Participatory Learning Archives | Page 3 of 4

Post pandemic career opportunities in applied sciences

The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has an impact on many elements of life on Earth, including the various environmental conditions that could influence the COVID-19 virus’s propagation. The pandemic has shown that the public health concern is not only a medical problem but also affects society as a whole; so, it has also become the leading scientific concern to detect and treat the virus. It is natural to evaluate the settled situation in terms of career opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate students who might have missed the real-time practical and experimental learning because of the pandemic.

Applied science is a branch of science that focuses on using existing scientific knowledge to create more practical applications, such as technology or inventions. While pure sciences are concerned with observing and collecting data about natural events in order to understand and explain them through experimentation and analysis, applied science is concerned with finding practical applications for that knowledge. Applied sciences are used in a variety of fields, including medicine, pharmacology, biotechnology, engineering, and material science. Applied sciences sometimes draw on multiple pure science streams. Applied science education gives a wide comprehension of a variety of scientific ideas and the ability to use that knowledge to solve problems and create answers in several settings. Microbiology, biochemistry, industrial chemistry, food science, fisheries science, environmental science, archaeology, polymer science, material science, electronics, energy, forensic science, and nanotechnology are examples of applied sciences. Candidates with this educational background have a wide range of national and international job options in government, the public sector, and commercial companies. As a research specialist or consultant, candidates might work in a variety of businesses. Biotechnology companies, chemicals companies, industrial laboratories, oil corporations, food institutions, and pharmaceutical companies all have a high demand for Applied Science employees.

Studies in applied sciences can be pursued through a variety of undergraduate programs. A student must choose a specific topic area and study the relevant pure sciences as well as their applications to real-life scenarios, which are often found in an industrial setting. Students who want to pursue a career in applied sciences must have strong analytical abilities to comprehend various parts of a real-life problem or scenario, as well as conceptual skills to develop a solution, invention, or innovation. They must also have a strong problem-solving mindset, as well as a keen eye for detail and scientific curiosity. They will need to work in large teams with individuals from various academic backgrounds, thus great communication and interpersonal skills will be advantageous.

It is important for students and parents to choose a place of learning for their studies as it will guide their whole path of success in life. If you want to be happy, you must choose the correct career. If you end yourself in the wrong work, you’ll be wasting half your energy hating it, which isn’t helpful for your career or life. You will be stuck in the wrong place, doing something monotonous, and as a result, not only will your professional life be affected, but also your personal life.

Adamas University, Kolkata was established with the aim to provide the best possible environment for the learning of students. Founded in 2014, Adamas university aimed to help the young aspirants to make their dream come true through quality teaching and competitive training in the best nature-friendly calm environment in the vicinity of Kolkata, the city of joy and cultural capital of India. The decision to found this university was not a discrete one. But a continuous exploration of the knowledge landscape of Bengal. This is the next step of RICE Education to bridge the basic prerequisite of the job through quality education. There was an essential need to create an eco-system of quality education from School to University. Adamas University is the culmination of that exploration. Starting with a modest beginning, today Adamas University is a unique lush green community of the highest academic standards for developing society-ready professionals for meeting the future demand of the nation by recognizing, identifying, and fostering the unique capabilities of each student and extending support as per the passion of young minds. Distinguished faculty, national-level sports trainer, and residence facility make it a campus that never sleeps. Outcome-Based Education is taught in the School of Basic and Applied Sciences (SOBAS). SOBAS is committed to addressing scientific concerns through value-based science education, which incorporates project-based and research-based learning. It develops pupils into scientifically proficient professionals who can use current instruments effectively. SOBAS cultivates a spirit of inquiry and collaboration in students, preparing them for careers in teaching, research, government, and non-government service. It aids pupils in developing an analytical mindset. SOBAS organizes many scholarly events on a regular basis, such as National/International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars, Expert Lectures, Lab/Industry Visits, and so on, through which students get exposure. The school provides various training programs for students so that they can compete in competitive examinations for achievement.

PHARMACY EDUCATION IN INDIA

Pharmacy is a versatile, dynamic, and fast-growing profession with a wide range of professional opportunities. With the enormous advancement in this field, it became one of the primary pillars of global healthcare. Centrally regulated education policies in India, pharma education became more specific in its target. Pharmacists contribute to their workforce in different areas of healthcare and society starting from medical shops to research and development. Maximum therapeutic benefit from their treatment and medicine is the primary concern of a pharmacist. Many pharmacists work behind the screen to run a smooth healthcare system and face the unbound challenges of healthcare. The pharmacy profession has been ranked by Gallup poll (USA) as one of the trustworthy professions. The third-largest professional to provide healthcare services in the world is the pharmacist.

