Matt Dionne | Editor-in-Chief
Featured Image: GenEds are meant to give students a more well-rounded education, but are they really useful for the post-university real world? | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
One of the biggest differences between university and high school is the freedom a post-secondary institution provides when it comes to choosing subjects to study.
High school is restrictive when it comes to the courses that are offered. Many students only truly begin to thrive once they break free from these constraints and are afforded the opportunity to focus on the subjects they’re passionate about.
However, the majority of universities across Canada still have various stipulations their students must meet to ensure they can graduate—in particular, when it comes to the liberal arts.
At York, students must take natural science, humanities, and social science courses as general education courses. Often, these courses have nothing to do with the student’s field of study. Thus, the majority of students try to take the easiest courses possible to avoid wasting time and energy on a course that doesn’t benefit them or their career trajectory.
I’ve had long conversations with faculty advisors on why these courses are necessary—they claim that they make us “well-rounded” students. Nonetheless, I maintain that the school only wants to make as much money as they can.
Another claim from advisors is that, once you enter the workforce, potential employers will want to know that their employees are knowledgeable beyond the narrow range of their field. However, during my many interviews for positions related to both journalism and film—my fields of study at York—I’ve never once been asked about my theories on how the dinosaurs became extinct, or my thoughts on the intricacies of male/female relationships—both examples of potential general education topics for LA&PS majors.
I also believe that, if York is going to continue to force us to take courses that have nothing to do with our major, we should be free to choose what they are, beyond the limitation of natural sciences, sociology, and the humanities. We should be able to study things such as an Introduction to Swahili, Human Sexuality (let’s be real, who isn’t already studying that in college anyway?), Introduction to Management, or any other course that strikes our fancy, as long as it’s not within our area of study.
York currently requires students to take a certain number of courses outside their major—electives.
My suggestion is, instead of forcing students to take a certain number of electives, along with gen-ed courses, which are also outside their major, the degree requirements should be adjusted so students must take more electives in whatever area of study they choose, rather than being limited to the three pre-selected topics.
It seems like a fair compromise to me—we get to study something we actually might be interested in, and the school still gets paid—hence, everyone wins.
