It is a sad day when a local university decides to pull one of the old core subject areas (physics)due to lack of interest and due to “economic reasons”. I am wondering whether this change in trends is because people see science and maths as dull subjects? Or whether it is because softer subjects such as Business and Art are seen to be easier to gain a degree in.
Does this mean that we will see other universities follow in this direction and the sciences become a subject supplied only by very few specialist science universities? We have seen that the number of entrants into the IT subjects also fall over the years, is this a trend that is occurring across the country and across all sciences? Where are universities failing to attract students and why? Is it the entry requirments, the course materials or something else?
If this trend has been seen by universities then why aren’t they doing something positive to entice students to these subjects especially with the IT courses? The IT industry has more jobs available than people to do them… so in theory it shouldn’t be a hard sell. Maybe it is time for the universities to stop sitting around expecting students to just apply, and explain to them properly what they can gain from such courses and training.
I wonder… what do the students going through school at the moment think of maths, chemistry, physics, biology and computers? Where do they see the future? What subjects are really interesting them and why? Lets see where perception and reality differ.
About Sarah Lamb
Sarah is the founder of the Girl Geek Dinners & GirlyGeekdom. She is a lover of gadgets, geeky things and sport! Find out more about her on her website.
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