The pharmacy word has been coined from the Greek word ‘Pharmacon’ which means drug. The demand of a defined pharma education has increased by identifying the complexity of medicine and their formulations and the criticality of making the medicines. In the ancient era, pharmacists are entitled to help physicians. Nearly at 1240 AD, the pharmacy has separated from medicine to fulfil the requirement of skill, knowledge, and responsibility to manufacture medicine. There are other systems of medicine also in practice in India like Ayurveda, Sidha, and Unani where the separate skilled pharmacist demand also came into existence. Pharmacy education in India was certified level offered in Goa by the Portuguese in 1842 and the university level education started in 1937 at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Since then, several universities, and colleges are offering courses across the country. The first Pharmacy college in Asia was established in 1842 in Goa, India. Prof. M L Schroof is called the father of Pharmacy education in India. The Pharmacy act 1948 regulates the Pharmacy profession in India and as per Sec 3 of this act the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has established which regulates the Pharmacy education in India. The courses like Diploma in Pharmacy (D. Pharm), Bachelor of Pharmacy (B. Pharm), Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D.), and Master of Pharmacy (M. Pharm) is offered by different colleges in India.

Diploma in Pharmacy: Minimum requirement is 10+2 Science stream. It’s a 2-year full-time course with 500 hours of hospital training.

Bachelor of Pharmacy: Minimum requirement is 10+2 Science stream (PCM/PCB/PCMB). It’s a four years full-time course. After D. Pharm 3 years course (Lateral entry at 2nd year)

Doctor of Pharmacy: Minimum requirement is 10+2 Science stream (PCM/PCB/PCMB) or D. Pharm. It is a six-year course including one year internship. After B.Pharm direct admission of 4th year of Pharm D.

Master of Pharmacy: Minimum requirement is B. Pharm from a PCI-recognized institution. It’s a two years full-time program. The specializations are Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Analysis, Pharmacology, Pharmacy Practice, Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Industrial Pharmacy, Pharmacognosy, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Regulatory Affairs, and Quality assurance.

Ph.D. in Pharmacy: Minimum requirement is M. Pharm. It can be full-time or part-time. The minimum duration is three years.

The Pharmacy education in India is well defined with wide range of career opportunities. It is also a divine profession associated directly with core healthcare system. The professions also include production of medicine, direct health care manger as clinical and hospital pharmacist, educationist, government job, research and development, analytical chemist etc. Choosing Pharmacy profession is definitely a wise decision towards a perfect career and a divine job.

EXPLORE A CAREER AS A MEDICAL LABORATORY TECHNICIAN

What is the Medical Lab Technology?

Bachelor in Medical Lab Technology is a 3-year undergraduate course designed to equip eligible candidates with an advanced learning in both routine and sophisticated laboratory diagnostic procedures. Students enrolled to the course are taught to perform tests that aid in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

Eligibility Criteria

Students who wish to enrol B.Sc. MLT course have to qualify their 10+2 in the area of science.
The candidate should pass their 10+2 with a minimum percentage of 50 or equivalent (depends on different colleges) from the recognized education board in the country.

Career opportunities for the students

Laboratory technologist at pharmaceutical laboratories, Pathology labs, Public Health Laboratories, Hospitals, Research and product development etc.
Research Scholar/Scientist
Blood Bank
Medical Officer
Laboratory Manager
Assistant Professor
Laboratory Technician at Government Hospitals by HRB recruitments

EXPLORE A CAREER AS A OPTOMETRIST

What is Optometry?

A health care profession that involves examining the eyes and applicable visual system for defects or abnormalities as well as prescribing the correction for refractive error with glasses or contact lenses and treatment of the diseases.
Duration Of Course: 3 years theory +1 year internship In reputed hospital

Eligibility Criteria

Students who wish to pursue B. Optom course have to qualify their 10+2 in the area of science.
The candidate should pass their 10+2 with a minimum aggregate of 50% marks or equivalent (depends on different colleges) from the recognized education board.

Career opportunities for the students:

Students after completing their 4 year Bachelor in Optometry Course can work in
Reputed Eye Hospital
Start their own Private Practice
Work as a Consultant Optometrist in Retail Outlet
Consultant Optometrist in Multi-national Companies
Research Optometrist
Assistant Professor and Professor in Reputed Optometry Colleges across the countries.

WHY DO WE NEED TO STUDY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION?

When you think of “public administration,” you may visualize managing budgets for a local government, transportation department or improving the efficiency of a public health division at local level or at most an optional subject for writing civil services exam. But the fact is, the role of a public administration demonstrates the government and self-government in its new political and economic conditions. The primary focus of public administration solely relies on providing public services but not limited to traditional services such as health care, transport services and municipal. In the realm of public administration, there are many challenges and complex issues that are faced on a daily basis and perhaps sometimes longer. Studying public administration provides numerous avenues towards transforming and implementing change. The ability to choose from diverse occupations in a wide variety of industries is just one of several benefits of studying public administration.

B.A. in Public Administration is a three-year undergraduate programme which deals with a study of subjects such as administration, public dealings & organizations, and constitutional framework. The students during their coursework learn about policies and programmes of the government and gain knowledge about democratic values of the country. The curriculum covers a wide range of topics. With your degree, you can pursue a career that lets you champion important issues and bring about meaningful change. During your education, you’ll develop critical leadership skills that will help you throughout your life. In your career, you’ll collaborate with highly skilled people in many public administrator roles, which will further widen your horizon in the field of administration. Similarly, for graduates with a master’s degree in public administration, there are many career possibilities that might not come to mind right away. A public administrator plans, organizes, directs, coordinates and controls operations in a government office, private company or non-profit organization. This can be in positions as diverse as that of a community health director or the budget director at an environmental justice non-profit organization. With a Ph.D. in public administration, you could work as a senior policy analyst in any government agency including Indian Institute of Public Administration, National Institute of Disaster Management, Indian Institute for Rural Development and many more. No matter what degree level you pursue, you’ll have the chance to enter a rewarding career where you can effect positive change for individuals, communities, and the general public.

