|
|
|
| JOBS & CAREERS |
|
|
|
Disease Detectives
Looking for a job? Try LinkedIn or Twitter
Career Hotline
amid revival signs India Inc ups hiring
Food for Thought
Men smart while working with smarter women
Key challenge for India firms
Choose with care
|
|
Disease Detectives
Thousands of worried patients with symptoms of flu are queuing up for tests and research laboratories just cannot cope. Today it is swine flu, earlier it was bird flu, dengue fever, AIDs and many other virulent diseases that are occurring with rising frequency. Who are epidemiologists?
THEY are public health professionals responsible for making the initial discovery and also helping in the containment of an epidemic, such as bird flu or swine flu. Epidemiology is the study and control of disease or injury patterns in human populations. Epidemiologists do fieldwork to determine what causes disease, what the risks are, who is at risk, and how to prevent further incidences. They understand the demographic and social trends upon diseases. Epidemiologists often work with policymakers to prevent the spread of disease and develop treatment guidelines for those who are sick. While this research is the effort of the whole scientific community: virologists, who study the virus; immunologists, who study the immune system; clinicians, who introduce therapies to patients; epidemiologists are those who evaluate the data. Epidemiologists take into account various hereditary, behavioral, environmental, and healthcare factors. They collect a lot of data after asking questions such as: Who becomes infected? Whose immune systems decline? Who develops swine flu? Who dies? What are the prognostic factors that predict who will develop the disease faster than others? They also must make extensive use of the contributions of biological, clinical, and other sciences including techniques derived in biochemistry and molecular biology using biological specimens used by laboratory scientists to measure markers of disease progression. To analyse data, epidemiologists use statistical methods to extract information from the raw data. The data the epidemiologists collect — and interpret — are essential for the management, evaluation and planning of services for the prevention, control and treatment of disease.
Starting point
IN India, epidemiologists have traditionally been MBBS graduates who specialise in preventive medicine. However, both government and private institutions are now offering postgraduate courses in public health. Most of these courses are open to MBBS graduates. Doctors can also do their postgraduate degrees in preventive and social medicine or community medicine or do a diploma in public health to specialise as epidemiologists. The sub-disciplines of epidemiology offer scope for further specialisations. These include infectious disease epidemiology, chronic disease epidemiology, environmental epidemiology, behavioural epidemiology, occupational epidemiology, and molecular epidemiology. Those working in the area of public health or with a background in medicine, microbiology, biotechnology, pharmacy and so on can also get into this field.
While most epidemiologists have a PhD, some positions only require a master’s degree in fields like biology or statistics or a master’s of public health, there are limited courses in epidemiology in India, but it is offered as a PG diploma in several research institutes handling the subject. It is also included as a subject in the courses in public health.
Job hunt
EMPLOYMENT opportunities for epidemiologists lie with government as health officers at municipal corporations and also with NGOs and international agencies like UNICEF and WHO. They also work at research institutions and universities. Epidemiologists also work in universities, hospitals, non-profit organisations, private offices, government organisations and public health departments. They work as researchers, health professionals, grant writers, policy advisors, and teachers. The remuneration depends on the type of organisation one works for, but, on an average, you can expect about Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 a month if employed by the government and anything between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh if with WHO or UNICEF. Epidemiology is a very challenging field and it can be a very rewarding career too. If you are interested in subjects like biology and are good in mathematics, epidemiology is a fascinating career to pursue. You need to have an inquisitive and logical mind, with a passion for enquiry: dedication is fundamental to achieve things in science. It’s also important to have a lot of enthusiasm for what you’re trying to do; the reward should be an intellectual reward, an understanding that you’ve gained new knowledge that can be used to help people. (The writer is a career expert)
Institute watch
SOME of the important institutes offering courses in epidemiology are:
n
National Institute for Communicable Disease, Delhi IIPH has introduced a one-year postgraduate diploma in biostatistics and data management to equip students with modern tools of data management and applied biostatistics, related to the field of medical research and public health. Those with a background in IT and statistics can also apply for this
programme.
Vital to society
|
|
Looking for a job? Try LinkedIn or Twitter
JOB-SEEKING in this 21st century recession may just have gone viral and mobile. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, about 6.7 million workers have been laid off according to latest statistics - at a time the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have exploded, drawing millions of users per day.
