Political science
Political science is a social science which deals with the systems of governance and the analysis of political activities, political thoughts and political behaviour. In Uganda, joining the most important law-making wing of the country, The Parliament, doesn’t take the genius of a political scientist. All it takes is a person with a manifesto and a valid UACE Certificate and probably, some money.
By the look of things, lawyers have taken up most space in the political wing, even internationally.
Very few political scientists get to take part in the country’s political sphere and most graduates of political science end up applying their craft as political journalists which field is already saturated.
It takes one who is genius to become a prominent political authority and only a handful can pull this off. Therefore, if you are not strategic and you fall under this career umbrella, you may find yourself protesting on the streets asking yourself ‘what’s next?’ after graduation.
Journalism and mass communication
Veteran journalist Andrew Mwenda at one conference remarked that journalism was once a vocation that was commercialized into a degree.
The statement carried a lot of weight as in today’s major news rooms, most of the presenters have never stepped into a journalism class from Mildred Tuhaise, Canary Mugume, Flavia Tumusiime to most of your favourite radio personalities.
In fact, some did not see as little as a day in a University class. What employers seem to look out for is the skillset an individual has.
This is one of those degrees where a 4.5 GPA will not get you a job anywhere if you do not have the skillset to match up to it. To make it worse, the new media seems to be eating up traditional media and it does not take the genius of Einstein to know that Bettina Tianah does not need a minute in Journalism school to know how to promote a product on her Instagram page.
Therefore, if you are purchasing a journalism and mass communication degree while eyeing your GPA numbers, you might sooner or later find yourself hoisting a ‘What’s next?’ placard.
Music Dance and Drama
In the autobiography of Shawn Carter (Jay-z), he states nowhere in the book that he had to attend two excruciating hours of music school reciting sol-fa notes.
Why? Because no one in the music business cares whether you struck a 4.5 GPA in rhyming to sign you to their record label. All they need is skill. Same applies to the every performing arts. Therefore, if you are chasing that degree for the marks, you might wind up jobless.
Industrial Arts
A photo of a banana taped to a canvas made rounds on social media last year as it had been bought as art for millions of dollars. Art today is what the artist wants it to be. To Kanye West, a torn shirt is art and to Basquiat, art was him crossing out his thoughts on paper (which sold for millions of dollars by the way).
If you are not skilled or talented enough to make art, our degree is nothing but a fart in the wind. If you are not creative enough to churn your art degree into tangible works of art that you can market, you are soon joining the “What’s next?” protest.
Psychology
According to CareerAddict, psychology is a popular degree today and due to the increasing cases of mental health, it might seem like a marketable degree on face value. However, they go on to add that there are hundreds of graduates with the same degree and one’s chances of landing a job are really slim.
In such fields, one ought to be extremely creative in order to land a job or have heavy academic qualifications. Short of that, “What’s next?”
Social sciences/SWASA
These are considered the most “chill” students at University. They are known to take life for what it is and we doubt any employer wants to have such energy around their enterprise. Finding a job in this field is as undefined as the course is and you ought to brace yourself for the worst if you are undertaking this particular degree.
We are not saying graduates of these disciplines are always unemployed, no, we are saying in the Ugandan slim job market, opportunities are fewer, and you may find yourself asking us, “What’s next?” after graduation.