Is Education Doomed?: The Important Relationship of Arts and STEM
By Opinion Editor Baneen Talpur
I love science. I love how magical it is, how it forms a basis of how everything works in this complex world. Science as a kid is mystifying. You are drawn in with the allure of animals and space, the stars seem within reach and the world is your oyster. The education system is also on your side, giving you opportunities to be yourself and learn what you want to learn. You want to grow up as soon as possible so you can go out into the world and explore what science has to offer and discover what is out there. Then, you enter secondary school and reality hits you in the face.
Suddenly, no one is excited about science anymore. The teachers are drilling a marking scheme into your brain, and you are only in class because you want to get good points. College is slightly more flexible; you have more choice in your learning and, depending on the lecturer, the subject can become even more exciting until bam, final year hits. It is back to chasing that 1:1 and getting that job, Masters, or grad program in big Pharma. The joy of learning is taken away and you are now bound to a 9-5 in a lab with Petri dishes and test tubes in quality control.
As I get older, I am developing more of a love hate relationship with education. As much as I love science and working as a teacher, there are certain aspects of education that I do not agree with. The human capital theory tells us that the aim of education is to get a good job, leading Humanities to being looked down upon.
While I am studying science at college, I also have a passion for writing. Writing has been my safe space for years, it is the place where I can authentically be myself, where no one judges me, and I say what I want to say. I can express myself. I am honest. There is nothing more liberating than a pen (or in this case a keyboard), a blank page, and your mind. You can fill it up with anything you like. In secondary school, I was often the best in my class at writing; the teacher would read my work out multiple times. Writing is what has given me the confidence to express myself and be myself. Without words and my ability to use them well, there are so many things that I would not have learned about myself.
Yet anytime someone meets me, and I tell them that I teach science, they instantly put me into the box of a “Woman in STEM”. I’m proud that I am a part of this box, but I hate that my talent gets sidetracked purely because of science. There is a failure of society to view people as multifaceted and that, yes, people can be scientists, but they can be creative too.
The human capital theory commodifies people, puts a number on them as leaving cert points and profits off them once they leave university and have achieved all the learning outcomes of their degrees. Instead of marveling at how the world works and solving its problems collectively as a society, the value of things like discussion and community are gone once you leave college. Now, you are at the mercy of your manager. Medicine, instead of saving lives, is gatekept from the poorest. Knowledge of the planet is not used to help save it, it is used to find where there is more oil and consequentially worsen the climate crisis.
We could use education for the betterment of society and to be better people, but instead it is used as a way to fuel capitalism. As students we are trying to get the best grades in order to get into that course at college. More often than not, we end up losing ourselves in the process.
We are no longer learning in order to improve society; it is now for profit. Humanities teach us about our history, what our values should be and who we are. Humanities allow us to think deeper about ourselves and the world we live in. It allows us to understand problems and to come up with solutions to solve them. These are the subjects that help us reach enlightenment, but now there is such a disrespect emerging for the humanities.
The amount of times I see arts students get disrespected for their degrees is awful. Science has become elitist, almost acting snobbish and looking down on the arts subjects. Even at the UCC grad fair, all I could see were stalls looking for the latest engineers, chemists, business, and law students. There was nothing for humanities graduates there even though they have so many transferable skills, especially if we are arguing about their employability. The lack of investment in arts is astounding to me. Science researchers are getting billions of research funding in order to ultimately make a product that will sell, while arts graduates are receiving little to no support on pursuing the creative avenues.
Young people are feeling more stuck than ever wanting to pursue one thing, but choosing another because they have to be financially stable.
Education is having the life of it sucked out and it is really sad to see. Even parents are starting to see education as the key to getting a job now, instead of opening up the world for their children. When I look at the state of the world right now with war and chaos everywhere, I think that if we had a solid understanding of the humanities with adequate attention being given to subjects such as philosophy, English, and history, then maybe we would learn from our mistakes instead of having history repeat itself. As that quote from Dead Poets Society goes: “The human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and are necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
I want children to be in awe at the world they live in. I want them to observe how the world works with wonder. This should not have to come at the cost of putting a number on them, or a letter to symbolise a grade. As humans, we are worth so much more than that. We have feelings, thoughts, and emotions. We have realisations and stories to tell. This constant pressure that we have to be employable is disrupting humanity. We are constantly measured according to how competent we are. The world needs innovation, and it needs creativity, but more than anything it needs happiness and happiness does not solely come from a pay check. It comes from a strong sense of sense and being confident with who you are and what you believe. So, pick up that piece of paper and write for yourself for a change. Learn something because you want to – because it brings you joy.
