Posted on 02/10/2008 1:41:38 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Students Defect from Sciences
Published On 2/7/2008 1:31:21 AM
By ADITI BALAKRISHNA
Crimson Staff Writer
CLARIFICATION APPENDED
As Harvard prepares to stake its future—and at least $1 billion of its funds—on the sciences, undergraduates are fleeing the discipline in large numbers, opting instead for concentrations in the social sciences and the humanities.
According to a cross-analysis of data from the admissions department and the Harvard College facebook, there is a wide gap in the number of students who wish to pursue science at the start of their freshman year and the number of students who actually do.
Between one-third and two-thirds of students who declare their intention to study biology or engineering while matriculating have switched their concentrations away from the sciences.
For instance, 364 students in the Class of 2008 intended to concentrate in the biological sciences when they entered Harvard, but only 226 seniors are set to graduate with a degree in one of those fields.
Dropout rates are even more staggering in engineering: only 40 out of the 123 students in the Class of 2008 who said they wanted to study engineering are currently doing so.
But while Harvard has long been known for the strength of its humanities and social science offerings, the stark trend away from science appears to be more than students simply pursuing other interests.
Interviews with students who switched to the social sciences or humanities reveal that the disillusionment is driven by a number of problems in the University’s science curriculum—from large, impersonal introductory courses to the time-intensive nature of the disciplines and the highly competitive peers.
SMALL FISH IN BIG PONDS
In their first semesters at Harvard, many students are daunted by introductory classes that are “bigger than [their] entire high school,” says Robert A. Lue, a professor of molecular and cellular biology who teaches the massive course Life Sciences 1a, which boasted an enrollment of 590 undergraduates last semester.
“I realized that I just didn’t like it,” says Millicent M. Younger ’10 of the course, which she took last year. “It was really weird being in such a huge class.”
Lue says the size the class makes it difficult for both students and faculty to fully engage in the subject material, especially since the lectures must take place in Sanders Theatre, a venue Lue describes as “impersonal.”
These large introductory courses, which were first offered in the fall of 2005, may account for a part of the attrition in the biological sciences. The Class of 2009 saw a drop from 382 intended concentrators to 244 currently, and the Class of 2010 saw such a drop from 360 to 231.
Lue says that professors in the life sciences are cognizant of the scale of their courses and that he and the other professors make concerted efforts to make themselves readily available to students and create more opportunities for student-faculty interaction outside of lecture.
The proliferation of large science lectures is unfortunate, says biology professor Richard M. Losick, not just because students are driven away from the concentrations, but also because large introductory courses fail to provide students with a real taste of science. [SEE CLARIFICATION BELOW]
“Science is about discovery in the context of a laboratory,” Losick says. “My view is to increase the number of opportunities for students to have hands-on science experiences. [...] It reminds them why they were excited about science in the first place.”
In response to concerns over the sizes of their concentrations, the life sciences faculty pushed in the spring of 2006 for the creation of five new, smaller concentrations.
“We went from three life sciences concentrations to, at this point, around eight,” Lue says. “We want to create smaller experiences for students, to allow them to focus on their interests.”
PEER PRESSURE
In addition to the impersonal nature of many science courses, students also report that being a science concentrator is difficult because of the rigorous work required for the discipline and the competitive nature of other students.
Susie An ’10 came to Harvard planning to concentrate in neurobiology, but after a semester of juggling classes and the “tedium” of lab work, she realized that her academic talents were better suited to another area: art history.
“Many students have done very well in science in high school but still find that the level of the beginning science courses at Harvard is qualitatively different from what they are used to,” wrote Howard Georgi, a physics professor and the master of Leverett House, in an e-mailed statement.
Younger, a sophomore who chose English over molecular and cellular biology, cites the difficulty of scheduling “huge chunks of lab time” while “trying to have a life” outside academics.
Even Losick, the biology professor, describes the challenges of engaging students in “cookbook” labs that do not allow them to have hands-on experiences in the sciences.
Younger and An both also mentioned the intense competition in many introductory science courses.
“I felt like no one really cared about actually learning—they were just focused on beating everyone else and were worried about what the curve was going to be,” Younger says of her experience in Life Sciences 1b last spring. “I was really turned off by the whole environment.”
Professors say they are aware of the trend, and that they try to combat it in their classes.
Lue and Georgi both say they set up forums for collaboration on problem sets and studying on exams in order to decrease the competition in their classes.
But Wilfried Schmid—a mathematics professor who has taught Math 55, often described as the most difficult math class offered in the country—says there is a trade-off between the need to limit competitiveness and the desire to allow ambitious students to reach their potentials.
