We all know that lefties are a bit different from righties. But did you know that being left-handed can give you a leg up in specific careers?
Despite the challenges lefties face in a right-handed world, many professions are perfect for those who are left-handed. From designers to surgeons, lefties can find careers in which they can use their unique skill set to their advantage.
So if you’re a lefty looking for a career change, read on! These are the best careers for left-handers.
Architects
Left-handers also make excellent architects. In fact, the number of students who tend to complete their 6-year programs is more left-handed than right-handed. For example, in a 1976 architect class, 21% of the students were left-handed males with significantly higher scores in several academic areas. In addition, they had better grade point averages and design scores. Whereas right-handed students were noticed to have almost zero mean scores. This shows that left-handers are gifted in architectural abilities.
Astronauts
You will be surprised to learn that left-handers can make great astronauts too. In fact, 1 in 4 astronauts during the 1960s were lefties who were being trained to be sent to space. This was astonishingly high and 250% greater than the expected probability. Three of these lefty astronauts even made it to the moon as a part of the Apollo 11 crew.
Entrepreneurs
Today, many of the biggest names in the world of business are left-handers, including Henry Ford, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs. Instead, they are innovators, industry leaders, software engineers, and mathematicians who made their mark in the world by stepping into entrepreneurship.
Many notable entrepreneurs are left-handers because they are great problem solvers and tend to think outside the box. They do business differently and have their own way of tackling problems. As a result, there are more successful left-handed businessmen than is expected.
Lawyers
Since left-handers have superior verbal abilities, they make better lawyers. Therefore, left-handers are overrepresented in this career. Research in 1996 that studied nine different professional groups, including lawyers, found that out of the lawyers in the study, most of them were left-handed.
Leaders and Politicians
Given how left-handers have far superior skills than right-handed people, it is no surprise that left-handers make great leaders and politicians. In fact, many world leaders and US presidents are left-handed, including Barack Obama, Harry S. Truman, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Herbert Hoover, and Bill Clinton. There are eight US presidents that are left-handed, which is a considerable percentage. Even though some of these lefties were forced to use their right hand, they still remained lefties or ambidextrous.
Mathematicians
Left-handers are great mathematicians in some areas, but this topic is highly controversial. Because overall cognitive ability is connected to brain lateralization, some experts believe that that is the reason handedness is correlated to cognitive skills.
Several studies have been carried out with differing results. However, there does appear to be a lower representation of strong right-handedness in STEM subjects and a much lower representation of mixed-handedness.
Media
Left-handers are also said to have superior verbal skills compared to their right-handed counterparts. According to a study conducted in 1986 on SAT’s high achievers, left-handers were more prevalent. In fact, 20% of the high achievers were left-handers who dominated the verbal and math sections.
Software Engineers
Left-handed people are certainly more creative. However, left-handers make better software engineers because they are made to live and adjust themselves to the world of right-handers. This creates unique abilities that can be a great advantage, especially in software engineering.
They are better problem solvers and prove to be better at adjusting to the changes that come their way. They are also better at using a keyboard and multi-tasking than their right-handed counterparts. Therefore, they are more advantageous when writing code and solving problems. After all, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg are all left-handed.
Sports
Left-handers are pretty easy to come by in sports, especially when you face an opponent. We have seen a lot of left-handed star players, such as Wasim Akram, Ding Ning, and Clayton Kershaw. And there is a reason why left-handers are over-represented in some sports but not others, such as
According to a study published in Biology Letters, being left-handed gives players a slight advantage in sports where they face a right-handed opponent. That’s because this gives left-handers an edge, as their right-handed opponents are unfamiliar with their moves and require time to process them and adjust their gameplay accordingly. That’s why there is a high percentage of left-handers in interactive sports.
Writers, Artists, and Musicians
Left-handed artists, writers, and musicians are more creatively gifted than their right-handed counterparts. According to the American Journal of Psychology, left-handed people have an advantage over right-handed people as they are more adept at divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is the process of generating ideas that have multiple possible solutions.
Surveys conducted on left-handed, ambidextrous, and right-handed people found that lefties find careers like arts, music, writing, and sports more accessible. They are drawn toward career paths as those associated with the brain’s right hemisphere, which is dominant in left-handers.
Conclusion
So there you have it. The best careers for left-handers. If you’re a left-hander, don’t forget to share your own experiences with us. We’d love to hear your experiences.