Educational institutions should actively encourage their students to choose fields of study that will prepare them for lucrative careers.
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.

This topic raises a controversial issue of whether educational institutions should actively encourage students to select fields of study that will prepare them for profitable careers. Indisputably, the endgame of education is to be employed in a rewarding and successful career. Notwithstanding that every individual aims for a successful career, whether one enjoys a successful and rewarding career does not depend on pursuing a lucrative field of study in the university. Rather whether one is successful in any field of study depends on one’s aptitude in that field as well as the determination to become good in that field. As a result, I disagree that educational institutions should force students to choose fields of study for that promise rewarding salaries. Thus, I would argue that educational institutions encourage students to follow their interest and aptitude when selecting a field of study since that is the only assurance of one enjoying a rewarding career.

First of all, self-actualization rather than the pursuit of profit should be the aim of all students. I would like to point out that, pursuing a field of study that is linked to profitable occupations does not guarantee one a profitable job. To illustrate, let us consider a student who lacks interest and aptitude in engineering but is influenced to pursue it anyway because it is considered a lucrative profession. This individual will struggle throughout university to gain a degree in a field he/she is not naturally inclined. Upon graduation, he might struggle his entire life trying to hold down a job since he lacks the aptitude to perform in such a field. On the other hand, an individual who pursues his interest that is catering, a less lucrative job, might become extremely successful and would enjoy a very profitable career. From this it is pretty obvious that interest and aptitude dictate whether one will enjoy a successful and rewarding career.

Furthermore, educational institutions influencing students to pursue specific careers deemed lucrative will create severe imbalances in the job market. Specifically, let us imagine a world with all graduates skewed to fields deemed important by universities. This would create a job market with high competition for the fields considered lucrative and since jobs are always limited, this will render numerous graduates unemployed. From another angle, this will create large shortages and gaps in human resource in fields that are considered not profitable. This will lead to a chaotic and severely imbalance nation. After all, every nation needs a good mix of professionals to develop and grow efficiently. Consequently, it is clear that educational institutions should not be given the mandate to interfere in the career decisions that students take.

Admittedly, opposing school of thought may argue that, the aim of education is for one to gain a rewarding career. This is true especially if that career converges with the aptitude of the individual as well as his/her interests. Thus, this does not serve as a sufficient support that educational institutions should force students to fields that are lucrative. Rather with the support of universities, students must assess themselves, their aptitude skills and their interest and use this as a guide to select their preferable careers.

In conclusion, although a rewarding career is important, it should not be the basis on which one should selects a field of study. Rather one must consider his/her interests and aptitude primarily to ensure a successful career.