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Placements, Internal ‘Brain Drain’ and Academic Life of Undergraduates at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay


Affiliations
1 Centre for Policy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, India., India
 

The nature of jobs that undergraduate students at IIT Bombay opt for is analysed in this study. We examine the factors that affect student choices, especially what makes them opt for core (related to branch of study) or non-core jobs. We factor in the effect of their branch of study (or department), the remuneration offered, extracurricular activities pursued and the dominant aspirational narratives. Except for Computer Science and Engineering, there is a preponderance of students taking up non-core jobs. This ‘realization’ amongst students often promotes a disconnect with academic studies, especially of core subjects. We conclude that placement data need to be recorded and analysed every year so that rational decisions about the number of seats on offer in a given branch, the nature and extent of curricular changes, establishing multidisciplinary ‘branches’ and improvements in the placement process can be made in a reasoned manner.

Keywords

Academic Life, Core Versus Non-core Jobs, Placements, Technical Education, Undergraduate Students.
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Abstract Views: 185

PDF Views: 88




  • Placements, Internal ‘Brain Drain’ and Academic Life of Undergraduates at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

Abstract Views: 185  |  PDF Views: 88

Authors

Namit Agrawal
Centre for Policy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, India., India
Sailakshmi Sreenath
Centre for Policy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, India., India
Shishir K. Jha
Centre for Policy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, India., India
Anurag Mehra
Centre for Policy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, India., India

Abstract


The nature of jobs that undergraduate students at IIT Bombay opt for is analysed in this study. We examine the factors that affect student choices, especially what makes them opt for core (related to branch of study) or non-core jobs. We factor in the effect of their branch of study (or department), the remuneration offered, extracurricular activities pursued and the dominant aspirational narratives. Except for Computer Science and Engineering, there is a preponderance of students taking up non-core jobs. This ‘realization’ amongst students often promotes a disconnect with academic studies, especially of core subjects. We conclude that placement data need to be recorded and analysed every year so that rational decisions about the number of seats on offer in a given branch, the nature and extent of curricular changes, establishing multidisciplinary ‘branches’ and improvements in the placement process can be made in a reasoned manner.

Keywords


Academic Life, Core Versus Non-core Jobs, Placements, Technical Education, Undergraduate Students.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv124%2Fi2%2F155-168