| Today, Students must be Empowered to Choose not just what is “Safe,” | | | Vijay Garg | 7/18/2025 11:47:49 PM |
| For decades, Indian students have been conditioned to believe that success lies at the end of a narrow academic tunnel—one that begins with Science in school and ends with Engineering or Medicine. While this formula has served past generations, the future demands something far broader, more nuanced, and reflective of the real world: a shift towards the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Commerce. Today, the world is no longer divided into rigid silos of Science versus Arts. The real problems we face—climate change, mental health crises, digital ethics, social inequality—require interdisciplinary thinking. These are challenges not of biology or physics alone, but of understanding human behaviour, governance, ethics, culture, policy, and economics. And that’s exactly where the Humanities and Social Sciences step in.
The stigma attached to non-science subjects is not just outdated—it is damaging. In reality, Humanities and Commerce offer an abundance of career opportunities. From behavioural economics and journalism to environmental policy, international relations, public administration, legal studies, development research, urban planning, psychology, content strategy, and design thinking—the scope is expanding exponentially. The digital revolution has only amplified the need for liberal arts graduates who can think critically, communicate effectively, and understand complex social systems. Moreover, India’s knowledge economy cannot afford to produce only engineers and doctors. We need anthropologists who can help with tribal inclusion, economists who can model rural development, political scientists who can shape foreign policy, and educators who can rethink our broken schooling system. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 rightly encourages multidisciplinary learning—but its success depends on societal willingness to move away from career tunnel vision.
Parents and students must understand that Humanities and Commerce are not fallback options; they are frontiers in themselves. They shape leaders, thinkers, and changemakers. The corporate sector too is increasingly valuing liberal arts graduates for roles in human resources, communications, corporate social responsibility, and ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) compliance. Think tanks, international organizations, civil services, non-profits, and even tech firms need social scientists to make sense of data through the lens of society.
The time has come to break the myth that only Science guarantees prestige or prosperity. True progress lies in embracing diverse disciplines, valuing empathy as much as equations, and ideas as much as inventions.
Today, students must be empowered to choose not just what is “safe,” but what is relevant. The Humanities and Social Sciences are no longer the road less taken—they are the road ahead.
Vijay Garg Retired Principal Educational columnist Eminent Educationist street kour Chand MHR Malout Punjab. |
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