[quote=AN][quote=maybe]Electrical Eng: It is hard to go wrong with EE. They are always in demand, but it may be a little too abstract for a kid who likes to touch things. Math is life and death in this field– if you can’t do it, you die.[/quote]
I can personally vouch for this statement. But the demand is much less than CS. Out of the handful of EE friends that I still keep in touch with, only 2 are doing EE related work. One is doing PM (Project Management) and 5 are doing CS work.[/quote]
EE’s mostly end up doing software or embedded software. (Raising my hand as an example)

Personally, I’d be looking at it from a few perspectives… what is easily outsourced vs what is harder to be outsourced.

Civil and structural engineering are harder to outsource since they have to be able to be at a job site. That said – who knows when large development will kick back in – civil is all about dirt, grading, water, etc. Structural is everything from retaining walls, to support beams in buildings. Both civil and structural seem to charge high fees (at least it appears that way from a consumer point of view – we had a civil and 2 structural engineers on our casita.)

Petroleum engineering was mentioned – but what about Geology. You can have careers in the oil/nat’l gas field – or do soil reports for building. So there are multiple career paths.

The other fields, depending on how motivated a student. Nursing – especially if you go for nurse practitioner… cheaper than getting an MD, but lower future salary potential. Physicians Assistant – much shorter school commitment, but only a few schools have programs. More demand for PA’s and NP’s to contain healthcare costs.

If your son is really motivated – along the nursing line… but teaching… Get a PhD in nursing. There is a HUGE shortage of nurse educators. My stepmom is a Phd nurse and they won’t let her quit/retire. It’s a field with HUGE demand.