College students should base their choice of a field of study on the availability of jobs in that field.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to

In the past few decades, higher education has significantly expanded to a wider population while it used to be limited to elites. Accordingly, there has been a great deal of discussion as to what purpose college education serves and should serve. Some argue, as the prompt states, that individuals should focus on the availability of jobs in the field when considering what to study. In contrast, others claim that it would be such a myopic approach. A careful analysis of an ever-changing and unpredictable labor market, coupled with the value of wider interdisciplinary studies lends credence to the view that individuals will benefit from looking beyond job availability.

The primary reason why individuals should be cautious when analyzing the availability of jobs is that today’s labor market may not be an accurate reflection of the future one. Whereas numerous bodies of research predict that half of the current jobs in the world will disappear in the next few decades, other analysts argue that it would not be the case. To illustrate this divided controversy, there is a growing concern that teachers, with the advent of ever-growing technologies such as MOOCs, will be replaced by machines. On the contrary, critics dispute this prediction by arguing that teachers who cannot only instruct but also guide will be needed more than ever in order to foster skills that machines are not armed with such as critical and creative thinking. As this debated is closely related to the ways in which society and its culture alike value education, it is extremely difficult to discount either of the sides. With this complexity of the future’s job market, therefore, it would not be advisable to solely focus on the availability of jobs that appears to exist now.

Another point that merits consideration is that a broader focus on multiple areas of study can be more beneficial than one that is strictly bound to the job availability in a specific field. To exemplify this, Steve Jobs at a commencement speech at Stanford University pinpointed the value of discovering how to “connect the dots” as a means of innovation. Although he was unable to understand the true value of liberal arts education when he was in college, where he took a calligraphy course, he later on realized that it undoubtedly built the strong foundation of the Mac computer, a groundbreaking gadget equipped with various artistic fonts. In retrospect, taking various subjects without limiting himself to one specific field based on its job availability enabled him to be one of the most successful visionaries and CEOs in the world. In this manner, when choosing what to study, students should not eliminate the possibility of studying multiple fields just because the current job market suggests otherwise.

Yet, although the examples above illustrate the limitations of the presented statement, we cannot go as far to conclusively dismiss the importance of considering the availability of jobs. In the United States of America, for instance, college debt has reached more than 1.3 trillion USD, an ever-increasing burden that surpasses the amount of mortgage loans. It is not unusual for a college graduate to graduate with 50,000 USD debt, which makes it rational for the individual to seek immediate employability. As it is this abysmal reality that pressures a considerable amount of students to choose a field of study based on employability, it is reasonable to argue that students may feel more empowered to pursue other options had the situation been better. Therefore, while employability is in reality one of the factors to take into account for a number of college students, it should not be the only factor.

In sum, while there are arguments to be made for both sides, it can be argued that college students may be better off looking beyond the availability of jobs when choosing a field of study. The uncertainty of the future job market as well as the value of a broader liberal arts education demonstrates the downside of doing so.