This idea comes up every once in a while. The idea that an institution should remove its physics degree program because it doesn’t produce enough majors. Right now, it is up again due to budget problems in our state.
I think the idea of removing low-completer programs is dangerous. It comes from administrators who like to think of the university as a business. If you are a business, and you want to save money – it seems obvious to cut things that don’t produce as much ‘product’. Really, this brings up several issues.
Is a university like a business?
I am going to go with “no”. Let me look at another thing that is a business – a gym (where you work out, not where you do gymnastics). What is the difference between a gym and a university? Both have people coming in to make themselves better (academically and physically). Both have people to help the people get better (instructors and trainers). In both cases the people coming in have to pay. I think one of the key differences is in measuring success. How does a person know if their time at the gym is successful? For this case, that person should be able to evaluate if their time at the gym is doing what they want. That person can see if they can run farther, lift more, or just look better. That person does not need the gym trainer to tell them how they look.
Really, this should be the same for a university. A student should be able to measure his or her own progress. Unfortunately, for many students the evaluation of their learning is based almost entirely on the grades they receive. So here is the big difference. The way we are now, students are dependent on the university to tell them how well the university is doing. This would be just like going to a gym and having to ask the trainers if you look fit.
Why is physics a low completer program?
I guess the question is: why don’t more people major in physics? Or maybe they are physics majors and just not graduating as physics majors. I can tell you from my experience, students do drop out of the physics degree program, but not a whole bunch of them. Most of the physics majors make it through the program.
Here are some possible reasons students choose not to major in physics:
- It is perceived as too difficult.
- It depends too much on math (I guess this is the same reason as above)
- They just don’t find physics very interesting (that is a fair reason)
- They don’t see the product worth the effort. Maybe this is in terms of jobs or satisfaction of the degree compared to how much effort it would take to put into the degree
My response – yes, physics is difficult. If you have a physics degree, I think you will be more powerful because of the difficultness. This will give you more career opportunities (not just in physics). However, I don’t think anyone should study physics just because it will lead to a better job. You should study physics because it is interesting. I suspect that many people have the wrong idea of physics. They probably think physics is just a whole bunch of boring math-like word problems. Well, it isn’t boring (in my humble opinion). Physics is awesome. Just take a look at any of the links in my blog roll. Most of those are physics blogs with some pretty cool physics stuff.
Of course, there are some other cool things that you might want to study also. Art and history are both very interesting – or even art history.
What happens without a physics degree?
Perhaps the biggest problem of removing a physics degree is that many students wouldn’t take the university as a serious university. Oh, it could still be serious, but maybe it wouldn’t be perceived as serious. It would seem like the university would be taking the path towards “let’s just give students what they want”. Students want a degree, so give them that. But when you start down that path, it makes the degree you give them not so worthwhile.