“There is some sort of balancing act, and I can’t say we get it perfectly,” Schmid says.
NOT ABOUT THE NUMBERS
While the professors acknowledge that the attrition in their concentrations is problematic, they note that students switch away from the sciences across the country and have been doing so for years.
Students often enter college with an interest in science, Lue says, but then realize that there are fields which they had never previously encountered that appeal to them.
Lue adds that while the professors want students to study their disciplines, their introductory courses also act as a “gateway” to science that round out the educations of those who eventually focus on a discipline in the social sciences or humanities.
“The goal is to make sure that, without question, Harvard is the best place for an undergraduate to study life sciences,” Lue says. “If the numbers don’t change, but we have a sense that students...have a better sense of science, we’re more than happy.”
—Staff writer Aditi Balakrishna can be reached at balakris@fas.harvard.edu.
For recent research, faculty profiles, and a look at the issues facing Harvard scientists, check out The Crimson's science page.
CLARIFICATION
Due to an editing error, the Feb. 7 story "Students Defect from Sciences" mischaracterized the words of biology professor Richard M. Losick. While the story said large lecture courses in the sciences have been proliferating—implying that the number of such courses has increased—the predominance of large science lectures is not a new trend. In fact, in a follow-up e-mail, Losick noted that the life sciences faculty has actually made attempts to move toward smaller concentrations in recent years.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=521740
Could this be b/c women now out number men in the pursuance of college degrees?
its happened over here
At least part of it can be blamed on the outsourcing of jobs in the tech industry. Why work hard to get an expensive degree, only to have the job shipped out, forcing the graduate to move back in with his parents while struggling to pay a student loan with a low-wage job?
It has many causes, not the least of which is the dumbing down of elementary and secondary schools because the teachers aren’t willing to pound the subjects home.
Probably. I have 88 students in a core sophomore level engineering course I teach - 5 females
The number of women in engineering seems to have fallen back to where it was when I was an undergrad 25 years ago.
Just what we need. More sociologists...
oh don’t worry. The new new deal will employ plenty of social scientists.
They condition the kids that SMALL classes allow them to learn - utter BULL! In Asis, classes are LARGE and they beat us EVERY TIME.
“In addition to the impersonal nature of many science courses, students also report that being a science concentrator is difficult because of the rigorous work required for the discipline and the competitive nature of other students.”
Yeah, they’re NOT used to WORKING. It’s all about FEELINGS and “not too much homework” so when they meet up with the real world they are unprepared for the rigidness of college. Now to mention that what they are taught in the lower grades is worthless - it’s propaganda not science.
Social Studies, the humanities and the arts are all about FEELINGS and SUBJECTIVE - science it not. They are USED TO THE FORMER so they go back to their comfort zone - the arts, history, social studies etc.. which require much less discipline and they can explore their FEELINGS more on a PERSONAL LEVEL. A good question for European History maybe - how do YOU feel about HITLER or BUSH?
I don’t know how you teach introductory science in a lecture unless you have discussion sections. Doesn’t make any sense.
As for early weeding out competition, we had a biology class at Michigan that was for pre-meds. They told you starting out that if you didn’t get at least a B+, forget about med school. So your first term in college, you’re already determining your fate. I’m sure that somewhere along the line someone got a ‘B’ and got accepted to med school
Man, Freudian slip here - I initially typed ‘law school,’ Not surprised, law school (where I went) was often considered a 2nd choice for those who couldn’t hack the science courses!
No. That’s an excuse.
Notice ALL the Science awards are from students that are FOREIGN. Sure they may have U.S. citizenship at the time so we can claim credit but they are FOREIGN BORN. We lack the serious rigors that Asia has.
Do you really think a Social Studies major will make more than a solid research person - anywhere? If you do, then you are dreaming ... .
Want fries with that?
“Just what we need. More sociologists...”
I can’t help but wonder if that’s one of the reasons why there are so many immigrant Poles coming into the UK now; there’s a shortage of engineers, scientists etc
Do they think of a job after grad school??? I teach in a grad level social science program that can have, if you choose your courses right, a tech, science, or business component. The jobs for the social science folks are out there, but often at a wage that doesn't justify going to grad school in my eyes. I have to practically pound it into kids heads that there are other jobs around, for which they can get $50K+ and close to 100K after some experience is not unheard of.
But no...take the easy courses, do the easy work, get the low paying job...
I remember when Mattel had to recall Barbie for saying “math is hard.” It sounds like Barbie was right.
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