Today in the world where the resources are scarce and there is a dire need for sustainable development, study of public administration will help to find a solution for economical, effective and efficient utilization of these resources. Not only this the knowledge of public administration helps to find a link between the policy-making (government institutions) and policy implementation at grass-root level, it gives us the clear picture of gap between the requirements of the people and the actual policy.

As you study for your MPA (Masters in Public Administration), you’ll gain a comprehensive education in diverse subjects—from strategic planning to non-profit organization sponsorship to electronic governance and beyond. In the process of two-year program, you’ll be able to discover which areas interest you the most. An MPA program with a wide-ranging curriculum and internship opportunities will provide an important breadth of knowledge and hands-on experience. As you study public administration, it not only advances your career but strengthens the community in which you work. As public administration student, you’ll be able to gain valuable leadership skills that employers seek for. According to Forbes magazine, key leadership skills include adaptability, transparency, empathy, flexibility, humility, confident communication, emotional intelligence and commitment to a vision¹. Further, you’ll learn to set goals and inspire positivity in the workplace. With comfort in these skills, you can encourage others to achieve lasting results and make the world a better place.

Throughout your program at bachelors as well as at masters level, you’ll have the opportunity to interact with veteran professionals in fields such as public service, state legislature, public policy and urban politics, education and immigration policy, community development and non-profits, health and behavioural management, and family and child well-being through various seminars, webinars, special lectures, internship etc You’ll find enthusiastic, passionate people working together to improve peoples’ lives in a wealth of areas, from climate change and social justice to racial equality, affordable housing and community development. Direct experience in the field, such as an internship, boosts a student’s resume and increases their job prospects even after graduation, which is one of the most important highlights of Adamas University with a dedicated Career Development Cell. After completion of course, you’ll be prepared to move into a leadership role in which you can mentor like-minded individuals and see your ideas and theirs come to realization.

Career Prospect Post-Pandemic: Film & Television

Everyone wants her or his name on banners, billboards, social media sites, television and newspapers – if you think it is tough, it is. However, if you think it is impossible, it is not.

The world of audio-visual production is undergoing a stark change, especially after the pandemic – the old structure of film-funding-making-distribution-exhibition is slowly fading away. New avenues are created, new paths are laid for such purposes.

Adamas University’s post-graduate program of M.A. in Film and Television is the course that realises one’s dream to be a filmmaker. With four dedicated semesters with courses covering both theoretical and practical aspects of filmmaking, the aspiring student will have the following ‘out-of-the-box’ career options at her/his disposal:

Feature Filmmaker
Documentary Filmmaker
Short Filmmaker
Corporate Filmmaker
Advertisement Filmmaker

There are other avenues of the audio-visual industry, which might entice a youngster with promising career prospects. They are:

Script Writing
Assistant Director
Script Supervisor
Cameraperson
Executive Producer
Sound Designer
Sound Recordist
Editor
Colourist
Gaffer

Apart from these industry-oriented careers, M.A. in Film and Television and B.A. in Media Technology also come with an assurance of a career in academia. They are:

Researcher
Assistant Professor
Subject Coordinator / Specialist

Primary Career Aspects in Details

Feature Filmmaker

Filmmakers are one of the most popular faces and celebrities of the world – yes, more than a doctor or an engineer. It is not always about the paycheck that is collected at the end of the month, but it is all about what life can give you, and what you can give to life, and to the lives of the others. Filmmaking is a not a ten-to-five job. This profession aspires a lot of love, philosophy and of course, once the filmmaker is on track, he does not have to look back.

Documentary Filmmaker

Documentary Filmmakers’ lives are not entirely different from the previous one, and more than often they are the same because a filmmaker makes all kinds of films. But the only difference that we can feel is that the documentary filmmaker is more accustomed to the realities of his world he is capturing on his camera and representing, and has a certain sincerity to the research and excavate the truth that she or he wants to unravel.

Short Filmmaker

Short films are like poetry in comparison to the features, which are more like novels in their genealogy. However, shorts films are the launching pad for any filmmaker as they are mostly independent films and provide a rich portfolio or show reel for you!

Corporate Filmmaker

Corporate filmmaking is a long advertisement made for a corporate company instead of a product or service as in advertisement. In the post pandemic era, this has become more than necessity because a company or a brand has to reach out to people instead of people reaching out to them.

Advertisement Filmmaker

Ad filmmakers have an exciting as well challenging life to bring out the best of the ideas on audio-visuals, which will stick to the audience’s mind. Ad filmmakers are the best liars who are successful in reality.

