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Architecture majors work the hardest in college, study reveals
Students at Columbia University. Image: Beraldo Leal via Flickr
A study conducted by Indiana University's National Study of Student Engagement reveals that architecture majors spend the most time outside of their classes studying, beating out even engineers. On average, an architecture major will spend 22.2 hours a week working on projects and generally furrowing their brows, while those head-in-the-clouds chemical engineers spend only 19.66 hours a week. Before taking home the "Living on Ramen in the Studio" prize, however, it's worth noting that pretty much every major has to spend some time outside of classes studying: even those undertaking PR + advertising spend an average of 12.17 hours in exterior academic pursuit, according to The Tab.
Which major works the most hours?
- Architecture 22.2
- Chemical engineering 19.66
- Aero and astronautical engineering 19.24
- Biomedical engineering 18.82
- Cell and molecular biology 18.67
- Physics 18.62
- Astronomy 18.59
- Biochemistry or biophysics 18.49
- Bioengineering 18.43
- Petroleum engineering 18.41
- Mechanical engineering 18.11
- Neuroscience 18.08
- Chemistry 18.06
- Physiology and developmental biology 18.04
- Physical sciences (general) 18
- Materials engineering 17.9
- Electrical or electronic engineering 17.7
- Civil engineering 17.4
- Biomedical science 17.35
- Engineering (general) 17.17
- Nursing 16.88
- Music 16.69
- Statistics 16.55
- Arts, fine and applied 16.52
- Biology 16.51
- Earth science (including geology) 16.5
- Mathematics 16.5
- Computer engineering and technology 16.46
- Medicine 16.41
- Theological studies 16.31
- Philosophy 16.18
- Zoology 15.97
- Religion 15.95
- French (language and literature) 15.75
- Marine science 15.72
- Industrial engineering 15.68
- Humanities (general) 15.61
- Natural science 15.61
- Dentistry 15.4
- Computer science 15.38
- International relations 15.34
- Environmental science/studies 15.3
- Botany 15.22
- English (language and literature) 15.18
- Art history 15.1
- Anthropology 15.07
- History 14.84
- Health science 14.82
- Accounting 14.75
- Economics 14.73
- Urban planning 14.69
- Spanish (language and literature) 14.58
- Theater or drama 14.46
- Veterinary science 14.42
- Political science 14.23
- Education 14.18
- Ethnic studies 14.15
- Social sciences 14.1
- Information technology 14.08
- Liberal arts and sciences 14.08
- Gender studies 14.04
- Psychology 13.93
- International business 13.92
- Finance 13.78
- Law 13.73
- Computer information systems 13.66
- General studies 13.63
- Geography 13.62
- Public administration and policy 13.62
- Undecided, undeclared 13.58
- Business administration 13.57
- Supply chain and operations management 13.48
- Sociology 13.45
- Management 13.43
- Entrepreneurial studies 13.4
- Journalism 13.16
- Agriculture 12.74
- Marketing 12.71
- Communications (general) 12.48
- Social work 12.31
- Criminology 12.3
- Hospitality and tourism 12.24
- Criminal justice 12.2
- Mass communications and media studies 12.18
- Public relations and advertising 12.17
- Parks, rec, leisure studies, sports mgmt 11.02
Source: NSSE
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16 Comments
Only 22 hours?
And this will somehow be held up with pride as opposed to horror.
Not buying this study. It's been demonstrated that the average student needs 26 hours in their day to complete their daily tasks. If I recall correctly, this assumes less than the suggested 8-10 hours of sleep. Everybody is busy, get over it.
That said- I saw Peggy Deamer in a lecture where she made the interesting point that architects cannot provide better work solutions for others if we cannot imagine them for ourselves.
I would LOVE to see a column of how much we earn after graduation as compared to all the other professions.
Oh i thought it was 22 hours per day
Work harder, not smarter
Chris,
I knew a lot of engineering students in school,can't say I ever met one that worked as hard as the vast majority of architecture students.
That said, you are point on that much of what people did in school was waste time. People would stay in studio all night to only work an hour or two.
The previous comment about pride over horror is also spot on, people in our profession want recognition, and the easiest objective way to get it is to be perceived as the hardest working.
I too am highly skeptical of this report. Lots of studio time is spent building community *not* working.
That said, maybe this study needs to lead to a further study of how a strong sense of community in a workplace is beneficial to employees and employers alike? Which might lead towards disproving the idea that ass-in-seat time is the most important metric to measure success.
Manic work doesn't mean anyone is learning anything, especially in a discipline that requires reflection and subtlety.
All that time spent, and you don't even learn 5% of what it takes to actually be an architect.
Donna,
Are you skeptical that architecture students should be near/at the top?
I complain that many of them are not working as hard as they claim, but ultimately I knew a lot of non-architecture students in school, and few of them, that alone entire programs, worked remotely as hard as the architecture students as a realistic whole.
Nope, nate, I'm skeptical that we should be near the top. I just don't like the endless martyrdom we feel about our profession, unless we acknowledge that others works hard, too.
I assume this was only undergrad? Because my student was in med school while I was in architecture school and I guarantee she spent more time studying than I spent in studio. We both worked ungodly hours, tho. (And she's making 4x my salary now, too LOL joke's on me!)
Duh, I just realized I meant to say I'm NOT skeptical that we should be near the top. Derp.
If they're talking about studio then they ought to include socializing.
I also think this study needs to broaden out a bit, as in other universities. I don’t see how you can base one study at one university. As a marine engineer I knew I was going to be involved in a higher level of mathematics and the like.
When I think of architects I know, I’m not sure they understood what was involved with the academics within. Perhaps the study needs to see what prior schooling and or education these individuals had before the leaped into their major.
I am very curious about the quality of the sample cited... surfing the net while in studio does not count as studying... it would be interesting to see what percentage of time architecture students ACTUALLY procrastinate vs study...
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