College students should base their
choice of a field of study on the availability of jobs in that field.
Write a response in which you discuss
the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and
supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or
examples that could be used to challenge your position.
Some people believe that college
students should base their choice of a field of study on the availability of
jobs in that field. Other people believe
that passion for the potential work ought to determine a student’s decision in
their choice of study. This division of
camps is surely summarized by the following questions. What should be the deciding factor in
determining a choice of study in college?
Should it be 1) potential career income 2) competitiveness of job
acquisition 3) location of job market 4) suitability of the student for the
work 5) availability of jobs in the field, or 6) some combination of these and
other factors? Let us consider some of
these in turn.
Assume that potential career income is
your Archimedes point. In that case, you
might choose to be an engineer, a lawyer, or a doctor. Assume that you choose an engineer. The problem immediately arises what field of
engineering to choose. Assume again that
you choose chemical engineering based on the idea that chemical engineers are
the highest earning engineers. It may
turn out, though, that chemical engineering is an extremely competitive field,
with the bulk of work being performed in undesirable locations in the world,
and with few jobs available elsewhere.
But, still, the pay is the highest out of the other disciplines. Shall
you choose this field? It seems that
your Archimedes point requires some faith.
And faith never survives without passion.
Let us try the same exercise on
availability of jobs in the field.
Assume that you have inquired into the projected 10 year growth statistics
for jobs and careers. You might discover
that physical and occupational therapists are in high demand and are expected
to grow exponentially in the next 10 years.
In that case, given your new Archimedean point, you decide that PT/OT is
what you will study in college. Have you
considered whether you like working with patients and other people? No, you don’t like working with patients and
other people? In that case, applying the
same criterion, you might discover that the next best career prospect is
accounting. But, even thinking about
mathematics frightens you, and you can’t even imagine spending any amount of
time wearing business attire. In the
same imaginary way, you might consistently apply your criterion, and discover
that the most available job, that pays half way decent, in a location that you
can tolerate, with manageable levels of competitiveness, and sits just right
with you, requires absolutely no college education at all. In that case, your criterion for choosing a
college study has lead you straight out of college and into a career in retail
sales at the ripe age of 19.
Congratulations, you have successfully applied calculative rationality
in the most important aspects of your life.
No, it’s best to remember that faith
without passion cannot survive. And it’s
best to brush aside any simple-minded argument that tells you to apply one
criterion to your own experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment