notes for ebm essay2 - copy
TRANSCRIPT
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The distinctive differences in preparing undergraduates for a career and for life are both
useful in producing a successful individual. There are a lot of difficulties that graduates face
once they enter the job market. With both of these preparations, graduates will be able to
cope better and lead successful lives.
In the global world that we live in the competition for a job has heightened. This means that
itis becoming increasingly difficult to find a job and therefore it could be very important that
graduates are prepared for a career. Having a degree alone does not necessarily mean you will
get the first and best job you apply for because there are 100 other applicants with the same
qualification as you. What sets you apart? Experience in the work place is the difference that
employers look for when they have two possible employees with the same degree. However
the problem that arises is when a graduate has no specific career he/she can enter into with
that particular degree. This means that gaining such a type of experience is difficult.
A Commerce degree does not offer students much choice in the courses they could enter.
Normally there are a set of core courses in the first year and during the second year it narrows
down in terms of their respective fields whereas with liberal art degrees there is more variety.
The variety offered could be what sets each humanity student apart from the next.
Commerce, law and medical degrees all have specific roles in society. This does not imply
that Humanity or arts do not attain these similar roles.
The problem in this occurs when undergraduates choose their courses. They lack the
experience and knowledge to choose courses that will form a four year degree that should
direct them into a possible career. (Bok, 1974). Because of the misdirection in terms of the
undergraduates decision making, the universityscareer counsellors should therefore guide
them when choosing their courses.
The ability to compete in the international job market after graduation could be an advantage
in terms of job seeking. Internationally, the supply outweighs the demand of and for skilled
workers. Results of one of the largest independent surveys of final year university studentsever conducted in the UK published on Thursday 27th May 2010 warns that just 36% of
those finishing undergraduate degrees this summer expect to find a graduate job after
university and that confidence in the graduate employment market is now at its lowest for
fifteen years.(Ltd, 2010)Why are graduates still finding it difficult to find work? It could
bethe demand for certain graduates being higher than others.In a survey done in the UK only
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25% of students from arts or humanities courses expect to land a graduate job at the end of
their degrees, compared with 47% of IT students, 54% of those on business or finance
courses. As a result, almost half of all arts and humanities graduates either have no definite
plans for life after university. Therefore they expect to take time away or they will end up
doing temporary jobs.(Ltd, 2010) The results of arts and humanities graduates couldhave a
large influence on the lack of career specific education. The percentage of graduates without
a secure plan after graduation couldcontribute to a high unemployment rate which would
not necessarily benefit society.
Tertiary education should be the way out of poverty and unemployment; it should lead to an
increase in economic growth and economic development in a country. Students who are well
orientated bothcareerwise and socially have a greater opportunity to contribute to society than
students who lack both of those important aspects to life. Day after another, the role of aqualified and well- trained individual or what is called the human capital is growing. These
individuals form the educated and well-trained human resources who are part of the advance
of the society (Shaban, 2006) (Al-Smadi & Njadat, 2009).Economic development as well
as economic growth would increase in a country where the human resources are increasing
and improving. The more skilled workers there are the better the productivity in any work
force would be. There will be an increase in GDP and a decrease in unemployment and this is
what any government would want.
It is not only tertiary education that prepares students for life. There could be other influences
such as parents, high school and personal events in life from which many who do not
experience tertiary education can also be influenced by. So students lacking education for
possible occupations could find their degree less useful to them than they could have
expected (in the sense of finding work) once they have graduated or they could possibly end
up doing something they did not initially think of studying. Then associating the time spent at
university as being a waste could be misdirected because no matter what the degree, the
preparation for life and skills learnt will help any graduate through life. Those life skills and
academic values in all university degrees that allow graduates to go into possible occupations
without having to have had studied in that field with such a depth before. If the preparation of
a graduate is narrow, resulting in the graduate just being educated towards a career, the
outcome could be a narrow minded human being. Theyll be unable to appreciate the culture
around them, incapable of enjoying their leisure hours, and bereft of resources for the period
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late in life when they no longer have their careers to sustain them. These handicaps will
become more important in the next generation when the number of college-educated persons
begins to exceed the number of jobs traditionally associated with a college degree. (Bok,
1974)
Any degree is a preparation or stepping stone for what individuals would want to do in life
and how they would live their lives. A field of study cannot be one dimensional. Everything
in life is related directly or indirectly which is why students need to be educated not only in
business courses but, courses with lasting values as well. Students learn how to make correct
decisions, think and learn how to formulate their own opinions through courses with lasting
value. Lasting values are: moral character, communication, creating knowledge, critical
thinking, maturity, researching, adaptability and flexibility.
The preparation that commerce undergraduates need to be taught is how to think critically,
how to communicate in a professional manner and they should be cultivated into adaptable,
flexible and agile people. The information and knowledge that undergraduates leave
university with helps them in their first couple of years working (Bok, 1974) soon enough
they will have to rely on their lasting values learnt, with which a person gains their own
experience and learns as they move forward.
Education towards a career is relevant nowadays as it insures prosperity for the individual
and for society.It is important that a righteous graduate is produced in both life and careerskills are important in an individual.