<p>I’m just curious… What do you guys think the ultimate 21st Century degree is?</p>
<p>What do you mean by “ultimate”? Most likely to be highly lucrative?</p>
<p>Not necessarily lucrative… but… just important–if that makes sense? For example, in the early 1900s the MBA was created and was seen as the “ultimate” 20th Century degree. Indeed, it completely changed the economic environment of the world and of course, the US, which saw the most lasting impact.</p>
<p>Here, I’m just wondering what field will be the most prominent in the 21st Century. Will it be neuroscience? Ecology? Economics? Political Science? International Relations? Etc. etc. etc. etc.</p>
<p>There are so many factors involved… I know… but I’m curious what people think…</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I don’t think that anyone can reliably predict where this century is going.</p>
<p>Well, it could really be anything, but there’s been a lot of discussion about this. Look at this for example [Why</a> biology is the ultimate 21st-century degree - Education News, Education - The Independent](<a href=“http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/why-biology-is-the-ultimate-21stcentury-degree-695125.html]Why”>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/why-biology-is-the-ultimate-21stcentury-degree-695125.html)</p>
<p>The writer claims it is biology.</p>
<p>Neuroscience or Genetics or Evolutionary Biology or Developmental/Regenerative Biology or Energy Engineering</p>
<p>Never has a century of education been defined by an “ultimate degree”, and I find the likelihood of an “ultimate 21st century degree” to be low. The 21st century will be defined by the actions of the people, not what college-issued pieces of paper say. It’s what you do with your education, and for a decent society, we can’t have one all-pervasive element such as biology or economics or whatever you might think. The area of the educated involves many intertwined and interacting working parts, and I don’t think there will be a dominant field of study to the point that it would be “ultimate” (i.e. final/last/complete).</p>
<p>The question in no way asks what the “best” degree is, per se. I’m just merely curious what field people think will have greater prominence as we move further into the 21st Century. Of course you can’t have one “all pervasive elements such as biology or economics”, every field has something to offer.</p>
<p>This question became an itch in my mind after I read an article that discussed how important the MBA was in the early 1900s when it was first introduced by Harvard with the onset of Dartmouth’s graduate business school (referring to Tuck, of course). It revolutionized business in the US and the world and was essentially seen as the “ultimate” degree in the 20th Century because at that time business was a booming field.</p>
<p>Based on that article, I was just curious what the 21st Century “ultimate degree” was. I understand how someone may misinterpret that, so… yes… But of course, clearly, obviously, there is no ONE degree that defines a century, or even a decade for that matter. But in every century and decade there is a dominant issue, which in turn means there is more emphasis in a particular field.</p>
<p>Engineering.</p>
<p>I don’t know that there is a discipline that defines a whole century, or even a decade. Fields go in and out of fashion several times over a generation. I’m sure atomic physics, and growing out of that, nuclear engineering, were hot fields after WWII. Also in the late '50s and early '60s, Russian studies rose in importance, only to subside with the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the late '60s to mid-70s, psychology was the hot field, only to be replaced by neuroscience, then cognitive science was added to the mix. In the late '60s, Black studies became a discipline, now morphed into African American and Africana Studies. After 1970, environmental studies became a area of focus at many universities. This has since morphed into sustainability studies. After Watergate, students gravitated to investigative journalism. During the internet boom, many students chose EE and computer science. I suppose this interest has morphed into studying game design. With the rise of China, Asian studies became a popular major. With the rise of the S. Korean economy, the nuttiness of N. Korea, and the entry into colleges of the 2nd generation children of Korean immigrants, Korean studies have been added to the offerings at many schools. After 9/11, Middle Eastern studies and IR became popular. With the genome project, genetics and biotechnology became hot fields, along with mathematical and computational biology. More recently, Harvard has pioneered in human evolutionary biology and regenerative biology as separate disciplines. Even with the current recession, students continue to pursue finance, the prominence of which was abetted by the rise of the “quants”. There are many more examples. The rise, fall, and metamorphosis of disciplines is continuous.</p>
<p>Wow, this is great debate!</p>
<p>zapfino: I completely agree with you.</p>
<p>The Classics.</p>
<p>Classics without a doubt.</p>
<p>Mathematics/Computer Science and Engineering Fields</p>
<p>Data Analytics</p>
<p>biology, computer science, chemical and biomedical engineering</p>
<p>Chinese - since we will all be speaking it in a few decades.</p>
<p>Statistics + an application area. Data will be everywhere.</p>
<p>I personally think that it’s Urban Studies.</p>
<p>We would need to examine the environment we live in and hope to find a few solutions to a few challenges of us adjusting to the realities of urbanism.</p>
<p>Women’s studies, end of discussion</p>