In schools and universities, some girls tend to choose arts subjects, while boys choose to study science subjects. What are the reasons? Do you think this trend should be changed?
Nowadays, the gender preference while choosing streams at high school is witnessing wide variance, with females predominantly opting for humanities, and males electing STEM. There are several attributes driving this propensity, and needs a critical analysis to decide whether there is a need to alter this tendency.
A lobby propounds that girls have a creative mindset, engendering a natural inclination toward arts. They profess profound knowledge of expressing through multiple out of the box mediums: paintings, sculpture, and so on. However, boys have critical thinking and analytical perspectives, some essential traits for becoming doctors and engineers, and hence they select science as their future career. Similarly, a few conservative hypothesize that since boys become breadwinners of the house, they should pick STEM subjects, which will fetch them handsome salaries, whereas arts tend to provide a medium to allow easy earning.
Nevertheless, this perception is quite prejudiced and should be changed immediately. Choosing the subjects should not be based on the genders rather on the misconceived concept of innate proclivity towards a field, ability and passion: there is no evidence to substantiate this. When students pursue areas they genuinely enjoy, they are more motivated, productive, and innovative. Encouraging transcending these orthodox barriers will not only promote equality but also help society progress as both men and women bring different perspectives to every realm. For example, as several human behaviorists, such as Professor Gurdeep Singh Bhatia, University of York, assert that leaning towards a domain is more personality-based rather than gender-based, and recent surge in participation of males in arts and females in technology, substantiate their claim.
In conclusion, I believe that both genders can choose any subject that they find appealing, and without being stereotyped and challenge the conventional system, ensuring that every student is free to follow their passion without being confined by gender expectations.