As these sites continue to alter social and cultural landscapes, they are also transforming the job search process, enabling more and more people to connect with potential employers, promote their own skills, set up support groups and search for job leads and contacts. “Mobile technology and social networking has shifted the whole job search paradigm,” said Susan Joyce, editor of Job-Hunt.Org, a site offering online job search tips. “You don’t need to stay glued to your phone or computer at home anymore.” With mobile devices playing a bigger role in the social networking phenomenon, any job hopeful with a Web-connected or smartphone can now compose resumes, view job listings and contact prospective employers on the go. Joyce suggests creating a resume through popular networking site LinkedIn - a business networking site that lets users create a profile, list skills, work history, employment goals and contact details - is among the more secure ways to compile a resume online. It can be done via Research in Motion Ltd’s Blackberry device or Apple Inc’s iPhone, she added. “The LinkedIn Profile is really the resume of the future,” Joyce said. “The ‘resume’ on LinkedIn is really the standard LinkedIn Profile, but it’s very popular with recruiters looking for good candidates. “You could build your whole LinkedIn presence from any Web-enabled phone.” There are any number of job-search applications — downloadable programmes for your phone — available for the iPhone, for instance, including one piloted by recruitment consultancy Harvey Nash. Others pool information on jobs in travel and in education, among other sectors.
Getting creative
WITH jobs still scarce, many hopefuls are getting creative about getting noticed. Many have begun using Twitter - a microblogging service that allows users to send 140-character messages at a time - to get the word out. A career is unlikely to be launched on Twitter alone, but candidates are increasingly “tweeting” or posting messages to outline their skills, experiences and career goals. They are pasting links to their resumes on the micro-blogging
service. People can also use Twitter to follow recruiters or companies of interest and learn of networking events. Job seekers have gotten job leads and tips on networking events that they otherwise would have missed, had it not been for their Twitter or Facebook account. “It’s really helped in these hard times. You have a much easier time finding job and networking events. And every time I go to one of these events, I add at least one connection,” said Nilo Sarraf, who was laid off from Yahoo Inc recently and formed a Silicon Valley online networking group called Layoffs Cafe. Layoffs Cafe is one of several online support groups that have sprung up during the downturn, tipping off job seekers where physical networking events are taking place. Chris Hutchins, a former management and business strategy consultant in Silicon Valley, launched LaidOffCamp as the online component to offline events. “We focus on organizing events for people who are unemployed,” said Hutchins, noting there have been about 11 “LaidOff Camps” set up around the country, drawing anywhere from 100 to 600 participants who attend panels on topics such as how to live on a budget, how to develop a personal brand and how to find a job in the current market. “We spent no dollars on marketing. If it weren’t for social media and blogs, Laidoff Camp wouldn’t exist,” he said. While candidates these days are taking advantage of to easily access job information, one of the downsides, according to job seekers and employment experts, is managing the data. “It can be overwhelming. It’s hard to weed out all the information and manage your time,” said Sarraf. Privacy issues and falling prey to the many recruiting, work-at-home, make-a-million and resume creation software scams are also risks for the unwary. “When someone is job hunting, they need to be careful. I know a lot of people who have been hurt by bogus resume companies. People tend to think if its online, its legitimate and when you’re doing a resume, people are being asked to provide a lot of personal information, such as where you live and your social security number,” she added. — Reuters
|
|
Career Hotline Pervin Malhotra
A. I suggest you a work for a couple of years before going in for a good MBA. Alternatively, you can go for MBA in agriculture business management. Increasingly, companies — including MNCs — are realising that the future lies in agri-marketing. To make Indian agriculture globally competitive, it is important to shift the focus from deficit to surplus management. Both IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Lucknow offer postgraduate programmes in agri-business management. The (15-month and two-year) courses are oriented towards developing highly competent agri-business managers with a rural cum global orientation. The curriculum covers all the functional areas of business management with a focus on applications in the agricultural, food, rural and allied sectors of the industry. Need-based scholarships are also available. Admission to these programmes is through the Common Admission Test (CAT). Eligibility: Bachelors or masters degree in agriculture or allied subjects. Graduates in other streams with at least one-two years of work experience in agriculture, rural development, agri, food processing can also apply. Besides most of the reputed agricultural universities in each state like GB Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana or Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, there are several reputed institutes like IRMA, Anand (Gujarat) that offer MBA-level courses in rural management and agribusiness management.
