Should I change my degree?

Just about to finish first year Economics with Psychology degree and while I love theory of econ, i haaaate the maths. So I’m considering changing my course and the one that intrigued me the most was a Global Studies with Business Management degree (2nd option being Bsc Business Management) but a few people have been telling me Global Studies is useless, any advice?

As someone who studied economics and business management at degree level, I cannot relate one bit (especially the maths part; how dare you!)

If you do change course, then you would have to ask yourself whether it's something you are really sure about.

I am biased against doing business management degrees, because I don't see the value in doing them unless you intend to set up your own business afterwards.
There are nonquantiative economics degrees (eugh) that would not contain that much difficult maths (usually straight forward) and has the theory that you like. If the psychology component is important to you, then I would still look around for something accredited by the BPS.

Whether a subject or degree is useless or not depend on what you want to do with it and where you want to go. If you intend to work as a psychologist, getting a business management degree isn't going to make much sense or be useful for example. If you intend to become an engineer, getting a degree in English Lit isn't exactly going to help.
If you intend to go into a line of work that either requires no degree or degree in any random subject, then a degree in any subject would do as well as a degree in any other. In any random situation when compared with 2 graduates where one has a quantiative degree and the other one doesn't, the one with the quantiative degree is usually more favoured purely from a qualification standpoint (selecting job candidates is more complicated and goes far more into depth than simply which degree you did or how many qualifications you have). However, if you don't like the maths doing a mathematical degree isn't going to help you in the long run.

Something I would strongly recommend you think on are why are you specifically picking those subjects that you are picking, what is it about those topics that interest you, and why are you specifically doing a degree. If you can elaborate on your situation, I might be able to give you a more definite answer and better advice.

Just for the heads up, do consider whether you want to look into:


Please do not ask whether something is "worth it" or "which is better"; I hate those questions and they're so vague.

Wow! Thank you very much for your response! Haha yeah I wish I loved maths but I took it for Alevel and did horrendously and this year, I just thought to myself ‘why am I trying so hard to like maths and a be ‘maths’ student when I’m obviously interested in other topics’! I’m interested in going into the marketing and PR sector so I don’t actually need a specific degree in anything (marketing degree didnt appeal to me as I feel a different degree that’s somewhat relatable will help me stand out and I have work experience that helps me too).
I’m going to be reeally honest as to why I narrowed it down to those two subjects and it’s mainly because I feel that a BSc Business Management is the middleground in terms of a ‘reputable degree’. I’m already getting a lot of flack for even thinking about changing my econ degree as it’s sooo ‘respected’ (which I know) in comparison to the subjects I like. Business has always been something that intrigued me so I thought why not. The Global Studies degree is one that genuinely interests me in terms of modules and content but I am aware it doesn’t look as good as Econ or business mgmt. Why am I even doing a degree? My parents and family made it abundantly clear that they want me to get a degree so here we are. They don’t care as much anymore about what I study (they did alot before though which is probably why I’m on a course I don’t like) so I could obviously pick whatever but now I’m faced with a new obstacle, that being the ‘that degree will mean you have no job!’ argument I’ve been hearing nonstop since I brought up a course change.
Anyways, rambled a bit there, my main concern is that if i continue with Economics, I feel I won’t do as well as if I picked a less quantitative degree like business etc. A part of me obviously wants to continue and be cool and bounce back and graduate with flying colours but a part of me also knows that maths scares me and I don’t think I’ll be able to get past that quick enough to do well in this course.

As someone who studied economics and business management at degree level, I cannot relate one bit (especially the maths part; how dare you!)

If you do change course, then you would have to ask yourself whether it's something you are really sure about.

I am biased against doing business management degrees, because I don't see the value in doing them unless you intend to set up your own business afterwards.
There are nonquantiative economics degrees (eugh) that would not contain that much difficult maths (usually straight forward) and has the theory that you like. If the psychology component is important to you, then I would still look around for something accredited by the BPS.