Script Writing

Script is the heart of a film, series, serial and an ad. One has to know the art of writing to have engaging script. This demands the ideas of literature, music, history, politics and most importantly -emotional quotient along with a critical and thinking mind. This is the reason why the PG and UG programmes of Entertainment Media have courses on literature, theatre and music.

Assistant Director

Assistant Directors are the most important second in command in a film who eventually evolves to be a director.

Script Supervisor

They are the script experts, or to be precise, script-doctors. There are certain nuances, character and narrative arcs, developments in narratives in terms of three act-structures, development of plot points, hooks and references that are used, or rather planted in a script to make it more appealing.

Camera person

Camera person, or DOP, needs to have a clear understanding of what the script and the director wants. If the director decides what shot and frame will be in a shot, the DOP decides how to create that particular shot to make it mesmerizing for the audience.

Executive Producer

Executive Producers (EPs) have to have a thorough idea of the filmmaking process and have to control a production. Starting from the pre-production process till the end of post-production, an EP coordinates and controls the creative aspect of the entire production as bridge between the production company and the directorial team.

Sound Designer

Sound is an area that is does not gain so much of attention except for those who are in the film industry. Sound is more complicated than visuals. In order to tell a story properly, any production requires a sound designer, who would take each and every aspect of sound into consideration – diegetic (the sound which has its source inside the narrative) and extra-diegetic (the sound that does not come from the physical aspect of the narrative, but psychological) and design it at the level of the script.

Sound Recordist

In most of the cases, sound designer is the sound recordist. To be precise, a sound recordist has to record sound on and off the location, along with post-production sound.

Editor

Editor of any audio-visual is the person who joins shots, puts transitions – in short, weaves images into a single strand we call a narrative. Editors are as important as the Cinematographers.

Colourist

Colourists, similar to editors, balance colours and make the final output look charismatic. Colourists are one of the significant people in the post-production process of any film.

Gaffer

Gaffer is the chief lighting technician of a film. The role of the gaffer is slowly gaining immense significance in India since the Indian film industry has realised the significance of light in a nay production that can change the mood, tempo and even the narrative arch

Researcher

Project Fellowship, PhD, Post Doctoral degree and other such commissioned projects from various institutions, universities of India and Abroad along with the Film Archive of Pune and Online MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) projects always require academic scholars of film, media, society and culture. Film and Television Studies encourages academic research as well as film criticism.

Assistant Professor

Strictly academic, post-graduates of Film and Television students can dedicate their career to academic streams where the scholar can teach and train students in various colleges and universities in subjects like audio-visuals, advertisements, film and film making, film studies, cultural studies and so on.

Subject Coordinator / Specialist

As mentioned above, a number of career opportunities have evolved for the freelance researchers and subject specialists in audio-visual medium. There are online courses. MOOCs like SWAYAM, Coursera, LinkedIn and a host of other evolving companies require subject experts and coordinators for creating academic content, images and even video contents for various subjects of media and other overlapping subjects

Graphic Designer

Someone with an interest in software and creation of computer generated images and design can choose the career of a designer or an illustrator. As we are in a world that is dominated by the world of images as primary information vis-a-vis communication, the requirements for good designers (who can use pen, software, or any form) to communicate through visuals and designs (like illustrators in ad agencies) are acute. As we are speeding up in the information highway, designers are becoming an integral part for any industry.

Animators

Animators create a world of their own. A number of television, OTT, film and ad productions always feel the need for an efficient animator. Apart from this, an animator can be an independent filmmaker on her or his own right on the basis of his skill of creating animation, both 2D and 3d although the latter is gaining more prominence.

Secondary / Tertiary Career Aspects

Courses on Media, Film and Television open up Pandora’s box. If the above 21 career paths were primary options for someone pursuing MA in Film and TV and BSc in Media Technology, there are uncountable secondary and tertiary career options open.

If someone has a flare for writing (both the courses thrust on writing skills – both creative and reportage), she or he can explore the options for:

Film Critic
Film Journalist
Content Writer
Promotional Video Maker
Professional Blogger
Professional Vlogger
Social Media Strategist
Social Media Manager
Photographer
Designer
Radio Programmer
Actor

Industries Open for our Students

Since film, media, television and culture are overlapping with technology, communication, business, information technology and print and even theatre, a graduate or a post-graduate student with these two courses (both or any one of them) have the key to work in the following industries:

Film Industry i.e. Production houses, as Indie Independent) films
Television Industry, i.e. TV channels, TV production houses
Advertisement Agencies
OTTs
Newspaper Agencies
Social Networks
PR Agencies
Colleges and Universities
All Business Processing Outsource (BPO) companies and Knowledge Processing Outsource companies (KPO)
Online Course Creation companies

Afterword

It should always be borne in mind that someone who chooses MA in Film and Television or B.Sc in Media Technology can easily fathom the depths of cultural representations including cinema, television, literature and other arts with a little effort and self-persuasion. We believe that such a scholar or a film and TV expert that this programme will produce can venture on their own. From running their own online companies to being indie filmmakers, they can do whatever they want.

