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

Instructions:
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.

My Essay:
The goal of any educational institution in current society is to mold an individual to be self-sufficient, and further contribute to society. To do that in the current competitive world, a considerable amount of success in one’s professional field is necessary. However, just like one shoe does not fit all, not every field is conducive to everyone. In such a scenario, it is important that there should be mechanisms in place that helps an individual to choose a field of study, or more importantly, makes him aware of the fields in which he has comparatively, less chance of succeeding.

To evaluate the claims that a school must dissuade its students from certain fields, we first need to examine the possible reasons why a student might fail in a field they might choose. One of the reasons might be the lack of talent. Talent can be defined as the innate ability to carry out a challenging task with ease. An individual with talent in a particular field finds it extremely easy to excel in a field due to the less amount of time taken to learn the skill and a better success rate. Further, it is important for one’s talent fits with one’s professional field. In the current competitive world, an individual having a talent deficit in his/her professional field will face considerable difficulty excelling in that field. For example, an individual with a short height will have to struggle a lot against tall competitors in the field of basketball.

Another reason that a student might not succeed is due to lack of opportunities. Opportunities can be defined as the chances and the necessary infrastructural support an individual needs to gain success in his/her field. It depends on many factors, mostly controlled by an external environment on which an individual has less or no control. Lack of opportunities even results in possession of talent being redundant. For example, a talented athlete in a poor African country might lose out to a less or equally talented individual in international competition due to a lack of proper nutrition, training, and practice.

Therefore, it is important for a student to have a good evaluation of both talent and opportunities available to him, before choosing a field of study. However, since the students are most likely to be in their formative years, they are less likely to have that expertise which hampers their ability to make an informed decision. The educational institutions on the other side due to years of experience and expertise can assist the students in their endeavor. However, before any course of action, one must ensure that the schools have systems in place such as career counselors and advisors who can guide the students according to their specific paradigm.

One possible counterargument against this policy might be that a student, even with a talent and opportunities handicap can excel in a field. This requires extreme struggle, something which most people are reluctant to do, and hence, the statistical likelihood of such an incident occurring becomes very less. Another shortcoming of this policy is that there is a possibility of misjudgment of the above parameters on the part of the school. To accommodate both shortcomings, it is extremely important that the action of the institution is advisory in nature, and not prohibitive. Such an action leaves enough room for a student to still pursue his/her field of choice and become successful.

In conclusion, after analyzing the possible causes, we can reasonably agree that some fields of study are inherently not suited for certain individuals. To decrease the chances of such mismatch one of the solutions to the above problem is in the hands of the institutions imparting education. However, it is important that the action must not desert the student completely of his will, and gives him enough room to defy the odds if he can.