Whether a subject or degree is useless or not depend on what you want to do with it and where you want to go. If you intend to work as a psychologist, getting a business management degree isn't going to make much sense or be useful for example. If you intend to become an engineer, getting a degree in English Lit isn't exactly going to help.
If you intend to go into a line of work that either requires no degree or degree in any random subject, then a degree in any subject would do as well as a degree in any other. In any random situation when compared with 2 graduates where one has a quantiative degree and the other one doesn't, the one with the quantiative degree is usually more favoured purely from a qualification standpoint (selecting job candidates is more complicated and goes far more into depth than simply which degree you did or how many qualifications you have). However, if you don't like the maths doing a mathematical degree isn't going to help you in the long run.

Something I would strongly recommend you think on are why are you specifically picking those subjects that you are picking, what is it about those topics that interest you, and why are you specifically doing a degree. If you can elaborate on your situation, I might be able to give you a more definite answer and better advice.

Just for the heads up, do consider whether you want to look into:


Please do not ask whether something is "worth it" or "which is better"; I hate those questions and they're so vague.

Jus a question regarding you saying a business management BCs not being as valuable unless you set up your own business. Would a business management degree not be useful if you want to get into careers such as consultancy, human resources and product management? as i feel the degree is very useful for these and will make you more likely to get a career if you want to go into these types of jobs.

I suppose if you want to go into consultancy, the knowledge that you pick up from a management degree would be useful, but it won't get you hired as a consultant. You can get graduates in something completely related like Literature going into consultancy. The general requirements for getting into consultancy requires next to nothing by law, but you are generally expected to be competent in the subject that you're consulting in and you need to be able to sell (people skills essentially).
For human resources, I suppose a management degree can give you exemptions for CIPD, but I generally don't consider the content in management degrees to contain that much about human resources. As CIPD Level 3 doesn't require any prior qualifications, you can more or less jump right in. The CIPD has 3 levels (3, 6, 7), and in total you shouldn't see yourself spending more than £19k to do all 3 levels (£6500 on the low end and if you shop around. see: https://bradfield.co.uk/how-much-does-a-cipd-qualification-cost), if you ever had to pay for all of them yourself. If for some odd reason you need to do a master's related to HR, you usually don't need a specific undergrad in the subject to do it (to my understanding). You also need next to nothing to get into the sector by law, and graduates who do enter the field usually come from a whole variety of backgrounds (like consultancy). You will often get training in the field as a new entrant.

I don't know much about the employment of product managers, so I can't really give a fair assessment of this area. Having said that, the following link suggests that you don't really need a specific degree to do the job: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/production-manager-manufacturing-

As with most jobs, employers usually care more about relevant experience more than anything.

I tend to focus on degrees that are specifically required for jobs (by law ideally) and that you can't get around this requirement without going to university e.g. you can become an accountant, programmer, solicitor, finance professional, writer, and performer without going to university, which can render the point of getting a degree for the sake of these jobs rendundant; however, you cannot get around doing a degree for a career in nursing, vetinary science, dentistry, or teaching, for example.

Thank you for replying, i personally don't know what career i want to go into or what course to take at university which was why i might take business management, however i definitely do not want to make my own business. I know i want to work somewhat within the business sector and was considering an economics degree, but think that it will be too difficult for me so i ruled that out.

Strictly speaking you can go into the business sector with a degree in any subject.
What really holds water in the business sector is usually the professional qualifications for the specific role. For example, I could do a degree in a random subject like Medival History and then still be able to get into any role in business. Should I want to say work in marketing, I can improve my prospects by doing CIM Level 3 (not that it's necessary to do that in order to get a role in marketing).

You don't need a degree in management or economics in order to work in the business sector. And if I want to be really picky, you don't really need any qualifications to work in an entry level role in the business sector. I know of people who barely have GCSEs and still manage to run businesses, become directors, become marketers, and I think one even managed to become an accountant (through indirect means).

The economics degree is useful if you want to become an economist, buit even then it's pushing it if you intend to work in the UK (you can do apprenticeships via Bank of England?some government stream after your A Levels).

I agree with you that you can get into the business sector with any degree, however, since i do not have any other degrees that i am interested in, a business management degree is the safest option for me and i know that i'll enjoy it.