Kinza Qadeer
Over the past few decades, we can see the agitation for improving the quality of education concerning the competition in the job market. For this purpose, the curriculum-based term STEM was proposed by the National Science Foundation in 2000. STEM education not just focuses on the curriculum but also the classroom environment. It convincingly makes the environment of the classroom more students friendly and interactive than the traditional one. An analytical report on STEM jobs was presented by Anthony P. Carnevale from Georgetown University, which shows that the demand for degrees with STEM education in the job market is increasing rapidly(1).
Biology, the study of life, is a vast subject that includes various other disciplines, such as agriculture, environment, bioinformatics, medical sciences, biotechnology, pharmacology, microbiology, and the list goes on. All the old and emerging disciplines, along with other sciences equip the child with the necessary skills.
With the increase in industrialization since the 18th century, our environment has changed very much. Several problems have arisen with it. As an environmental biologist, one can solve certain issues and try to conserve the flora and fauna from extinction. Many government and non-government organizations hire biologists to mitigate the pollution and manage the programs designed to recover the polluted land and water.
Biologists can also work in the healthcare sector to research and find the cure for many diseases. The health sector has a great scope of jobs for the biologist as they not only work as doctors or physiotherapists but can also get hired as microbiologists and biotechnologists by the hospitals and laboratories.
They can also have the opportunity to work as forensic scientists. Through this, they can get engage with law enforcement agencies to investigate the pieces of evidence provided. For this purpose, they must get specialized in biochemistry, forensic anthropology, DNA analysis, and forensic pathology. They not only help in re-framing the crime scene but also detect the environmental contaminant.
Apart from all other traditional career options, biologists can also find their career in government organizations where they can work with policymakers and can help them in framing laws and regulations on certain trending problems. Covid-19 and smog issues are such examples where we have seen biologists with the government officials to help them cope up with these issues.
Another high-rated sector where biologists can perform their duties is the pharmaceutical industry. It is a trillion-dollar industry where biologists or more precisely pharmacologists can research the development of new products and their delivery system in the body. They have a very integrated role as they can perform quantitative analysis of systems and clinical trials. They not only help them in the production of drugs but also can help the industry by launching their new products to the marketplace.
Among other interdisciplinary fields in biology, bio economics is another old but emerging field where biologists can use their numerical sense in providing help to certain organizations so that they can cope up with socio-economic problems. They include the agriculture economists that keep an eye on the commodities produced concerning the population or environmental economists that play their part to regulate the sustainable environment with the economic needs of the country.
Last but not the least, an important field where biology meets computer technology is bioinformatics. As the data in the field of biology is vast, thus integration and conversion of this data to information are very important. This field integrates all other disciplines of biology with data perspectives.
From this, we conclude that job markets all around the world demand employees with STEM education. Thus, educational institutes must focus on the teaching of biology along with technology.
REFERENCES:
Carnevale. A, Smith. N, Melton. M. (2011). STEM. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce Report. https://cew.georgetown.edu/report/stem/.
