Illinois County's Move to Cut Humanities and Social Sciences Finances Unjustified - Essay Sample

Introduction

Humanities and social sciences have long been targeted. Most opponents of the college and university disciplines claim that both humanities and social sciences should be scraped to encourage students to focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields (Cohen, 2016). Illinois County is no different. The governor proposed a technique to reduce financial aid among students studying humanities and social sciences. Therefore, this paper provides reasons why the move to cut financial grants among students studying humanities and social sciences by highlighting the importance of studying the disciplines.

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In the present years, STEM sciences have received the majority of the investments and support from universities and government institutions. In Illinois, the governor is proposing to increase financial aid to students taking STEM sciences. As Cohen (2016) argued, the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are essential. However, the importance of social sciences should not be disregarded. According to Cohen (2016), social sciences are of extreme benefit, particularly in public and primary care, the justice system, and corporate institutions, to mention a few. With this in mind, the education imbalance proposed by the governor should not be implemented. Notably, cutting financial aid on social sciences and increasing financial assistance provided to learners in STEM disciplines creates educational imbalance. The move is likely to prompt students, especially those from low-income families, to undertake STEM sciences, which will eventually lead to a reduced number of social scientists in the world today. With time, this would be detrimental to a community, considering the intensive benefits of social sciences and humanities to societies.

For most individuals, social science is a phrase and term that refers to people who end up working as social workers and teachers. However, such perceptions reflect the existing misunderstanding on the roles available within the field of humanities and social sciences and their influence on the world (Study International Staff, 2015). Importantly, social sciences and humanities focus on the study of communities and the relationship among people within society. In addition to that, the discipline covers an array of subjects that include political science, economics, sociology, history, anthropology, archaeology, and law. When compared to STEM sciences, it is worth noting that social sciences provide insights into how science and different innovations work. Precisely, social scientists know analytical and communication skills that could be of the utmost assistance to industries and many organizations.

Consequently, social scientists are often involved in tasks that include solving the most significant issues in the world today, such as violent forms of crime, alternative sources of energy, and cyber-threats and security. Social sciences have a substantial effect on peoples' daily lives. As Cohen (2016) stipulated, some of the essential roles and responsibilities of social scientists is the fact that they are directly involved in fights against infectious diseases. In this digital era, various diseases and new infections have sprouted, and most of them have no cure. For instance, Ebola is an infection that once affected people in the world and contributed to significant deaths and increased diseases. As part of solving the issue, social scientists were mandated with the task of understanding the disease progress and increasing research in drugs, among other social science needs.

Moreover, it was essential to understand the people who had the diseases and the broader society within which they resided. Doctors needed to study the attitudes of people towards routine activities such as washing hands and other hygiene behaviors. According to Cohen (2016), the fight against such infections often requires collaborative efforts among social scientists, doctors, human resources, and other leaders. Mainly, this shows that social scientists are often involved in different activities that aim at bettering and improving the living conditions in the world today, which explains why financial aid cuts among students studying humanities and social sciences should not be implemented.

In the medicine field, graduates in the disciplines of social sciences and other humanities are involved in different research practices. For instance, in the current time, cancer is prevalent in the world today. On that note, it is essential to understand the extent of awareness of the disease and the different preventive measures required. Such information helps to provide health institutions with a clear picture of the patients; experiences when working with hospitals within a community. Importantly, sociologists are primarily researchers and individuals involved in different activities aimed at ensuring that people are alleviated off their sufferings.

Social scientists are think tanks (Study International Staff, 2015). They help in providing a better understanding of the world. One logic example of the importance of social scientists is a situation that happened in the United Kingdom. The Home Office in the country gathered engineers, criminologists, and auto manufacturers to come up with a car that could be difficult to steal. Criminologists are in the field of social sciences. The criminologist would likely provide a reason why people steal and the techniques used. From this, it is clear that sociologists and social scientists can work with people from other disciplines to solve situations and challenges existing in the world today.

Accordingly, studying social sciences and humanities is essential to aid in creating positive progress in the business world. Most sociologists working on companies have the responsibility of studying and researching a variety of issues. For instance, sociologists could help a firm to understand the kind and type of customers that purchase products and services offered in an institution and the effectiveness of strategies such as advertisements and marketing on the consumers. Most of the organizations all over the world tend to be frantic to gain an understanding of their customers. Social scientists have the capability of providing the desired information.

Humanities also include literature arts, languages, and studying about cultures. As Strauss (2017) argued, studying philosophy is crucial since it teaches learners where humans came from and the evolvement of the modes of reasoning over time. Learning foreign languages and exploring the different cultures allow learners to understand how societies resemble and differ from each other. Humanities fields enable learners to think in diverse and complex ways. In addition to that, studies on literature, music, and art are essential since they focus and expand the learners' sense of human capabilities. According to Strauss (2017), studying humanities foster an understanding of the people who lived in the world before while foreign languages help in uniting individuals from different traditions and backgrounds.

Additionally, humanities studies often focus on different factors of consciousness, particularly the intellect and heart. Most lawmakers lack consciousness factors, considering the increased cases of brutality and inequality in society. Such lawmakers tend to have a poor understanding of human experiences. Strauss (2017) stipulated that courses in humanities have proved to be beneficial over the years. The study of humanities has made people change their perceptions of the world and to remain united. Strauss (2017) further indicated that the job environment is creating a variety of openings for the people who can bring their humanistic nature to the high-tech future.

Importantly, the sections above explain the benefits of social sciences and humanities. With all the benefits highlighted, it is essential to understand the claims made by the opponents of social sciences and humanities disciplines in colleges and universities. The primary reason provided by the opponents is that there exists no better profession for people studying the subjects. The existence of such courses has created increased unemployment among learners. However, these claims are not enough to warrant financial aids cuts for students studying social sciences and humanities. Instead, the courses should be strengthened. As seen earlier, social sciences and human resources are essential in almost every form of employment. The students can find jobs in medical and research institutions, businesses, and manufacturing firms, to mention a few.

Much work needs to be done to intensify the encouragement and assistance provided to social sciences and humanities departments in colleges. Selecting between STEM and social sciences is unrealistic and should not be implemented in Illinois. Society needs to receive training in both STEM and social sciences. To enhance the right solutions for the community, students and people need to learn both STEM and social sciences. Social science and humanities involve collaborative and teamwork practices in diverse fields such as medicine, engineering, biology, computing, and mathematics. With this in mind, it is clear that no subject discipline can stand effectively alone.

Conclusion

To conclude, it would not be fair to reduce financial aid granted to learners who study social studies and humanities disciplines and increase the assistance given to the students who enroll in STEM sciences departments. The reason provided in this paper is that social sciences are essential and complements STEM sciences, particularly in the medical field, by offering research findings and businesses, among others. Humanities that include literature, languages, art, and music create cohesion and oneness in society hence critical in promoting understanding and peace. Therefore, rather than reducing financial aids among learners enrolled in social sciences and humanities disciplines, the government of Illinois should strength the fields.

References

Cohen, P. (2016). A Rising Call to Promote STEM Education and Cut Liberal Arts Funding. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/22/business/a-rising-call-to-promote-stem-education-and-cut-liberal-arts-funding.html

Study International Staff. (2015). The Importance of the Social Sciences. Retrieved from https://www.studyinternational.com/news/the-importance-of-the-social-sciences/

Strauss, V. (2017). Why we still need to study the humanities in a STEM world. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/10/18/why-we-still-need-to-study-the-humanities-in-a-stem-world/