. University education is exceptionally expensive here in the UK, and although I could theoretically afford to put myself through another bachelors on my savings, it would undo all the progress towards ERE that I have made. For that reason, I've been considering several possibilities:

1) English-language courses on the continent. I've always been attracted to the idea of medicine, although I'm not sure I've got enough enthusiasm to maintain focus for six years. Equally, I always enjoyed maths, so I figured engineering could be a possibility.

2) Part-time/Open-University study in the UK. Possible, but still expensive, and less suited to my personality which likes to focus on one thing at a time.

3) Non-university qualification or just trying my luck at getting an entry level job to work towards a more engineering focus. This has the advantage that I would know what I was getting into, so there would be a lower risk of pursuing something I wasn't suited to.

4) Just keep going with what I'm doing - I earn a little more than the national average, and keep up a good savings rate. What I do is interesting for the time being, but has almost no transferable skills.

[jacob]

In terms of your goals, you can achieve (1) without a formal education. Conversely, people can go through a formal education without changing their world-view by one iota. They might appear scientific within their own little field, but outside they're as normal and non-scientific as anyone.

I would only do (2) for a complete career change.

Given you already have one degree, use it to segue if at all possible. What about technical writing?

[The Old Man]

Before deciding on additional formal education you first need to decide what type of occupation you wish to pursue. After you have decided that then you will be able to determine what if any additional education you will need.

Formal education at the bachelor's level basically means that you can think. A humanities degree means that you have been trained to think in a qualitative manner. For science/engineering it means a quantitative orientation.

If your goal is to improve your quantitative reasoning skills then you should pick up a book on Operations Research (OR). OR is a discipline that provides a framework for analytically approaching a problem. It is mathematically intensive but is grounded in solving real world problems.

If you are looking for a degree to improve your options, first decide if additional formal education is necessary. Perhaps a course or two in OR is all that you need to show potential employers that you are good at problem solving.

[thebbqguy]

I earned a history degree from a liberal arts college. I started out pursuing a business degree, but switched because I enjoyed history more and made better grades overall. Most of my friends and family assumed I become a teacher.

I actually became a financial risk analyst/business analyst for a financial services company. I had no accounting courses as an undergraduate. But I had a skill most of my co-workers do not...I write pretty well. I also absolutely enjoy researching things whether it's processes, procedures, general information, etc. I thrive on it. I attribute that to my liberal arts education.

I took some courses toward an MBA a few years ago, but abandoned it after the Accounting and Six Sigma analysis courses. I realized that my 15 years of experience had already provided those skills and I would not realistically gain additional income from a MBA, unless I changed companies (which I did not wish to do).

You might do better sticking with your original education and not investing additional time, energy and money into changing gears. Work with what you have. It's most likely more than enough to achieve a reasonable level of success.

[henrik]

Try something like this for a start?
http://online.stanford.edu/courses/math ... inter-2014

[BattlaP]

Hey guy, listen to the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe podcast.

It gives me that weekly dose of "Wow, Science!" which I require to maintain my standing as an Informed Member of the Public. In partaking of this fine delicacy I feel more able to go about my Business, knowing full well that the Science is in good hands.

[Nomini]

Thanks for all the input. I think the less formal route is where I'd be headed if I did go for a career change. My current career is vaguely scientific, and allows me me to do a foundation degree at a fraction of the uk tuition fees, so I'm doing that atm whilst I mull over what I actually want to do with my life.