Goals not enough, strategise & map out
A. You can devote months of thought to spell-out your career goals, your one-year or your five-year goals. You may write them and stick them under a magnet on your fridge. But sad to say, without a proper disciplined roadmap, they are worthless. Know why? The goal is only the destination. How much thought have you given to the journey — between where you are now and where you want to go? You need to strategise and map out each step so that you can check your position and stay on the right path. Mapping also shows how far you are from your goal and what route to take next. Keep checking your list periodically to determine where you are. Also, have a Plan B and Plan C in case things don’t work out. Dare to dream and then don’t give up. Hold on to it, and follow through. If you are still confused about what career to opt for, or if you are not quite sure of the range of career options that are compatible with your personality and interests, you might consider taking a good career aptitude test. Just send a blank e-mail to iopener@careerguidanceindia.com, and I’ll send you a copy of the career selection exercise.
It is the Golden Age for Mathematics
A. Career opportunities are truly wide and varied for those who have a talent and passion for this multifaceted queen of sciences. If you love numbers, this is a subject you’ll really enjoy. Moreover, the skills you develop while studying for a math degree— such as the ability to think logically and methodically — will prove to be a great asset in any profession. No wonder it is called the queen of sciences! Some of the careers where a mathematical background is particularly valued are IT (MCA), chartered accountancy, actuarial science (insurance), taxation, business management, finance, operations research, market research (specifically quantitative), and media planning. Another growth area lies in the banking and financial services sector where the work centres on portfolio management, financial control methods & forecasting, equity research, financial planning etc. For all these, MBA (Fin),
MFC, CA, CFA will hold you in good stead. Students trained in pure mathematics are also in great demand. Many financial services companies, research labs of multinational companies etc are aggressively hiring Indian mathematicians and the best part is that the pay packet is better than that offered to IT professionals. A career in mathematical research — be it pure or applied — can be a fascinating pursuit. Those specialising in mathematics or statistics can also choose to work as members of research teams in industry, statistical and data collection
organisations, meteorology, information technology, aerospace and
bioinformatics. For RBI jobs: www.rbi.org.in Of course there is always the teaching and competitive exams option to consider. Well-paying teaching positions are available in plenty, especially in private engineering colleges. After MSc math you can even enroll for MTech (in a host of engineering/technology disciplines including computer science at leading engineering colleges including the
IITs, after taking the GATE exam). Math and science are the keys to innovation and power in today’s world. And this is the Golden Age for masters and PhD holders in mathematics. The other wonderful thing is that math can be pursued at any time and any place. Unlike physics and chemistry, you don’t need any lab to learn the subject. You can practice it in your own mind! Mathematics finds valuable applications in all walks of life, including business and law. Unfortunately, India is lagging behind in applied mathematics.
MBA vs MPharma Do what interests you
A. To be eligible for a master’s programme in either management or pharmacy, your daughter needs an undergraduate degree. After completing the DPharma course she can seek lateral entry into Year Two of a four-year BPharm degree course. Several colleges/universities admit diploma holders in pharmacy to the second year of the BPharma programme — DIPSAR, New Delhi, Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar, MDSU, Ajmer, Dr Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalya, Sagar (MP). Pharma companies continuously vie with each other to bring new products to the market at competitive and affordable costs. This requires expertise in clinical research, regulatory affairs, biometrics, medical affairs, quality assurance and pharmaco-vigilance. With most pharma and biotech companies gong in for R&D in a big way, there is tremendous scope for those who are trained in the field of clinical research. The industry will need qualified personnel in quality assurance, quality control, business development, clinical operations, medical writing, biostatistics, data management and regulatory affairs. Some of the companies which recruit these professionals are Novartis, Cipla, Ranbaxy, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Accenture and Excel Lifesciences. If management is what interests your daughter, then she is better off pursuing a MBA in an area that builds on her undergraduate studies — MBA in pharma, biotech or hospital management. MBA pharma is an industry-specific course designed to groom pharmaceutical management professionals. MBA in hospital and healthcare management equips you with the requisite knowledge to plan, direct, coordinate and control the various activities of a large hospital and managing the complex relationships between patients, physicians, hospitals, medical insurers, and government agencies. Since the pharma sector is one of the largest growing industries, it requires trained professional managerial manpower and the demand for such professionals is on the rise. To decide between the two, your daughter needs to carefully analyse her strengths, career goals, interests, personality, aptitude, and ability. If your daughter makes her decision based on these parameters she will put in her best effort and will be successful in her chosen field.
