College is a time filled with many decisions, many of which significantly impact a student’s future. From the choice of a major to the decision as to which school to attend, each decision can influence a student’s life for years to come. However, one decision that students often overlook is choosing a field of study. For many, this decision comes later in life, when students are faced with the difficult decision of choosing between pursuing their desired career path or defaulting to a less desirable option. However, the choice of field of study can dramatically impact the student’s future and society at large. For example, if students choose to pursue careers in the science field, they could potentially help solve many of the problems currently facing humankind.

This claim assumes that college students are unaffected by the current trends occurring in their field of study. Currently, the field of computer science is experiencing a shortage of qualified personnel. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the average salary for computer software engineers in the United States is $83,100 per year. As a result, the demand for these professionals is expected to rise significantly over the next decade, with an expected 30% increase in job openings through 2026. The BLS further predicts that jobs for computer systems analysts will double in that same period, with an expected 41% increase in job openings.

Furthermore, employment in systems software, hardware design, and network management is expected to increase by 23%. This increase in jobs is predicted to be due to an increased emphasis on computer technology and its use in businesses, government, and industry. Unfortunately, the supply of qualified personnel is not keeping up with the demand. This shortage of skilled personnel, coupled with the high demand for professionals in this field, has forced firms to lower their hiring standards to find employees who will fill the available positions. This has caused the area to become excessively crowded with college graduates who are less qualified than their predecessors. To fill these positions, companies are now seeking individuals with computer programming experience or degrees in computer science instead of those with a general liberal arts degree. As a result, computer science is quickly becoming a highly specialized field, more akin to a professional trade than an academic pursuit. This specialization may reduce the pool of potential candidates that colleges can recruit from, further exacerbating the shortage of qualified professionals.

The field of computer science is not the only field that is suffering from a shortage of qualified professionals. The area of nursing is also experiencing the same lack. The BLS reports that the average salary for a registered nurse is $67,920 per year. The demand for these professionals is expected to rise 21% through 2026, with an anticipated 190,400 job openings. However, the BLS predicts that the supply of qualified candidates will not keep up with the demand. As a result, hospitals are frantically recruiting nurses from other fields. For example, the BLS predicts that the 2 million jobs that will be needed to fill nursing vacancies over the next decade will be created primarily by nurses who transition from other occupations. The shortage has reached such an extreme point that many hospitals have instituted mandatory retirement programs, forcing seasoned nurses to exit the workforce. These nurses are being replaced by younger nurses, many of whom enter nursing programs part-time rather than full-time. This trend is only expected to continue, as nursing schools across the country have been experiencing record-high enrollment rates for many years. If this trend continues, nursing schools may not produce the number of qualified nurses needed in the coming years. The shortage of qualified health care professionals is putting more significant pressure on hospitals and increasing the costs of health care for the general public.

If students opt to pursue a field of study experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals, they can rest assured that they will be employed in that field well into the future. For example, if students choose to study economics, they will be in high demand as the economy continues to emerge from the recession. However, if students decide to pursue a field of study that is not experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals, they may struggle to find employment after graduation. The area of computer science, nursing, and economics represent just a tiny sampling of the many careers that can be chosen. Therefore, students should base their choice of a field of study on an educated decision, not just on the availability of jobs in the future.