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Issue 32: College students should basetheir choice of a field of study on the availability of jobs in that field
Students always face the dilemma whenindicating their preferences on the field of study they are going to pursue:should job availability be the first priority or should personal interest orother factors be the base of their choices? Yet before making choices betweenthe two sides, we should define the function or the goal of education.
Education is one of the methods tofacilitate people on their way of pursuing a good life, covering two mainaspects that are survival and development. The choice based on job openingsconcerns more on the survival function of education while the other sheds morelight on the development. In my opinion, since both of the sides are importantelements in one’s life, the major choice should base on the combination of thetwo.
First of all, we have to admit thateducation is one of the means to ensure that people could live a decent lifebecause the fundamental goal of education, with no exception to collegeeducation, is to teach the most basic knowledge and primary skills for one toproperly survive in the society. Moreover, after careful scrutiny of the jobmarket, a student may want to pursue an area of expertise which couldfacilitate him/her to live a even better life, and thus he/she would voluntarilychoose a career that best suits the market need for positions.
Universities may also have incentives toimprove their career services so that they could attract more good students toget enrolled. To build and maintain the reputation for a high rate of employmentafter graduation, colleges will encourage students to pursue the fields whichwould be potentially in demand in the job market.
Nevertheless, education is not just for thebasic needs of one’s survival. Education, especially higher education, shouldbe more focused on helping students knowing themselves, discovering theirpotentials, being encouraged to chase the dreams deeply rooted in their heartsand finally, developing into people who care about the well-being of thesociety and the future of the mankind. In that case, other factors should beconsidered thoroughly.
Personal interest and talents should be oneof the first priorities when choosing the field of study, since one could do alot better and easily excel in the field which he/she likes and where his/hertalents lie. One may argue that, for example, a person whose talent lies mainlyin arts and history may find it hard to get jobs after graduation, so shouldhe/she still pursue a degree in arts and history? In fact, there are solutionsavailable for people like that because they can always choose a minor field oreven double degrees so that the other discipline, which would normally betargeted for job requirements, could compensate for the weakness of arts andhistory. In addition to that, it is a waste of resources when a person majorsin an area which he is not really keen on, for this is a typical wrongallocation of talents and other education resources.
Life goals and social responsibilitieswould also step in when choices of studies lie ahead. Those who are socommitted to their childhood dreams of becoming a diploma may choose to majorin international relations compared with those who choose a business major,originating from an idea of setting up their own chocolate factory the firsttime they taste chocolates when they are young. Normally, we would considerthat the job shots in business world would always be a lot more than those inthe political sectors, yet the life-long goals of people will lead them to makedifferent choices. The same goes for social responsibilities, and this can bedemonstrated by people with outstanding academic records who choose botany andstruggle thought their life to protect endangered plants because of theirbelief of human’s responsibilities to keep the balance of the nature, althoughthe major is not that hot in labor markets.
In summary, the choice between majors willnot be affected only by job availability, and other factors should be takeninto account. An ideal choice of major should be both suitable for personalgoals and the needs of the social environment, which can be shown by the needsof the labor markets. |
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发表于 2012-10-6 21:02:23
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楼主
，不知道你多久完稿的？
