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.

Educational institutions have heavy responsibilities carrying on their shoulders, as they are nourishing our future generations of labor and intelligence. When it comes to choosing a career path, profits are certainly an important part of standards; thus, some people argue that educational institutions should encourage students to pursue lucrative careers. However, I believe that students should be responsible for the choices of their own future, and educational institutions should objectively advise students for their decisions.

Nowadays, the pace of life becomes faster and faster, and people strive for a high rank in work to obtain more money. It seems like the definition of success is richness. Regardless, money is not the only standard for career paths. If the educational institutions emphasize too much on the profits of careers, it will mislead the students into a wrong belief that the purpose of life is money. There are many careers that are meaningful for the development of society, but not necessarily lucrative. These jobs are equally important as profitable jobs such as bankers and engineers. For instance, in the Texas medical center, there are hundreds of clinical researchers striving to find solutions to treating cancers, diabetes, and mental illnesses. They tend not to earn much compared with other jobs, such as IT, businessmen, but their work could possibly save lives and create medical miracles that lead society ahead: the invention of the CRISPR/Cas9 system allows humans to change their innate genetic backgrounds, which has led to discoveries of important drug targets in various medical conditions. As a result, every position in society is indispensable, and money cannot be the only standard for measuring success. Schools should instill this notion of positivity and equality into their students, our society’s next generation so that we can develop in a better direction.

Secondly, the students can be discouraged if their intended majors of study are not lucrative, which further hinders their study. When schools put too much stress on students to earn money in their careers, they will leave out those who have real passions for certain fields, and their love can serve as a guide for them to accomplish incredible achievements. Ignoring these students can do harm to our society as we abandon so many talented people that could benefit and make a difference to the world.

What’s more, lucrative majors are not extensive, meaning that if everyone is persuaded to pursue them, there will be much greater competition in these fields. With a growing population, there have already been many burdens on the graduated students to find a job. In China, above 60% of undergraduates choose to pursue a master’s or Ph.D. degree because they cannot obtain a job in time. With more people concentrating on particular lucrative fields, it will, in fact, make it harder for them to earn money. As a result, not only can the original goal of making profits be hardly achieved, but the job market will be packed with specialized people who cannot find jobs. On the other hand, few people are suitable for the less lucrative jobs, where positions are open but no one has enough professional knowledge that can fit. This great gap between job positions creates inequality, which could potentially sabotage society’s stability.

Some people may argue that students are sometimes not capable of making logical and wise decisions for themselves because they lack social experience. I agree that undergraduate students are young and they make mistakes when deciding their future. Hence, I believe that it is crucial for schools to provide them with objective and comprehensive advice on every field. Educational institutions should give opportunities for them to explore a diverse range of fields so that they can make better decisions before going down their career paths. In conclusion, even though monetary rewards are important for sustaining a living, educational institutions cannot make it into a basis for encouraging students to choose their careers.