|
|
amid revival signs India Inc ups hiring
“Hiring trends are picking up with companies opening up again for fresh recruitments ... The days of downturn seem to be over and an upswing has begun. The resume posting activity is picking up again as people are testing the waters for changing their jobs,’’ International Management Institute (IMI) director C S Venkata Ratnam said. Global consultancy Price-WaterHouseCoopers executive director R Sankar said the hiring conditions were turning for the better even as a long way remains for companies to regain their previous year’s levels. “The job scene has improved but is still to reach the levels of euphoria we were accustomed to in earlier years. We don’t see a ‘flurry of resumes’ but cherry picking of key talent continues to happen,’’ Sankar said. “Much would depend on the pace of the economic recovery. The green shoots are springing up but the poor monsoon is cause for concern,’’ he added. Venkata Ratnam also said that retail and realty sectors are the ones to pick up strongly in the coming months, while the IT sector will continue to suffer, as it is not driven by domestic demand. “In any event, sectors such as FMCG, pharma, telecom, etc, which have been relatively less affected by the slowdown will continue to hire, albeit cautiously,’’ Sankar pointed out. In June, corporate India’s hiring activity had surged significantly with recruitment in banking and financial services sector increasing 22 per cent in the month, according to a survey by a job portal. “The economy has pulled out of the stagnancy in hiring. Although, there is an uptrend in hiring, this may be only indicative of replacement hiring,’’ Info Edge’s national head, marketing and communications, Sumeet Singh said. The job trends in Indian companies’ is in line with their global peers and a recent survey by Deloitte revealed HR executives globally now have new concerns about building up of a ‘resume tsunami ’ which may be ready to hit once the economy turns and employees begin to consider new opportunities. “Once recovery begins to take hold, business executives and talent leaders can expect a ‘resume tsunami’ as voluntary turnover rises with leaders and workers with critical skills seeking new opportunities,’’ Deloitte LLP consulting principal (human capital) Jeff Schwartz said.
— Agencies
Employee confidence surges, but lowest among BRIC
AMID improving economic conditions, Indian employees’ confidence in the future of their companies rose significantly in the second quarter of the year, though the rise is less than in Brazil, Russia, and China, a study says. According to the employee confidence study by global HR solutions provider Kenexa, employees from 12 countries surveyed reported an increase in employee confidence scores and became more positive in the second quarter of 2009. “While most countries improved in the second quarter over the first, we saw especially strong gains in Russia, Germany, France and India. The countries with the smallest gains were Japan, Spain, Canada and the UK,” global HR solutions provider Kenexa Principal Jeffrey Saltzman said. Global employee confidence, which is a quarterly measure of the degree of confidence employees have in their employers’ marketplace competitiveness and their own careers, was 98.9 for June quarter this year. The country-wise employee confidence index score for India was 99.6, while Brazil, Russia and China were among the countries in the survey recording the highest levels of employee confidence for the second quarter. The employee confidence index level for Brazil was 107.2, China (102.3) and Russia (100.9), the study said.
— PTI
|
|
Hackers make most of bleak job scene
IDENTITY thieves and hackers are turning the bleak employment situation to good account by attacking job portals and obtaining information about applicants, for which a subterranean market is in
operation.
