Inrecentyears,ithasbecomeaprevailingtrendthatstudentswith“hot”degreeslikecomputerscienceorfinancearemorelikelytogetajobthanstudentswitha“cold”degreelikegeography.Therefore,universitiesareconsideringgivingprioritytopracticalcourses.Formypart,Idon’tbelieveitisagoodidea.
Firstandforemost,receivingpreferentialtreatments,studentswhomajorin“hot”majorsmayeventuallyfinditstillhardtofinddesirablejobs,contrarytotheiroptimisticexpectations.Atthesametime,studentswhostudy“cold’majorswilllosetheirconfidenceevenbeforegraduation.Anyway,itwilldefinitelyexertanunfavorableimpactontheirperceptionsofcareerprospects.Secondly,universitiesseemtofailtotakeintoaccountthefactthatitisprettylikelyfortraditionalcoldcoursescanbealteredintoparticlehotcoursessomeday.We’vewitnessedagreatmanyexamplesinthepastdecade,haven’twe?Hadacoldmajornotbeenattachednecessarysignificanceto,studentswouldneverbewillingtochooseit.Astimegoesby,therelevantfieldwillbestarvedoftalentandthusitwillbecomehotagain.
Forallthefactorspresentedabove,Istronglycommittothenotionthatpracticalcoursesshouldnevertakeprecedenceovertraditionalcourses.