There’s an interesting discussion of the prospects of geography students in Malaysia in a column that appears in The Star, written by the director of National Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN). The Minister of Higher Education has selected geography as one of the disciplines with students in need of retraining in order to be marketable. The feature indicates that geography remains popular, but with a stagnating economy there isn’t demand for geography generalists.
Of primary argument in this piece is that geography is a discipline without specific jobs. One quote that stands out for me: “This transdisciplinary approach to dealing with man-environment problems, which geographers are very adept at, is of no value to industry at this point in time.”
I find it hard to accept that a self-directed individual with transdisciplinary training isn’t marketable, regardless of the state of the economy. The ability to assess a problem with a multitude of inputs is precisely the type of thinking needed when times are tight. Geography is a discipline that introduces a greater understanding of operations, and that can reveal countless cost saving efficiencies.
Anyone in need of some Malaysian geographers?
