As someone who majored in chemical engineering, I wouldn't recommend it. It's too overspecialized imo (although it is possible that my school's program just wasn't that good). One person that I have worked with described it as "glorified plumbing", and I think that's accurate. It mostly just teaches you how to optimize chemical processing plants, which a) isn't really a field that's doing a lot of hiring right now, and b) is dominated by oil & gas. If you're interested in chemical engineering, I'd suggest doing it as a minor, not a major.
If you're interested in regenerative medicine, then biomedical engineering would be a good choice.
I'd say that for the things leftists tend to care about, the best STEM fields are:
civil engineering (if you want to build roads & bridges & infrastructure & buildings)
electrical engineering, with electives that focus on large-scale energy production (if you want to work in renewable energy & smart energy grids) (this is what I'm now wishing I had done)
environmental engineering (for working in environmental restoration, superfund sites, air quality regulation, municipal water plants, waste management, etc.)
food science or agricultural science (for working in sustainable agriculture)
Fields that are very versatile and and non-specialized, and should enable you to get a job in something that isn't evil:
math (almost all companies need people who can do data analysis & statistics)
information systems (all companies need people who can manage computer systems)
computer science
mechanical engineering (I disagree with what you said about this one in your OP)
electrical engineering
Also, just as a tangent: if you major materials science & engineering, you should probably go all the way with it and get a phd, because at least right now, it seems like most of the jobs in that area are research-based and require a phd. Maybe in 10 years it'll be different, and there'll be more matsci jobs that are process-focused and only need a bachelors.
As someone who majored in chemical engineering, I wouldn't recommend it. It's too overspecialized imo (although it is possible that my school's program just wasn't that good). One person that I have worked with described it as "glorified plumbing", and I think that's accurate. It mostly just teaches you how to optimize chemical processing plants, which a) isn't really a field that's doing a lot of hiring right now, and b) is dominated by oil & gas. If you're interested in chemical engineering, I'd suggest doing it as a minor, not a major.
If you're interested in regenerative medicine, then biomedical engineering would be a good choice.
I'd say that for the things leftists tend to care about, the best STEM fields are:
Fields that are very versatile and and non-specialized, and should enable you to get a job in something that isn't evil:
Also, just as a tangent: if you major materials science & engineering, you should probably go all the way with it and get a phd, because at least right now, it seems like most of the jobs in that area are research-based and require a phd. Maybe in 10 years it'll be different, and there'll be more matsci jobs that are process-focused and only need a bachelors.
deleted by creator