Students shy away from pursuing Science courses as they are afraid of narrowing their career options. DT finds out more about this trend from students, teachers and counsellors

Science courses are going abegging in many colleges, including the top ones who've resorted to a third and a fourth list to fill up the required number of seats.

Science courses are not popular choices with the college goers any more. The trend is partly due to the popular perception that a science degree will cut the students off from a career in business or commerce.

There are students who drop out after taking admission in these courses to pursue engineering after a year, when they make it to an engineering college. The strength is even lower for pure science courses.

However, what the students fail to realise is that while going for placements or pursuing an MBA programme, the course you have graduated in is of little relevance. Abhinav Dua, who has got through Chemistry (Hons) in Sri Venkateswara College is trying to change his options to include Mathematics in his graduation programme as he thinks it's a better option than Chemistry.

He says, "I aspire to do an MBA in finance. Having Maths as a subject would give me an edge as Maths, Commerce or Economics graduates are preferred for such courses. If I choose to study Chemistry, I think I'll be limiting my options and choices." And through his opinion, Abhinav is also voicing the concerns of hundreds like him who feel that taking up science limits their career prospects.

However, the truth is very different from these notions. Uttam Mukherjee got placed with a top consultancy after studying Chemistry (Hons) from St Stephen's. He plans to do an MBA later. He says, "I had to face a group discussion to qualify a round for my job at the consultancy. Once I cleared the group discussion I was treated like any other applicant and I fared well in the interview. I feel it's about proving oneself at the interview. Now, I shall have work experience and it'll be counted as a plus point when I want to do an MBA. Being a Science student doesn't limit your chances to be enrolled in an MBA program, there isn't any discrimination."

Teachers are aware of the current scene and are doing their best to counsel the students and tell them the facts about the scope of Science. They assert that doing a science course is certainly not the dead-end to a student's career.

Vibha Saxena, who works in the Chemistry Department of Venkateswara College says, "When parents and students come to meet teachers, they want to know about the scope of science courses. Along with the students, their parents also feel that options are limited, but that's not true. A person with Chemistry can enroll himself for an MBA or get a good job in another stream. It's the lack of information that makes the people feel this way."