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What field of math can I major in to make an positive or helpful impact on the world?

I am a high school junior who is very interested in the field of Mathematics. I am taking Calculus next year, and I already love it! I want to do something with my life that is meaningful and leaves a good mark on the planet and the people around me. I just do not know where to go with this field after college. #mathematics #human-services

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Michael’s Answer

Congratulations on your love for Math. The great thing about Math is it is the language of all the sciences in one way or another and there is almost no area of life that is not enhanced by someone with strong math skills. If you use a lap top, a cell phone, a TV set you are using devices that depend for their development on an understanding of physics and engineering topics that themselves would not exist if some math expert had not developed the mathematical tools to understand the science behind these things. In medicine no medicines or treatments or diagnostic tools would exist if there were not experts in a math field called " biostatistics" that develop the math techniques needed to compare different kinds of medicines in clinical studies, or for the decide if medicines were safe for large numbers of patients. I could go on all day. Even sports has math experts playing a role, as many major league teams look carefully at player statistics to help assemble the best team and compare different players. This is especially true of baseball, but applies more and more to other sports as well. I can go on , but you get the idea. My advice to you is to feel good about pursuing math any way you want all of it is great. If along the way you happen to find a science that interests you, than learning about that science may help as well.
Good Luck!
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Simeon’s Answer

I'd recommend looking into anything engineering-related, as its a very practical form of mathematics. There are engineers who do a lot of humanitarian work in the world like building wells in far-off countries or helping build low-income housing in the states.
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Kavitha’s Answer

Great question. We have a lot of data in the world today that is being used to automate processes, decisions etc. However, our data has a lot of noise too. For instance, gender representation is a big gap. All our data sets today are skewed by availability - since there are more men than women everywhere, our analysis and recommendations suit men more than women. Like, the car seat belt is designed to support men drivers best, and leaves women at high risk of accidents. Do think about how math can be used to clean up this data, to make gender more relevant when we arrive at solutions for the world.
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