Amid the current recession, hackers are attacking corporate job sites and also setting up fake ones for collecting applicants’ personal information, Internet security firm Trend Micro said. “Continued rising unemployment has led more people to apply online for jobs, both through online job aggregators and individual corporate sites, thus turning the job portals into a gold mine for collecting personal data,” Trend Micro Product Marketing Manager (APEC) Abhinav Karnwal said. Karnwal further added that in a difficult hiring climate, applicants may feel constrained to give a potential employer whatever information asked for — even if it’s her/his social security number or bank account number. An analyst tracking the sector feels that identity thieves and hackers are setting increasingly sophisticated traps to dupe the jobless, who are evidently off guard. The hackers usually sell the important data collected from resumes, like mobile numbers, addresses, email IDs and other personal details, in the underground economy. Moreover, the hackers are also targeting job seekers by sending fake “work from home” offers. While the leading job portal Monster.com was not available for comment, Naukri.com said it has not faced any incident of hacking recently. To avoid falling prey to hacking, Trend Micro suggested that applicants should contact employers directly rather than posting resumes on a large career site that can be easily trolled by hackers. It further suggested that if applicants do get a call, they should do some research before calling them back. — PTI
|
|
Shared PCs breed, spread germs
YOU may have no other option than to use shared computers in your office or at an Internet cafe, but a study has revealed that these terminals are breeding grounds for germs. Researchers have found that shared computers are hot beds for bacteria and hot-desking in the office can even cause workers to become ill — in fact, shared keyboards may contain five times the number of microorganisms as those used by one. Lead author Enzo Palombo was quoted by leading British newspaper ‘The Daily Telegraph’ as saying, “High use, multiple user Internet cafes and computer labs are potential hot spots for harbouring microorganisms.” The researchers have based their findings after an analysis on computers — in tests, almost half of keyboards harboured the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus that, although usually harmless when it is on the skin, can lead to serious infections if it enters the body. Swabs showed it was present on only one-fifth of single-use keyboards, they said. 'Women prefer male bosses'
According to the researchers warn that the risk of infection was high if the equipment was not thoroughly cleaned. Given that computers are not routinely disinfected, the potential for transmitting disease is great. “Organisations need to be more rigorous in keeping shared equipment clean. Keyboards and other hand contact areas such as a computer mouse should be regularly cleaned and disinfected, especially for multiple-user workstations,” Prof Palombo of Swinburne University of Technology said.
Temporary jobs lead to mental distress
“TEMPORARY workers-those lacking long-term, stable employment-seem to be susceptible to declining mental health for as long as they continue to work in these so-called “disposable” or “second class” jobs,” said Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, a medical sociologist at McGill University and the study’s primary investigator. “This research shows that temporary work strains employee mental health, as contingent workers report more symptoms of depression and psychological distress than similarly employed workers who are not in these fixed-term positions,” the expert added. To reach the conclusion, the research team analysed a sample of longitudinal records collected biennially between 1992 and 2002 from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79). The NLSY79 is a survey of men and women born between 1957 and 1964 who were interviewed annually from 1979 to 1994, and biennially thereafter. The research team considered respondents” contingent (temporary) work status, depressive symptoms scores, poverty level and educational attainment. The paper, “Contingent Work and Depressive Symptoms: Contribution of Health Selection and Moderating Effects of Employment Status,” has been presented in the Parc 55 Hotel at the American Sociological Association’s 104th annual meeting.
— Agencies
|
|
Men smart while working with smarter women
MAN smart, woman smarter, the catchy number sung by Harry Belafonte years ago may not be music for all men. According to a survey, 62 per cent men smart while working alongside bold and aggressive women. Conceptualised by a TV channel and conducted in several cities including Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Patna, Bhopal, Pune, Kochi and Surat, the poll has taken views of men and women in the age group 18-50.
“It’s a fact that women are more smart, informative and decisive and men are undoubtedly insecure. And I don’t have any qualms in accepting that it becomes a pain most of the times working with such women because they constantly tend to circumcise your male ego knowingly or unknowingly,” Ateet Aggarwal, a banker, said. “It becomes intolerable sometimes because of huge ego hassles,” he
added. Mumbai-based Chitresh Sinha agreed with Aggarwal and said: “When men work with women it’s usually about proving themselves. It’s a natural feeling and when you have a bold, aggressive woman working with you, it becomes much harder for men to prove themselves.” Adding to this, Zubin Kaul, a software professional, said: “I find it really uncomfortable to work with a female boss who is biased against men. They have this feeling that men are good for nothing and they look for opportunities to pull you down.” If we look at today’s scenario, women are at top posts in every industry, playing the lead role of a perfect boss to perfection. Some men feel that a female boss behaves like a “mad woman” if she is single. “I had this bad experience of having a female boss who was single. She had no life of her own and wanted us to be in office till very late. She used to get these mood swings very often that it was very difficult to deal with her,” recollected Randeep Singh. “And things are very difficult to handle when it comes to dealing with a female boss. You can’t argue with them because you don’t know how they will behave. At times, they are so adamant to prove a point that they refuse to even listen to your ideas,” he added. While some men find it really uncomfortable to work with bold women, PR executive Ankur Talwar has no problems working with aggressive women, but he feels that women “sometimes get hyper”. “I think women are great co-workers but at times they just get too hyper or emotional about a situation unnecessarily, which could have been dealt with a cool mind. Their reactions are always very surprising,” explained Talwar. Inspite of possibilities of ego clashes and regular confrontations, mediaperson Biswadip Mitra doesn’t mind working with tough female bosses, “as long as they don’t violate office decorum”. “Honestly, I don’t mind tough women as my boss or colleague as long as they do not violate office decorum or hurl insults — simply because I am not used to insulting others. I can differ in my opinions, but there can be sober ways to express it,” explained Mitra.
