Educational institutions have a responsibility to dissuade students from pursuing fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed.

In as much as educational institutions can counsel students on what career path to take, I do not think they should dissuade them from achieving their career dreams. The recommended field of study may be at variance with what the student wants to be.

Great students are emerging out of natural desire for a particular field. Classroom tests can justify the reason for educational institution to dissuade students from pursuing a particular field of study but the student’s natural ability can help him/her to excel in the field of study despite initial failure. Remember the story of Thomas Edison, the man that discovered the electric light bulb. He failed many times before he finally developed the electric bulb. It is surprising to note that Edison was a school drop out but his discovery affected his generation positively, even generations yet unborn. Thus, initial failure or setback may not be an end in itself but means to a better end. Imagine what the world would have missed if Edison was dissuaded from continuing his works in bulbs. There are many school drop-outs in life today that have achieved tremendous success in various fields of study, which have helped shaped the world.

Another example is Bill Gates. He was a school drop out but his achievement in computer applications is felt all over the world today. He probably might have failed courses in mathematics and natural sciences and may have been dissuaded from computing that requires numerical abilities, but by keeping his eye on the bigger picture, he achieved fame and fortune in computing. It’s possible that some students of his time that were persuaded to study a particular field of study had achieved academic success in that field but surely none has contributed much to mankind like Bill.
Today, we see people that have excelled in their academic fields but are not happy in their current endeavor. This class of people is susceptible to depression and suicide, probably because they were dissuaded from doing what they actually wanted to study. Educational institutions in an attempt to turn out top grade graduates, which in turn advertises the school, may compromise the happiness of the student to academic excellence.

A student may perform poorly in the prerequisite courses leading to his/her desired course of study, which determines the direction of the student’s career. But it is possible for him/her to do better on these courses in another instance of time. The student’s mental state and other uncontrollable conditions may have caused his/her failure. An example of the first surgeon in the history of the world that successfully separated the Siamese twin (the binder twin) readily comes to mind. Dr Ben Carson was the poorest student academically at elementary school but through hard work and persistence, he shot to the top of his class and eventually became a neurosurgeon that performed an incredible operation in the medical history. I think that if the students are given another chance to redo those prerequisite courses he/she might do well and happily enter his/her desired field of study than for the institution to out rightly dissuade them from their field of study.

Judging from the above illustrations: the consuming desire and the likelihood of success after a failure, I do not support educational institutions dissuading students from fields of study rather they should set up a mechanism to help the students actualize their dreams.