These two courses do not tell you what you have to do. Rather, these two courses empower you to dominate the world through your own key of creativity. It is often said that a course trains its students according to the industry need. However, we think a little further – these courses create students not according to the dictates of the industry (which is always changing), but creates such leaders who can mould the industry and the way industries work. These courses believe in the creative freedom of the individual, which will help them to get into, mould and lead any industry they want.

MBA in Business Analytics- A New Career Path for Management Professionals

Day by day the industry structures are changing. In the same way markets are also changing and markets become more customized focus than mass focus. If we look into the promotional aspects of marketers, their objective is not to inform the consumers but they try to develop attention and convert the attention into addiction. With the help of new technology like artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things and big data analytics, marketers are evaluating prospects needs and wants and designing their products or services which is more inclined to satisfaction of customer desires. So, the ultimate goal of the current marketer not to understand their requirement from the retailers rather develop the market plan which is fit to customers. Therefore, it is important for business professional for redesign market policy and predict the market situation in regular basis. Looking into this thought in mind, we also observed that job of marketing manager become market forecast professionals which help them to understand market rhythm and changing market prospect in very faster way. Design their offering in such way which is more addiction nature than seasonal buying. If customers become addicted towards a company offering, then repeat purchase happens easily. This concept now going to be the mantra in market in post pandemic era where customers are more preferring digital buying than physical buying pattern. In this connection, it is concern for business professionals to develop their skill which is more on analytical base rather simple selling methods. Therefore, business analytics is a program which give all round development of analytical skills which helps business professionals to understand, to predict and to solve customer problem in better and accurate manner.

Conceptual framework of business analytics

Analytics have been classified into three parts descriptive, predictive and prescriptive. Descriptive analytics analyze the past event of the firm in various domain which help marketers to understand the business situation. Predictive analytics create detailed forecast of business situation and point out the area where business system fails. It helps marketer to take proper actions on those area where business process needs to develop for getting better sustainability. Prescriptive analytics give an insight regarding the possible action which can be appropriate for different business situation. It helps firms to make a better decision by optimizing result comes from descriptive and predictive and also recommend the associated risk involved in the process. It develops a sustainable model that can be applied to decision making in business. Therefore, it is obvious to understand a business problem, analytics become most necessary methods in current context where switch over tendency of the consumers are high as because variety of market offering. In the new normal situation, the urge and need of marketer to analytics professionals are very high because in normal eyes, it is very difficult for marketers to reach into actual business problem and operational process of marketing is not limited to few routes.

Importance of Business Analytics program

Business analytics program covers a wide area of analytical application. It starts with maintain database of clients, vendors, employees, inventory, suppliers, product orders and service requests of the firm which is in unstructured fashion and make it structure. It also gives the desire methods for analyzing data. Business analytics helps professionals to make proper representation of data using visualization tools, analyze the data using various software like R, Python, Excel, SPSS, Hadoop. This program also helps professionals to understand the problem with proper logic and what tools should be appropriate to make proper prediction of business problem. This analytical tool helps marketer to design their products offering, seasonal offering, promotional methods, sales forecast, inventory management, forecasting of the firms. The analytics also help to select possible methods for sustainable business practices using modern tools like artificial intelligence, machine learning etc. This program makes students more logical based decision mind which help the to dragonize business in faster way and give some immediate solution to business which is more needed in the current situation. Uses of social media analytics, web analytics is being done through the program.

Opportunities for Analytics Professionals in Market

The demand for business analysts is very high among companies, small-scale options, and enterprises. Different sources estimates reveal that the job market for business analytics will grow at a CAGR of 14.3% by 2026. Companies are willing to pay higher salaries to analysts, especially certified expert-level professionals like MBA in Business Analytics or Executive Analytical Program. There is study by Mckinsey which mentioned a huge requirement of data scientist in India in next few years and companies are ready to offering a good package for the data analyst. As the figure near about 200000, therefore, most corporates are staring at a talent crunch and provide training to the workforce to manage their industry issues. In India, the analytics industry is predicted to grow in huge volume and industry is predicting that marketer size can increase by $111.7 billion by 2026 which is good signal for the professionals who are on the way to build their career as a data scientist.

These demand covers diversified area of business operations and few areas of business where business people need more analyst and opportunities. Therefore, an analyst professional can explore their career as a

Data scientist in bond market
Agriculture business analyst
Medical methodology (Health care analytics)
Human Resource Analytics
Stock Marketing
Finance Marketing
Manufacturing industry
Supply chain analytics in logistics firm and more.

The above discussion gives us a clear picture that there is huge demand of data analytics/ data scientist peoples as because most of the firms design their business decision based on data driven rather traditional approach. So, if students select a program like MBA in Business Analytics, it will surely give them competitive advantage in their career growth and opportunities.

References:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/analytics-driving-demand-for-learning-growth acrosssectors/ articleshow/88890272 .cms?utm_ source=content of interest & utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

How has the Career Prospects of Teachers changed Post Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people look at job markets globally during 2020. The short-term consequences were sudden and often severe: Millions of people were furloughed or lost jobs, and others rapidly adjusted to working from home as offices closed. Many jobs was classified as essential and such service people continued to work especially in hospitals, banks and grocery stores, on garbage trucks and in warehouses though with a lot of rules and protocols to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Education was one sector which saw a drastic change and had to adopt to a new normal – Virtual teaching. Though schools and colleges were shut, learning and teaching had to continue as everyone realized that this pandemic would last more than a couple of months. So, teaching went online, and classrooms went empty. Students could have live or recorded classes as per their convenience. Learning thus went beyond boundaries of the four walls.

