Careers and Courses Webzine

Science Careers

Browse in :

All > Career Areas > Science Careers

Why Science?

Higher education in Britain is expanding with increasing numbers of people going to University. It is the stated aim of the present Government that 50% of all 30 years old will be at, or have been at, University by the end of the decade.

This dramatic increase in numbers tend to be concentrated in specific areas such as Cultural or Media Studies or business-related programmes and most Universities are finding that fewer students wish to study science. Why should this be? Working in a science-based area I get the opportunity to talk to a large number of students and I am often surprised at the reasons people give for not be interested in science. Three recurrent themes seem to emerge: there are not many careers in science; science is �hard�; and scientists are often portrayed as being slightly mad. I would like to spend a few moments challenging those stereotypes and explaining what modern science is all about � and why it might be for you!

First there are tremendous opportunities for the graduate scientist. Look at the number of top companies that are Petrochemical, Pharmaceutical or medically related. All these companies need to spend billions of pounds (dollars, yen etc) each year in Research and Development to stay at the top of their field. Practically every modern convenience, medicine or household or personal-use product has been developed in a company Research & Development area. Who works in Research and Development areas? Scientists, technicians and engineers that�s who. OK now you may not wish to work for these types of companies for personal or ethical reasons � so you could work on the other side of the debate. Without scientists to provide the data and evidence organisations such as Greenpeace could not hope to develop cases against multinational companies. Students from my own University are working on placement projects with Dolphin charities, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Public Health Laboratories (among many others). The market for trained scientists is large and it will continue to grow.

The second often heard comment is that science is �hard�. The various Quality Assurance bodies, both within the Universities and externally, exist partly to ensure that a degree in X is the same in quality as a degree in Z and that the workload is approximately the same. Now peoples� minds do work differently, some people find maths extremely difficult whilst others find it easy. I am often amazed at people who can operate successfully in a huge number of different languages while they, in turn, might find calculus impenetrable. If you have the background, aptitude and determination science is not that hard. Three years of study is bound to be difficult to some extent otherwise University degrees would be handed out with cinema tickets or you could gain one by collecting vouchers from your newspaper! University study is demanding and challenging, but it is also immensely rewarding and is an experience that all should aspire to. And don�t forget the average graduate earns more than the average non-graduate. There are different views on how much this might be but the so-called �graduate premium� is variously calculated between �400,000 and �600,000 over the course of a full career. Sure you might win the lottery and never need to work � but if you do need to work just check those figures above again and decide if you need an extra half a million pounds.

The third comment is often that scientists are slightly mad. Here we definitely do have an image problem which is totally undeserved. The day of the mad scientist (often played by Christopher Lee) working to create Frankenstein�s monster belongs to a different era. Modern science is all about relevant disciplines. A popular TV series at the moment is Waking the Dead. One of the main characters is a Forensic Scientist. Over the past twenty years or so Harrison Ford�s �Indiana Jones� character has entered everyday life and this character is an Archaeologist. Again the TV programme �Time Team� features Archaeologists. Open your newspaper and you will probably read about scientists tracing criminals by DNA or other technical tests. Scientists are working towards eradicating disease � Smallpox was a widespread killer twenty years ago but there hasn�t been a single reported case of smallpox for nearly five years thanks to modern drugs.

I hope I have given you food for thought about science. It is no longer purely about Chemistry or Physics. Can you honestly tell me that there isn�t anything in a list that could include Archaeology, Biomedical Science, Health Studies, Human Biology, Forensic Science, Pharmacology, Psychology or Wildlife Conservation that might not interest you?

Author: Roger Worgan, Registrar at the University of East London�s School of Health and Bioscience Send to a friend