Finding the way forward

Updated on: Tuesday, June 02, 2009

It is the balance between passion and pragmatism that is driving students’ career choices in the current economic scene.

Over 10,000 students and parents attended the The Hindu EducationPlus Career Fair 2009 in Chennai, and despite their diverse educational backgrounds and course interests, there was one prevailing concern in everyone’s mind — the impact of the global economic downturn on employment opportunities. “I came here to find out which courses would ensure a job for me even with the recession,” said T. Amirta who is only in Class XI but wants to plan ahead because of the current economic trends. “There is absolutely no room for pursuing your passion if it does not have employment potential, especially now that companies are drastically cutting down on employees,” said K. Aparna’s father, showing that parents too shared similar sentiments.

Despite the economic slowdown being a source of anxiety, for some students, it was not a major factor in choosing courses. This was especially the case among those who had already chosen their fields of study and would not change it just because of the current trends. “I learnt during the seminar that economics is a good course to take especially because of the downturn. But I still want to study engineering,” said P. Uma. “Crisis or not, I am only interested in architecture and textile design,” said T.L. Thanuja, echoing the same sentiments.

The IT courses were also popular among students despite the industry taking a hit during the economic slowdown. “There has been no decrease in students signing up for our courses. IT skills are still sought after by employers,” commented Deepa Albert from NIIT.

In line with the view that the recession would only cause a “temporary slowdown” in India, expressed by chairman and managing director of the Indian Bank, M.S. Sundara Rajan, during his inaugural speech, many students were confident that the economic situation would have improved in their favour by the time they graduated in three to four years time. This eye on the future also led many students to consider less conventional courses that are upcoming growth industries.

As a result, booths promoting offbeat courses such as fashion design and marine sciences, as well as courses in emerging industries such as event management enjoyed a good response over both days of the event. “I came here intending to have a look at engineering courses only. Now I think there are so many other options I can choose from,” said Rajesh Kumar. Holding a similar view, K. Aruna said, “I never knew I could make a career out of my passion for fashion.” Even though there was a lot of excitement and curiosity about these courses, many students fell short of expressing genuine commitment towards enrolling for them. “People still worry that this is a less safe option,” said Mani from the event management booth. “They worry about a lower pay scale or weak employment prospects if they take our course even though it’s a growth industry.” With such sentiments prevailing, many still chose to take up courses which have been conventionally regarded as prestigious and lucrative, and there were diverse motivating factors behind this trend.

“I am interested in EEE and there is no room for parents influence. This decision was based only my passion,” was the enthusiastic response from Aarti, a student at the fair, when asked why she was keen on engineering.

“MBBS is my dream since I simply love biology. If not MBBS, then something connected to paramedical courses will be my choice,” said Saranya, also citing interest as the main motivation.

However, while some students mentioned personal interests, parental pressure prevailed as the overarching factor for the course choices made by many others. Reflecting the general sentiment of many parents, R.P. Selvam, who had come with his daughter, said, “I want her to look at Computer Science courses and second choice will be IT.”

The hindu

Finding the way forward

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