Broad Understanding of Several Academic Fields Versus Specialization

I wrote this following my six-month stint as an OFW.

Since its conception and through its development, formal education has remained, for all its flaws, the mainstream means by which we develop as a civilization -- the part-dictated, part-volitional method through which we pass on knowledge and wisdom to succeeding generations. But as with other variables in society, education does not work in the same way for every society in terms of effects and effectiveness. So to answer the question whether students should possess a broad understanding of many academic subjects rather than to specialize in one field of study, it depends on which society is in question.



One factor that determines which of the two paradigms students will do well to choose is their society's economic situation (the usual suspect). For people living in developed countries where threats to subsistence are practically nonexistent, it isn't so worrying the fact that with the choice to specialize in one field comes the long period of time it takes for one to acquire an in-depth understanding of -- and eventually groundbreaking innovation in -- his or her chosen field. With the benefits of living in a first world country, people in developed societies are assured they can pursue their field of choice without having to wrestle with survival problems as they go about their pursuits.

On the other hand, in third world countries like ours where most of the population live from pay day to day at best, and resort to corrupt ways for a living at, well, worst, being a jack of all trades is the safest one can aspire to be. That's because with perennially hungry stomachs to fill, it is important to be academically prepared for any career that will bring food to the table in the next meal and can beat the buzzer on disconnection notices.

Things get ugly in the long run. In the last decade, how many of our youths and, quite appallingly, professionals in other fields did we coerce into taking up nursing at the expense of their true interests? We sure have lost count of the university students whose varied talents we have allowed to be underutilized in call centers where the money needed for survival and, for some, status symbols is only an intermediate knowledge of the English language and a little sleep deprivation away. Clearly, our education system has evolved in such a way that our students have become pliant and bendable toward whatever is currently profitable. That's well-roundedness third-world style.

In the end, no matter how many fields we claim we can get a job in, with meager wisdom, there's little chance we can make a difference. So on goes the cycle.