This trend had a disastrous effect of the jobs of educators. Many institutes downsized their staff as they felt that due to the absence of physical teaching, so many teachers were not required. Many colleges and schools had pre-recorded sessions which they could play multiple times without having to have a physical teacher. In a matter of months across the world, there were many unemployed teachers.

But that did change in a very short time. Students and parents realized the downside of online education. In the absence of a physical connect, personal doubts and questions were not getting answered. Also the students started to miss the physical classroom and peer group they were used to. Due to this miss of the personal connect came in a new era of personalized coaching, both online and offline.

In matter of time, there were more than 150 tutorial apps online which were giving various services from personalized online coaching to subjective specific/class specific courses. This has suddenly opened up a lot of options for teachers and other members who are associated with teaching. Teachers, especially private tutors are highly in demand currently. In fact many teachers are opting out of traditional jobs of teaching in schools and colleges to teach online as private tutors on online platforms.

This is not a very new trend. In fact in the last decade, we have seen a huge increase in tuition centres, private tuitions, home schooling and competitive exam coaching. In fact these courses and many of those targeted courses charges huge fees as compared to regular schools and colleges. There are dedicated chain of institutes for competitive exam preparations who pay good faculty members as good as any corporate job. This trend has already affected the traditional school and college system, with highly knowledgeable and capable teachers often moving into these coaching centres which cannot be afforded by the masses.

The pandemic also affected these centres as most of them had physical mode classrooms. With students not being able to attend classes, they subscribed out of such tuition classes and preparations courses.

Online platforms have made a major level playing field now and are giving these centres a stiff competition. Many teachers have adopted to platforms where they can directly teach students in live classes without being associated with any coaching centres. Similarly, there are many aps which have tied up with various universities to offer various certificate courses and also different exam preparatory courses at a fraction of price. These are most done by recorded sessions and students can pace their learning as per their wish. There are direct sessions for doubt clearance and also level check exams to further helps students.

All these forums and platform are further diminishing the important of Teacher recruiting exams like SET, TET and College PSU. For students who used to complete their B.Ed. and M.Ed. courses before, these exam for appointment into Government schools and colleges, both for state and centre, were the most sort after and lucrative options. In fact every student would prepare for these exams from the beginning. If students would not be able to qualify such exams, which anyways had very limited seats, they would try to apply into some private schools and colleges. Unfortunately, most of these institutes are not under any governing body and thus never had any standardized fees for students or salaries for teachers. This led to many teachers being severely underpaid, making teaching not a very preferred career option.

But post pandemic there has been a major change. Teachers are being appointed by start-ups like Byjus and Udemy as corporate employees who need to teach students. As per industry experts, this demand is going to shoot up as more and more students reduce their dependency on their traditional mode of learning.

Experts today predict three potential trajectories for post-pandemic education: First is a return to the status quo. The focus shall be on remediating the learning losses, or an planned effort to reinvent teaching and learning to be more human. But while schools and institutes are trying to do so, efforts to return to as-is are already demonstrating problems. Schools are struggling with understaffing and a rise student stress levels. As a deficit-oriented approach, remediation fails to recognize that while certain learning goals were not achieved, students demonstrated incredible resilience and learned a lot from the experience. The third approach, a humane reinvention, builds on the strengths that students and teachers alike have demonstrated. Though experts favor this third approach, they also recognize that there are many barriers to change.

The past experience of two years have reinforced the idea that teachers are capable of innovation, but the pandemic has left many too exhausted to take on new initiatives. Initiatives can be enjoyable and energizing when teachers are actively involved in shaping change that they believe will benefit them and their students. However, it will be hard to create such a continuous productive environment unless teachers feel supported and trusted by administrators, policymakers, and communities.

To overcome these barriers as society recovers from the pandemic, education experts are supports the idea of “strategic subtraction” in which old practices are “hospice” to make room for new initiatives. Some changes, like abolishing rules that do more to police student bodies and behaviours than to improve learning, are relatively straightforward. Students who have gotten used to an at-home learning environment and the associated autonomy are quick to point out that they can learn just as effectively while wearing a hoodie or enjoying a snack. Other changes, like remedying long-standing inequities in how schools access resources, will be more challenging.

Career as a Researcher in Sociology

One can become Researcher in Sociology after completion of formal PhD degree, though becoming a researcher is a lifelong process. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Sociology is a Doctorate Sociology course. Sociology is the scientific study of society. Sociology is the study of social life, behaviour, social interaction and social system. Students of sociology critically explain society through sociological perspectives and sociological imagination. The Ph.D. programme in sociology is founded on an advanced understanding of sociological theory, research methods and statistical inference. Studying sociology not only upsurges the understanding of human society but also systematically examines human social behaviour. Sociology helps an individual to understand him/herself and the surroundings by examining the pattern of social interaction and social relationships.