— IANS
|
|
Key challenge for India firms
COME June every year, and Infosys Technologies — India’s second-biggest software services exporter — turns trainer for the nearly 30,000 students it recruits from top engineering colleges every
year.
Its training campus in Mysore, a two-hour drive from its sprawling headquarters in Bengaluru, can house about 15,000 people. New recruits spend up to six months honing their skills as Infosys attempts to fill the gaps left by inadequate college education. Goldman Sachs counts the lack of quality education as one of the 10 factors holding India back from rapid economic growth. Analysts say it raises costs, including salaries as firms vie for the best IT recruits, and reduces firms’ competitive edge. “Ideally, education should happen in colleges, it should not be happening on company campuses,” said Srikantan Moorthy, head of education and research at Infosys, whose Campus Connect programme in 430 colleges is aimed at “industry ready” recruits. “But a gap does exist, and we can’t wait for the government to put in place an education system that addresses our needs.” There are growing cries to revamp India’s education system, which focuses on learning by rote. The calls for reforms include opening up primary and secondary education to private investment, easier entry of foreign universities seeking to establish campuses in India and better monitoring and evaluation systems. Nasdaq-listed Infosys, which develops software applications, spent $175 million on training and education in the year to March 2009, at a time when an economic downturn crimped margins. It is not the only one: rival Tata Consultancy Services has a faculty development programme in 150 engineering colleges, while Wipro founder Azim Premji has set aside some of his personal wealth for primary education and Anil Agarwal, chief of Vedanta Resources, has committed $1 billion to a university. Tata Group and Aditya Birla Group set up colleges years ago as acts of social responsibility. Now, multinationals such as SAP, IBM and Cisco are designing curriculum and training faculty to meet their needs. “The talent gap is compromising their growth big time,” said Janmejaya Sinha, managing director of Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which estimates there was a 30 percent rise in IT salaries from 2004-06 because of a war for talent between firms. “It is one of the biggest operational risks they face.”
Demographic disaster
MORE than half country’s billion-plus population is below the age of 25, a section referred to as its demographic dividend. But about 40 per cent of its work force of about 400 million people is illiterate and another 40 per cent comprises school dropouts, said BCG in a recent report. Demand for graduates over the next five years is likely to be 13.8 million. But with only 13.2 million students graduating over the same period, India will face a shortfall of 600,000 graduates. About 1.3 million unskilled and unqualified workers will also weigh on the economy over the same period, BCG estimates. “More than 1 million people lacking the ability to participate in the workforce has the makings of a potential demographic disaster,” Sinha said. “We will have an army of young people left behind and increasingly frustrated with their lot. They not only have the potential to derail India’s growth prospects, but also challenge the basic fibre of our society,” he said. With a literacy rate of 61 per cent, India scores poorly compared to other BRIC nations in terms of average number of years in secondary education. Rival China already produces more than three times the number of PhDs every year. Home to one of the world’s oldest universities, now only 10 per cent of the roughly 20 million who enrol in the first grade every year finish high school. Female participation is abysmal. With the education sector deemed “not for profit”, and limits on private investment in primary and secondary education, there is a thriving cottage industry of coaching centres and tutors. Hundreds of private tertiary colleges charge high fees. Yet, according to critics, many students graduating from these expensive colleges are practically unemployable. The best colleges, including Indian Institutes of Technology and Management were set up more than 50 years ago. “Without hundreds of millions of Indians receiving a better basic education, it will be virtually impossible for India to achieve its “dream” potential,” the Goldman Sachs report said.
Right to education
FOR the new Congress party-led government, education is a priority: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (universal education programme) helped bring 20 million children into school. It also plans to quadruple the number of universities to 1,500 in 10 years. A Right to Education Bill, passed by the parliament this month, provides children aged 6-14 years the right to free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school. These are vital but inadequate measures, companies say. “Of all the big issues challenging corporates, education is the starting point,” said Dilep Rajnekar, chief executive of Azim Premji Foundation, which plans to set up a university. “If we manage to get the education bit right, then a lot of things can go right in this country.”
