Educational institutions have a responsibility to dissuade students from pursuing fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed.

Education and the choices pertaining to it play an extremely crucial role in the life of any student and these decisions with regard to the various fields of study, the various interests of a person are instrumental in creating a path for a student’s future. Though the various education systems implemented in most parts of the world today, are such designed, so as to enable a student to develop and understand their potential. The institutions and faculty are expected to guide the students to the right decisions while prioritising the student’s passion and potential.

Although this system has the provision to be a free arena for ideas and holistic growth, the system and its components are designed during the late 1900s, and hence largely reflect the effects of the economic and societal conditions of the time. Looking at this from the perspective of a nation like India, where the education system is a derivation from the colonial system implemented by the British regime, the system was set to suit the needs of the nation and develop the required workforce. Engineering and Medicine turned to be the most sought after career options due to the dearth and lack of growth in the technology sector when compared to the west. This resulted in a large fraction of students being made to opt for the mentioned streams irrespective of their passion or talents in other fields. Enter 2000s, the technological boom and the stabilisation of economy, which can be largely credited to the large technical workforce created over the past decades, resulted in a situation where the millennial generation is required to proliferate into a wide array of career choices and prospects. Engineering and Medical science became just two of the many choices to pursue a career in amongst equally important and flourishing fields of art, music, journalism and many more.

Inspite of these various openings, it is seen that students these days continue the trend of choosing the streams which provide better renumeration and security. Although this is obviously a stable and good choice for the student but it doesn't account for the chance that the student might have a talent or passion that might allow him to excel in fields not popularly known for its renumeration. In fact the continuous consolidation in a few flourishing areas leads to a narrowed down development and inadequate growth in the other sectors which could benefit from the talent of the youth. Educational institutions must guide a student to success but should not take for granted the student’s passion or talent which might not be constrained to institutional boundaries. Institutions must act as mentors and let the students decide the direction they desire to give to their careers. If implemented that students be dissuaded from choosing career paths that are not generic and are not known for their high rewards, the important question to consider here shall be, is fair and good remuneration the only yardstick for success?

From the perspective of a millennial student, one who has been exposed to the modern wonders of technology, the leaps in scientific evolution and who is a part of the generation of the largest technical workforce in modern times, compulsion to choose a career path for the mere sight of remuneration is not just irrational but inexpedient. A student who is following and working on something that is not his passion, might not be able to perform in the field to the best of his or her abilities, worse crumble under the contrived pressure. The intransigence of the administrators to effectively allow for a holistic growth of a student and allow him or her to unfurl into paths of their own choice and potential, not just harms the student but the nation’s workforce in general, which becomes deficient of the variety of expertise demanded by these times. Let us take the exam of India, a developing nation with one of the fastest growing working middle class, a nation which churns 14 lakh engineering graduates alone each year. Traditionally, medicine and engineering are the most sought after career choices in the country which has in turn resulted in a scenario where the workforce is impaired in the fields creative arts and humanities. Even till date, a country which is pretty much self sufficient in technology, relies on the creative input and mastery of the west for its advertising, media and audio visual industry. Another example shall take us further into the intricate and varied career choices inside the broad spectrum of engineering. The ‘IT Boom’ of the early 2000s led to the development of a large IT industry in India, which constantly demands the influx of graduates in computer based engineering streams. Over the past two decades, a larger number of students have opted for streams related to Computers and Technology than any other stream. This has led to an insufficient and limited development of workforce in other fields of engineering like mechanical, electrical etc and the industry has seen very less creativity in recent times. Another outcome that transpired is that a large number of IT professionals have let go of their careers midway to pursue greener pastures in other fields altogether.

It is high time that it is realised, that each and every field of science and the arts is equally important and a student must be allowed a free hand to choose which ever path he or she deems fit. Education institutions necessarily have the responsibility to guide a student to the various good prospects but should not dissuade them from pursuing fields they display potential in. Selection of fields for a student has been a challenge and more often than not, these decisions are temporal in the minds of the budding youth, which necessitates the mentorship of institutions, but should not transpire into an imposition.