Business vis-a-vis Science and Engineering courses
“I can’t quit because I am good at it,” said Yuri, cast by Nicolas Cage in “Lord of War”, to his wife when she pleaded him to stop trading arms. I guess it also answers partly what we should choose as our major, and if not why.
I am asked to write from a Chinese student’s perspective but I may be biased in my view for two reasons: I did both my secondary school and junior college in Singapore and I am a Business major student. My point is that you should make your own judgment. Further, this entry is pretty long so please bear with me.
In China, business-related courses are not very popular. Firstly, the majority of Chinese universities, if not all, do not offer business-related courses to undergraduates until recently a few “brave souls” start teaching some business-related courses. Secondly, none of the prestigious Chinese universities, such as Peking and Tsing Hua University, offer business-related courses, and they only offer courses such as economics and international trade, the closest comes to a business course. Thirdly, there are not enough qualified professors to conduct business-related courses. Fourthly, Chinese students are not aware of such courses because they do not even exist in most cases. On the other hand, engineering courses have been gaining more and more popularity in China and definitely enjoy the greatest support among all faculties from the prospective Chinese undergraduates for the past decades. But why?
Firstly, it appears that engineering or/and science students have better career prospects than their counterparts from other faculties, and it is, to a large extent, true. We called it “the iron bowl” in China, which means that you are “guaranteed” a job and stable income if you are an engineering or science graduate. Secondly, most people in China are risk-averse. Engineering and/or science courses have been tested and proved by many generations to be the “right and safe” choices, and it is in our nature that we often prefer to take the easier way out and follow the path that has already been trod by many others. Thirdly, social science and arts related courses are often said to be “hopeless” because of the somewhat bleak career prospect. Thus, the majority of people will only choose other courses if they are not qualified for engineering or/and science related courses. But, there are definitely many exceptions, for example, an encouragingly increasing number of people begin to choose what they truly like. Lastly but not the least, there exists pressure coming from parents and social conformity. It is almost every parent’s dream that his/her children will become successful in the future, and parents often influence their children to choose what they think to be the best for their children without really taking into consideration of their children’s predilection and strengths. Additionally, peer pressure certainly plays an important role in one’s choices because it often “impels” one to act on impulse – choosing a major in this case.
Before I continue, it is always good to first examine the backgrounds – the education systems – in which a university finds itself. In China, the system is unfortunately very inflexible. Students must declare their major even before they stride into the university and they are not allowed to change it afterwards. In the States, most of the colleges are pursuing a liberal arts education system, in which you are given an opportunity to explore many different courses of your preference for the first two years, thereafter you will choose your major primarily based on your personal interests that are unraveled in the first two self-discovery years. In Singapore, the system more likely falls around the middle of the spectrum. The Ministry of Education encourages students to take up more cross-discipline modules with the aim to broaden students’ field of knowledge, discover their interests and train them to become all-rounded. It is true that an education system may be suitable for one country but not another, but it may also be true that an education system benefits but also “kills” a nation. It benefits because it produces people who are responsible for a nation’s future growth, and it “kills” because it may discourage spontaneity, kills creativity and frustrates its citizens from pursuing their passion and interests. The relevance of the importance of an education system will become more apparent later.
All nations, for example Singapore, do need more science and engineering students; I certainly have no objection to it. But there is a clear distinction between “quality” and “quantity”. China produces approximately 33% of graduates who are engineers every year, and it “proudly” ranks the highest in the world. But does it really help? “China has enough ‘raw materials’ today but it needs to polish them to make them useful,” commented by a manager in McKinsey in a Shanghai-based office. Quantity certainly matters but quality matters more in today’s competitive world, especially when a country already has a substantial pool of “raw materials”. Two big problems with Chinese fresh graduates are that they have no work experience and they cannot maximize the potential of teamwork as they do not know how to work in team. The importance of an education system may become clearer here. NUS graduates have a clear edge over those Chinese graduates, because NUS encourages teamwork from its students and it certainly incorporates it into part of curriculum. Yes we may often complain about how much time we have put into team projects, but I guess one day we will stop complaining and start appreciating it.
In addition, I would like to share with you how I think one should choose one’s major.
Firstly, pursue your interests, follow your passion and listen to your heart. I believe to do something well, you must first like it and enjoy doing it; otherwise, you will very likely find yourself unhappy at work everyday which results in a miserable life and inefficiency. Secondly, do what you are best at. If you excel in doing something, you will find it relatively much easier to get it done. I also think that the fact that you are good at it may indicate you like it. Thirdly, once you choose what you like, you must try to enjoy the process of learning and do it well. Before elaborating on this point, I would like to point out a common misconception that business is equivalent to money. Choosing business as one’s major in no way guarantees financial success in the future. I think it does not really matter that much what you end up choosing, because when we first join a university, we are all on an “equal” playing field, we dictate our choices and create opportunities for ourselves from then on. While at school, it is of paramount importance to understand first what does the school wish to impart to you or put it another way, what does the school wish you to have mastered after you graduate? If only you become clear of the school’s objectives, you can do it well.
With regard to science/engineering and business, I think I would have chosen engineering if I were in China now, because I was good at mathematics and science and more importantly I enjoyed doing them before I came here. It is always good to have specialized knowledge in at least one area because that is what makes you unique. In this aspect, engineering courses seem to be better than business courses to me, because you can acquire specialized skills in engineering courses. Additionally, if you want to start your own company, it is a plus point that if you are an engineer because it helps tremendously if you know very well about your own products and services. I did not choose engineering in National University of Singapore (NUS) because that is not my interest and I do not like doing something that “tortures” me when I do have a choice. Anyway, here is what I have learnt in my first year in NUS Business School. Firstly, all the different areas of business courses are inter-related. It is important to be able to see the connections and apply knowledge from different fields of studies together when solving problems. Secondly, enjoy making presentations and constantly seek to improve your presentation skills. Presentation skills are crucial in any business contexts, and it is about presenting both the contents and yourself. Thirdly, learn how to work in team. Teamwork is crucial because no one is capable of achieving something big alone. We are now given a chance to work with anybody, and often we find ourselves do not enjoy working with our teammates. But start from today, we have to first force ourselves to enjoy working with everybody because we will most likely not be given a chance to choose our partners in the future.
Before signing off, I think there is no single best course for an undergraduate. What matters most is that how you make the most out of what you choose to study. Additionally, engineers do need the support from businessmen and likewise businessmen do need help from engineers. Both courses are in no way contradictory but complementary, and our society will only be made better if we are willing to collaborate.
Commentary: Helen