— Reuters
|
|
Choose with care
HIGHER education may have helped women catch up somewhat with men in terms of earnings, but according to new research there is one factor instrumental in perpetuating that gap — the choice of subjects in college.
Women are still segregated into college majors that will lead them to careers with less pay than men, said Donna Bobbitt-Zeher, study author and assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University (OSU). “Gender segregation in college is becoming more influential in how men and women are rewarded later in life,” Bobbitt-Zeher said. “If you really want to eliminate earnings inequality, college major segregation is a piece of the puzzle that really stands out.” The findings are especially important now because many people assume that, if anything, college helps women more than it helps men nowadays. “A lot of people look at data showing that women are more likely to go to college than men, and that women get better grades in college than men, and assume that everything is all right,” she said. “But this research suggests there are still problems for women that relate to college.” She used data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. With these data sets, she was able to compare women who graduated from high school in 1972 and 1992. She compared incomes of college graduates seven years after high school graduation, in 1979 and 1999. Both samples included about 10,000 cases. Findings showed income gap between college-educated men and women declined significantly in 20 years — in 1979, women’s earnings were 78 per cent of their male counterparts but by 1999 they were earning 83 per cent as much as men.
— IANS
|
They investigate the cause of disease, control its spread and develop treatment guidelines be it dengue, bird flu & now swine flu. If you are interested in biology and are good in mathematics, epidemiology is a challenging career
Gather work-ex before MBA
MAN smart, woman smarter, the catchy number sung by Harry Belafonte years ago may not be music for all men. According to a survey, 62 per cent men smart while working alongside bold and aggressive
women. Conceptualised by a TV channel and conducted in several cities including Delhi,
Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Patna, Bhopal,
Pune, Kochi and Surat, the poll has taken views of men and women in the age group 18-50.
COME June every year, and Infosys Technologies — India’s second-biggest software services exporter — turns trainer for the nearly 30,000 students it recruits from top engineering colleges every
year.
Its training campus in Mysore, a two-hour drive from its sprawling headquarters in
Bengaluru, can house about 15,000 people. New recruits spend up to six months honing their skills as Infosys attempts to fill the gaps left by inadequate
college education.
AT a time when the country is reeling under the scourge of swine flu, with a new victim every few hours, the government and health authorities are realising the need for building up the nation’s public health workforce. A short supply of doctors and health specialists has revealed the gaps in our public health preparedness.
An important component of public health, epidemiology has traditionally been neglected in India where the focus has always been on treatment once the disease strikes. However, with the outbreak of bird flu, dengue and the new deadly swine flu — the importance of the field is slowly being recognised. The government has woken up to the fact that since it does not have the infrastructure to treat the huge number of patients in case of an epidemic, it is smarter to employ epidemiologists who can trace the cause of the disease and control it at an early stage. Epidemiology has now received a big boost with the government creating separate posts for preventive medicine.
When dengue fever or the current swine flu outbreak attacks a community, the “disease detectives” or epidemiologists are asked to investigate the cause of disease and control its spread. A basic science in the field of public health, epidemiology deals with the study of the patterns and the causes of diseases in the population Epidemiologists study how diseases and medical treatments affect groups of people. 
THE importance of epidemiology cannot be ignored. All-important discoveries in the field of public health have been due to detailed epidemiological analyses of events and diseases, such as the eradication of smallpox, and the near eradication or elimination of diseases like polio. The identification of the link between smoking and lung cancer has also been due to the efforts of epidemiologists.
Q. After doing BSc agriculture, is it good to do MBA? What are the opportunities available for me beside MBA?
— Manish Dhawan
Q. After bachelor’s in sociology, I did master’s in tourism and even worked for a couple of years in the field. Now this work does not interest me. Unlike most people, I can’t seem to fix a goal or sustain it. I am very confused; nothing makes sense.
— Tavishi Gaur
Q. Please tell me what study and career opportunities will be available to me after BA mathematics. I am an honours student?
— Harpreet
Baweja
Q. Our daughter is doing DPharma (two year). We want her to do MBA in pharma or foreign trade. Would this be a better option for her than
MPharma? — K.M. Vij
In a major relief for jobseekers, India Inc’s hiring activities are picking up once again as economic conditions are looking up considerably, experts say. Most Indian companies — which had frozen hiring due to the economic downturn — have started to look at fresh recruitments now with indications of an economic recovery becoming visible across the world, HR experts say.
