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

The stated recommendation certainly makes a plausible case for the overall betterment of the student's future in which a university certainly has an important role, though there are certain reservations and questionable presumptions which make me take a conditional stand on this issue.

Universities do have a responsibility towards their students to train them best for the jobs they want to work in and the fields they want to succeed and flourish in. In such cases, universities should certainly encourage their students to focus more on lucrative fields and subsequently train and educate them, motivate them to cultivate skills and become proficient in such rewarding fields. Although a cynical view might claim that universities would only do this to further burnish their own reputation and dignity and increase their popularity among future students, it is also important to recognize that working in lucrative fields is useful not only a strong foundation for the individual to start earning a respectable salary early on and start responsible saving and prudent investing, but it also allows them to experience financial security. Jobs are needed by a population to survive and satisfy their basic needs as well as occasionally indulge themselves. Any countries economy run on people not only spending on needs, but also on wants and luxuries. Working a job in a lucrative field, such as finance, computer scientist, biologist at private labs or pharmaceutical giants, programmers, etc. allows an individual to take care of not only oneself but also of their family. Jobs pay for houses and car loans, education, utilities, medical bills, etc. and allow an individual to care for their loved ones and provide the best facilities available globally. It also provides a better standard of living for a person, whereby they are rewarded in proportion of their work, making them satisfied and content of their work and encouraging them to work harder and granting them independence by way of savings an investments to sustain them after retirement. Only when we can transcend our basic survival needs can we truly experience life in all its forms and colours, and it is against common sense to force someone to work beyond their capacity just so that they can put food on the table everyday.

It is also important to note that such jobs are highly competitive by nature and while some people may not be able to handle the pressure, those who do can flourish and prosper to an astounding degree. The highly competitive nature allows individuals to work in innovative, novel ways to work more efficiently and effectively. It allows them to inculcate values such as prioritizing, time managements and focusing on select goals (the 80/20 rule, where 80% results can come from 20% input, if the input such as hard work, time are leveraged correctly and focused on select goals), which are useful not only in the jobs but also in daily life. It allows people to collaborate and teaches them to seek help from their peers and the collective brainstorming can sometimes engender new methodologies of working, thinking and novel ideas which are extraordinary and propel the quality of human life forward. This is particularly true in case of pharmaceutical jobs, where people work in groups on vaccines and medicines for new malignant diseases such as those of malaria, typhoid, etc. which claim many millions of lives in developing regions of the world, which have the capability of treating or even curing them and thereby increasing the quality of human life. The Google search algorithm developed by Sergey Brin and his friends has allowed millions of people to access several terrabytes of information at the click of a mouse and the touch of a button, thereby altering the status quo and eradicating hierarchies of experts and laypeople.

This is not to say however, that such lucrative fields are havens for every student. Universities encouraging their students to follow the national or global trend, can force students into jobs which they have no penchant for. Some students may have great skills and enthusiasm, interest for obscure fields and hence, working a job they don't like can only allow for dissatisfaction and stress of work. We must keep in mind that not all people can work in selective fields, because there is always demand for the most eccentric of abilities. Not everyone can work in finance, for instance, because then our society would have no soldiers, policemen, government employees, authors, painters, people in the arts, chefs or even janitors. Thereby, we observe that by the basic laws of economics, when there is a dearth of supply in particular demand sectors, automatically the price of service goes up and new 'lucrative fields' emerge, which can quickly transition from existing established practices and leave several new employees disillusioned and dissatisfied. Also, when one works in a job that one has no interest in, one feels compelled and forced to keep doing it. Also, when their peers are promoted and receive more power than them repeatedly due to poor performance, and such a feeling of compulsion can lead to festering resentment and people becoming overworked and depressed. Medical studies have shown that people who keep working under a feeling of compulsion become depressed and are afflicted by many mental disorders. Finally, a lack of happiness and satisfaction may be compensated by a hefty salary and big bank accounts, but a low quality of life but ironically, a high standard of living.

Thus, we observe that though universities have a duty unto their students to provide them with quality education and keep them well-informed of market demands and job requirements and train them with the requisite skill set, ultimately it should be upto the students to decide on their future. It should not be the university's prerogative to shape the students worldview, but rather to simply provide the tools and allow the student to develop it himself. Such healthy practices would lead to a good standard of living and quality of life.