LookAtVietnam – A survey showed that many of mathematics students wished to shift to other study branches, while others did not know what they would do after they graduate.

Studying mathematics, what for?

N.T.D, one of the students who affirmed he would follow another study branch, said: “Mathematics does not suit me. However, when I was in high school, I was good at natural sciences so I registered to take the exam for the university. In fact, I only like jobs related to business so I will register for an economics study branch.”

Other students said that they did not have enough information about their study branches when they had to make choices about which study branches they would follow. All of them said that they have been ‘struggling’ with the heavy curriculums, while opportunities to find jobs after graduation are not abundant.

More than a half of polled students said they planned to study further after they graduated instead of looking for jobs immediately.

The same situation is facing students of other formal sciences. Head of the Training Division of a big university in HCM City said that there are not many job opportunities for graduates of basic sciences. Only excellent graduates can find jobs as researchers.

Meanwhile, graduates of other study branches who are average in their fields still can find suitable jobs. For example, graduates of vocational schools still can work as accountants at businesses, while no student with average qualifications is accepted in research work.

Professor Dr Duong Minh Duc said at a meeting of ex-students of Mathematics-Informatics Faculty of the HCM City University of Natural Sciences held earlier this month that the biggest worry now is how to help students find jobs after they graduate. Meanwhile, Dr of Mathematics Nguyen Van Quang said frankly that bachelors of mathematics will find it hard to get jobs if they do not have other university degrees as well.

Do mathematics students have career opportunities?

Dr Quang said that many study branches have plentiful job opportunities after graduation like information technology or finance and banking. Meanwhile, no one can imagine clearly what mathematics students will do after they graduate.

Trong of the HCM City University of Natural Sciences said that only 10 percent of 300 mathematics students graduating every year will become researchers, the thing for which they are trained, while 40 percent take jobs related to computers, and the others work in other fields. Forty percent of students studying probability statistics cannot find jobs, while they need other skills to get jobs.

Meanwhile, a doctor of mathematics, who is teaching at a university and is also the owner of a business, said that it is not necessary to train so many (300) mathematics students every year, as society does not need so many theoretical mathematics researchers.

VietNamNet/TT