I sometimes do online surveys for money. It's never more than a couple of quid, but hey - I offer you my opinion for free most of the time, so I may as well get some money for it on occasion. And yesterday I was doing one particular survey for a well-known company that is often cited in the press as the source of opinion polls. I got this question (and while the answers were all vertically arranged I've had to bunch them up otherwise you'll get fed up reading...):
But what has happened to earth sciences? Why is geology not on the list? Are there seriously more people studying Latin and Ancient Greek than geology? Are there more minted optometrists than there are geologists? Or has geology now been deemed to be a poncy type of geography? At my college, there were three geologists. One classicist. Probably about 20-30 medics and 20 engineers. Should think about the same number of modern linguists. A dozen lawyers and a dozen english. There were probably four or five chemists and no more than 10 physicists. There was one geographer, a handful of musicians and briefly two historians of art. University-wide there were about 35 geologists in each year group. Out of a total natural sciences spread of between 600 and 700, and given that there were probably 15-20 specialist subjects within the Natural Sciences Tripos, I think we held our own pretty well.
So I'm wondering why earth sciences have slipped off the radar. You'd have thought, given that climate change is one of THE most popular topics of conversation at the moment, that the Powers That Be might be taking more notice of us rock-bashers. I know I only have one data point, but have you noticed any marginalisation of the earth sciences recently? Have you seen your student populations of geologists decimated as everyone decides they can get a degree in babysitting? Or were the designers of the survey mistaken in thinking that earth sciences is just an "other subject"?
Which, if any, of the following best describes the MAIN degree subject you are studying? If you are studying for joint honours, please tick BOTH subjects.[Please tick up to two subjects]First off, why are there actual degrees (not diplomas but qualifications that make you a bachelor or master of said subject) in advertising, banking, finance, human resources and tourism? Yes, I'm a privileged Oxbridge snob, but our universities are overcrowded and underfunded enough without vocational qualifications being bumped up to degree status. Actually, on second thoughts, maybe we do need degrees in human resources, as I've seen some things that make Catbert look downright human. I suppose it could take three years to familiarise yourself with the Employment Act if you're a really slow reader...
Accounting, Advertising, Archaeology, Architecture, Art, Banking, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Chinese, Classics, Criminology, Computing/Computer Science/IT, Dentistry, Design Studies, Economics, Education, Engineering, English Language or Literature, Finance, French, Geography, German, Greek, History/Ancient History, Human Resources, Japanese, Journalism, Latin, Law, Marketing, Mathematics, Medicine, Music, Nursing, Optometry, Pharmacology, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Physics, Research Methods, Social Work, Sociology, Spanish, Sports Science, Theology/Religious Studies, Tourism, Zoology, Other subject
But what has happened to earth sciences? Why is geology not on the list? Are there seriously more people studying Latin and Ancient Greek than geology? Are there more minted optometrists than there are geologists? Or has geology now been deemed to be a poncy type of geography? At my college, there were three geologists. One classicist. Probably about 20-30 medics and 20 engineers. Should think about the same number of modern linguists. A dozen lawyers and a dozen english. There were probably four or five chemists and no more than 10 physicists. There was one geographer, a handful of musicians and briefly two historians of art. University-wide there were about 35 geologists in each year group. Out of a total natural sciences spread of between 600 and 700, and given that there were probably 15-20 specialist subjects within the Natural Sciences Tripos, I think we held our own pretty well.
So I'm wondering why earth sciences have slipped off the radar. You'd have thought, given that climate change is one of THE most popular topics of conversation at the moment, that the Powers That Be might be taking more notice of us rock-bashers. I know I only have one data point, but have you noticed any marginalisation of the earth sciences recently? Have you seen your student populations of geologists decimated as everyone decides they can get a degree in babysitting? Or were the designers of the survey mistaken in thinking that earth sciences is just an "other subject"?
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