Interdisciplinary is the Way Forward in the Education System

Interdisciplinary Studies increase your value and worth to potential employers. An interdisciplinary studies degree allows you to study more than just one area, which means you will have more skills to add to your resume. As jobs become more diverse, employers are more likely to hire someone who is versatile and brings more to the table than the average applicant. 

Are you someone who just graduated from high school and have no idea what you want to study in college? Maybe that's because there are so many choices and you wish you could customize your education. Maybe you are already in college and these same situations apply.

If you are a future or current student finding yourself stuck, 'undecided', or wishing, Interdisciplinary Studies might be your nudge in the right direction.

According to Rupali Medhi, a city based career counselor about twenty to fifty percent of students begin their college career undecided for multiple reasons. "One reason is that students are looking for career specific education. An Interdisciplinary Studies degree allows students to design their own degree by selecting programmes from multiple disciplines. This allows students to customise their education in order to prepare for their career goals," she shares.

Talking about some specific reasons why one should choose Interdisciplinary Studies, Medhi says, "It increases your value and worth to potential employers. An interdisciplinary studies degree allows you to study more than just one area, which means you will have more skills to add to your resume. As jobs become more diverse, employers are more likely to hire someone who is versatile and brings more to the table than the average applicant."

Interdisciplinary studies boost one's creativity and capacity for critical thinking. "Interdisciplinary studies create an environment where one has to think outside of the box to make the different concentrations work together. Incidentally Steve Jobs has said that 'Creativity is just connecting things.' Interdisciplinary studies are all about working multiple emphases together to look at things from fresh perspectives and create new ideas. This ability becomes valuable in the workplace because employers will always be searching for ways to improve and solve problems and they will naturally come to those employees who prove to be creative in terms of problem solving. As one practices critical thinking and creativity in interdisciplinary studies he/she tends to become a quick thinker and creator," elaborates Rajiv Malhotra, another career counselor.

In the words of Medhi, "As you study interdisciplinary studies, you begin to see the benefits of studying more than one subject, which makes it easier for you to say yes to learning new things. Continuously learning new things will help you develop new skills as well as keep up on the skills you already have. Moreover customizing your degree to fit the career you want will help you develop multiple skill sets and you will learn how to think critically and creatively. Also you will be more open to new and different learning opportunities."

"As a student, deciding a degree to pursue was difficult because of the specific field I wanted to study. I started in one major and switched a few times because I was not satisfied only learning one third of the things that I needed for my career choice. Interdisciplinary Studies allowed me to combine all my passions into one. I feel like I have a better direction toward my career and that greater opportunities have opened up for me for the future," said Ritika Sharma.

Interdisciplinary studies have been created with students in mind- as jobs become more competitive students should have the opportunity to make themselves stand out.

Malhotra believes that interdisciplinary studies are a 'novelty' that will reinvent higher education. "By giving students the opportunity to bridge disciplines, new connections are forged and important contributions are made to the world of higher education and beyond. Students are able to combine multiple disciplines and pursue different ways of thinking about the same problem or subject. It's a revolutionary way of learning that encourages cross-disciplinary collaboration, enables students to develop critical thinking skills, and presents many "real world" opportunities for growth," he states.

A spectrum of educationists however believes that interdisciplinary studies are not without its share of teething challenges. "Since this is a relatively new concept there are not too many people in the teaching field who can impart interdisciplinary studies. Also the current rather straitjacketed mode of school education makes it difficult for many to embark onto an interdisciplinary course later on in life," says Malhotra.

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