PhD in Sociology at Adamas University offers a programme of research training in sociology under the supervision of experts in their respective fields. The minimum duration of the course is three years and the maximum is five years. The Programme enhances candidates’ academic value along with opening various career opportunities. The eligibility criteria for the PhD programme in Sociology at Adamas University are 1. Post-Graduate degree with minimum 55% marks, 2. NET or RET Qualified and 3. Personal interview. The goal of the PhD program in Sociology is to train the research scholars with the skill of research followed by good publication.

Research Scholars of Sociology have to complete course work program (one semester) followed by a research project leading to thesis submission. Coursework comprised of four papers -1. Research Methodology, 2. Computer Application, 3. Research and Publication ethics and 4. Advanced Sociological Theories and Research Methods.

PhD in Sociology at Adamas University involves the following strengths of the program:

Abundance in Social sector: Research scholars in Sociology gets the opportunity to work on various social sectors that is community development, social problems and policies related to areas like child, youth, ageing, women’s, tribal issue and programmes.

Interdisciplinary areas of research and provision of Joint supervisor– Research scholars are encouraged to choose interdisciplinary areas of research. The provision joint supervisor is available to encourage interdepartmental group activities.

Regular presentation and report by the students– Research scholars in the Sociology department have to present their progress report every six months along with submission of the report. This process helps them to progress smoothly in their research project and gain confidence for presentation in front of other peers and experts.

Flexible timing for guidance– Supervisors in the Department of Sociology at Adamas University are available round the clock for guiding their scholars in every step of their research.

Part-time Research – Researcher scholars can do part-time research along with their full-time jobs in the education sector, corporates, or other areas.

Time Management – One of the important elements of completion of PhD is to finish the work within the specific tenure and management of time is the utmost requirement for finishing the PhD on time. Supervisors of the Sociology department provide proper research planning and time frame. Scholars have to follow that time frame and it would become easier for them to complete the thesis within minimum of years (3 years).

Assistance in Publication in UGC care and Scopus Indexed journals– Research scholars are provided constant support for their publication in UGC care and Scopus Indexed journals. They receive all the guidance from the supervisor starting from the selection of the journal, choosing a topic for publication, writing articles including citation and referencing and checking plagiarism through URKUND.

Sponsored research and development projects –Research scholars have the opportunity to work under sponsored research and development projects from industries and other organizations both public and private sectors. Scholars have the facilities to work on funded projects and get a degree as well along with scholarship

Opportunity for International Collaboration and Networking – Research scholars are allowed to collaborate with international universities for the presentation of papers, publications and fellowships. Research scholars are being facilitated by international networking and resource generation.

Career after PhD – Research scholars in most the cases are involved in educational sectors and research organizations, but apart from that scholars also get the assistance for getting jobs in different sectors as Social scientists, Research Associate, Investigator, Demographer, Research Fellow in projects, Policy Analyst, Urban Planner, Research Officer, Community Counsellor, Research Analyst and Programmer Evaluator in UGC, other Research Foundations, Ministry of HRD, Ministry of Social Justine and Empowerment, Social Defence, Criminology and Correctional Administration, UNICEF, WHO etc areas.

Career Opportunities Post Pandemic in Human Resource Management

The COVID-19 Pandemic had been a disaster for the entire humankind. Over the period of two years, we had a horrific experience with huge loss of life, economic slowdown, and social dissociation – a distressful journey indeed. However, as darkness ends with the dawn, the COVID-19 Pandemic is expectedly going to end with new rays of hopes and aspirations. This pandemic has unfolded many new scopes and has paved the avenues for new learning and employment opportunities.

As the global business with its international, national, and local dimensions wobbled during this pandemic, the most impacted component was the workforce with plenty of documented retrenchments due to feeble allocable reserves and surplus. It had been a catastrophe for the millions of families worldwide who lost their livelihood during this phase. However, there is an opinion that this virus-induced debacle had purged the unemployable section of the workforce retaining the competent and highly employable workforce only.

This apparent challenge is the actual opportunity for the young and energetic community of prospective employees. This pandemic has made a paradigm shift in the work process. The emergence of paperless and internet-based work processes had been observed in both the industries – manufacturing and service. The employees had to unlearn many things and learn many new things to acclimatize to the new set of business processes.

The use of information technology has become obligatory for the organizations in the present recession phase of pandemic, and the process demands more IT orientation of employees in the post-pandemic era. Business process integration is the new feature of any performing organization and the enterprise resource planning or ERP modules are being used by most of the market leaders. In addition to that, business analytics structuring the framework of presentation and analysis of data, and interpretation of results, has become an integral part of the business strategy formulation.

The students of management – both undergraduates and postgraduates are exposed to immense career opportunities nowadays when the pandemic seemingly weaning off. Although the organizations are trying to return to their pre-COVID operational modalities, the aforementioned paradigmatic change will resist the full retreat toward the “old normal”. Hence, the business process has already taken a new shape of information technology orientation.

