- A rising trend is being witnessed among students giving up their field of interest to adopt job-oriented fields
Shrinking job market and lack of incentives in the field of Information Technology and Social Sciences has forced students to deviate from their core areas of interest and study business and media sciences only for the sake of attaining jobs.
This was revealed by a study of admission trends conducted by Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute for Science and Technology (SZABIST).
Findings of the study were shared at the orientation ceremony, a bi-annual event held at a local hotel to welcome freshly enrolled bachelors, masters, M.Phil and Ph.D students.
The study revealed that during the last semester, about 50 percent of the 400 new entrants took admission in Social and Computer Sciences at SZABIST, but this semester a drastic shift was witnessed with more than 50 percent students opting for Media Sciences and Business Administration studies despite their lack of interest in these fields.
Background interaction with the students revealed that they were giving up their respective areas of interests, which they had been studying for the past 2 to 6 years and opting for other fields only to ensure their economic survival.
Students believes that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find jobs in social and computer sciences sector, while media and business sectors comparatively offered better employment prospects due to mushroom growth of private channels and business companies.
Ali Hamza (24) an MBA student said that he had earlier opted for computer sciences but later switched to MBA as he believed that computer sciences no longer offered bright career prospects.
Another student also interested in doing computer sciences but enrolled in media studies seeking anonymity said, “I could have done much better as a computer professional but I do not know much about future prospects of this discipline.”
Faculty members at SZABIST expressed concern over this trend saying students giving up their core areas of interest only because they cannot find jobs can deprive the country of several talented professionals.
However, SZABIST Campus Head Dr Bakhtiar Ali and faculty members gave a detailed orientation to the newly enrolled students.
President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Zafar Bakhtawari was the chief guest on the occasion and shared effective ways and means of becoming successful entrepreneurs in their respective fields with the students.
