This Pandemic Is Influencing Students’ Choice Of Major

The pandemic affected the Class of 21 college major’s election (Image: Getty Creative)

getty

It is no surprise to learn that many students have rethought their study choices after the pandemic.

Economic upheavals, once secure jobs that suddenly become vulnerable, the importance of good health care and the reverence for science and research as a guide could play a role in the decision-making of the students.

But if you thought that this would lead to a surge in interest in STEM and health-related degrees and away from the liberal arts, you are mistaken.

Students who say the pandemic affected their study choices are far more likely to choose foreign languages, humanities, and ethnic and gender-based degrees than medicine and STEM-related degrees.

About four in ten of 21-year-olds said the pandemic had affected their choice of college major, according to a survey for advice and information site Intelligent.com.

And among these students there is a clear preference for humanities subjects over science and health care.

Students were six times more likely to choose foreign languages ​​or literature when they said their choice was affected by the pandemic than those who said it did not affect them.

The pandemic had also encouraged significantly more students to opt for the humanities, history, public administration, and gender, cultural and ethnology.

One possible explanation is that students want to grapple with some of the issues raised by the pandemic as well as some of the issues that have been at the fore over the past year, such as Black Lives Matter and trans rights.

But interest in health care and related fields was lower among students who said the pandemic was a factor in their choice of subject than among those who said they didn’t consider it.

This could be due to the perceived burden that dealing with Covid-19 places on healthcare workers.

A similar picture emerged for STEM subjects such as biomedicine, engineering, and computer and information technology.

However, general interest in STEM subjects had increased slightly for grade 21 compared to the proportion of university degrees in 2018/19.

The biggest overall winners were architecture, law, agriculture and philosophy, and religious studies.

Major subjects, whose overall interest had declined, included English literature, journalism, and parks and leisure activities.

The results come from a survey that found that just over a quarter (27%) of students in the UK said higher education was good value for money during the pandemic, its lowest on record.

More than four in 10 (44%) said their course had bad or very bad value, with lack of face-to-face contact with staff being a major problem. More than half of the respondents said that their expectations were not met.

British universities, despite the pressure, have largely refused to offer fee refunds to offset the disruption caused by the pandemic.

The UK Department of Education also released figures today showing the median earnings for various college subjects five years after graduation.

Medicine and dentistry top the list, followed by economics, veterinary science, and engineering. At the other end of the spectrum are media and journalism, English studies and the performing arts, with creative arts and design bringing up the rear.

Nursing and midwifery graduates were most likely to be in a secure job five years after graduation, followed by medicine and dentistry and veterinary medicine. Graduates of language and regional studies were the least likely to be gainfully employed or in postgraduate studies.

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/this-pandemic-is-influencing-students-choice-of-major/