The undergraduate and postgraduate students of human resource management can pursue their careers in ERP operations. SAP AG, the world’s one of the most renowned ERP service providers recommends the employment of the management graduates who can work as the front-end user and can enter important human resource management data in the ERP. The clients of SAP AG, therefore, follow the above-mentioned recommendations and the demand for ERP front-end users is soaring high, both at the national and international levels. In this job, the knowledge of management operations and regulatory components (e.g. the country’s labour acts or codes) is essential. Therefore, undergraduate students with thorough knowledge of these HR managerial aspects will have career opportunities to work with prominent organizations. This opportunity is equally applicable to the other management domains also.

The postgraduate students of HR Management can have the opportunity to function as backend support consultants for this SAP AG ERP. In this regard, they should be able to configure the structure of the HR operations through their IT skills and knowledge of human resource management. It is again not restricted to the domain of HR management only and shall be applicable for the other segments of management also.

The second area of opportunity is in the domain of business analytics. The HR management has its own variant termed “HR analytics” where the generic features of business analytics will be preserved with specific application areas of HR operations.

While companies have been using people and HR analytics for a long time, the roles within these areas are changing. HR analytics specialists, as a younger section of the HR community, sometimes face challenging career pathways both within and outside of the function. In view of that, the HR analytics experts must build analytical and technical competence in a field that frequently demands a high level of technical and managerial proficiencies.

Domain experience in HR is a basic qualification for an HR analyst post. HRM courses or a foundation in industrial and organizational psychology are typically thought to be extremely useful.

A background in economics, statistics, or analytics is also taken into account. People with these types of backgrounds bring a distinct set of quantitative skills that most HRM professionals lack. This background frequently necessitates additional HRM training. MS Excel expertise is a must-have talent. Most firms still use this and knowing how to combine worksheets and use Pivot Tables to analyse big amounts of data is commonly regarded as elementary.

Work experience in HR is always advantageous, as is experienced with HRIS systems. Relevant experience with the organization’s tools and systems also works in employees’ favour. Tableau, PowerBI, Qlik, SAP, SuccessFactors, and more tools are examples.

As far as the smaller businesses are concerned, they frequently struggle to find staff with the necessary abilities to assist them in making the transition from measurements to analytics to event prediction. According to Ms. Julie Schweber, of Society for Human Resource Management, this staffing gap will ensure opportunities for the undergraduates and postgraduates of human resources and other domains of management.

Work From Home (WFH) and Work From Anywhere (WFA) are two emerging industry trends that will need a remote workforce and related digitization. HR workers will need to learn technological skills in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence in the future. In order to advance in an HR job, a student must re-skill himself. Human technology specialists, culture specialists, prejudice detection specialists, and other HR positions are possible in the post-COVID-19 period.

Millennials Studying Political Science/International relations from a Liberal Arts perspective

Critical thinking and understanding a wide array of subjects is a necessity for the millennials due to the ever changing world scenario. As rightly stated by Jan Ludert, the ‘liberal arts skills’, ‘serve as stepping-stones … for a wide range of possible careers’ (Lüdert 2020).

What is Liberal Studies? An area that encompasses knowledge from a wide array of disciplines be it core subjects of Humanities and Social Sciences, this includes disciplines like Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology, Creative Arts, History, Literature, etc. A knowledge in such varied field had proven to be a boon for the experts and for the International representative at national and international forum and committees. Similarly, “A discipline in International Relations has grown over the years and so are the opportunities. Varied professions such as Area Studies, Peace Studies, Conflict resolution, think tanks etc. have also emerged and the need for skilled professionals with expertise in international politics is on a rise,”

Understanding Political Science/International Relations:

The interconnectedness between Political Science and International Relations explore the concept of sharing and shaping of power at different levels. An understanding of these liberal disciplines provides an edge over the systematic understanding of the world scenario and provide a better solution to the world problems. Students learning and exploring the subject from an interdisciplinary perspective provide them a holistic approach of the subject. These sort of knowledge gathering and learning at college and university level provide them to become more pragmatic and problem solvers at a very early stage of their academic career. They tend to become an effective and ‘ignited’ minds to contribute towards policymaking/suggestions for issues pertaining to national and International issues.

Interconnectedness of the Liberal disciplines:

Subjects like Political Sociology, Political Economy, Political Psychology, Geo-psychology or Psephology have evolved over the period of time and gaining expertise in these fields along with the core papers of Political Science and International relations are opening up news avenues for a secured and better career prospects. These areas of expertise provide a better working environment as a policy think tank representative, decision makers for national and International bodies, NGO’s, NPO’s, Government institutions, etc.

‘The subject knowledge of these Liberal disciplines not only gives an insight into world politics but also enhances their critical thinking. A better understanding of international relation helps to mitigate world problems’.

What next?

Be the problem solver, and become the part of the world which is going through tremendous world problems, be it fight for land and resources for national interest, struggle to keep the environment clean and from understanding of economic issue with cross boarder challenges. You can learn the world and can provide a better solution for a better future. You join the process to Learn more, unlearn a few and to relearn Political Science and International relations from a liberal perspective that will make the world a better place and to solve ‘wicked problems’.