Columbia College may have reason to worry that, instead of evolving and growing, its science programs have remained developmentally static and are not attracting enough potential science majors.
The Subcommittee of Research and Science Education, which is a division of President Lee Bollinger’s Task Force on Undergraduate Education, has been examining the undergraduate science programs at Columbia College and comparing it to those at peer schools. Although it appears that there is no alarming decrease in science majors at Columbia, there is a marked standstill in development and number of students in sciences programs. This lack of growth has led the committee to believe that Columbia—like many other American colleges and universities—may be following a discouraging trend of decreased undergraduate interest in science.
“It is a big concern whether the interest in the discipline for doing science is really being properly instilled in our culture,” said Ann McDermott, a professor and the associate vice president for academic planning and science initiatives. “Some reports talk about it as a ‘crisis,’ some reports take a milder approach to it. But I think that everybody agrees that there’s something to worry about here, about the quality of the education and how is the culture really supporting an interest.”
While McDermott insists that the number of Columbia science majors has remained relatively stable in recent years, she admits that the number of students has declined over the “broad brush of time” in comparison to peer schools. She said that the issue is made more severe by a demanding Core Curriculum that can prohibit possible science majors from exploring their options.
“It’s limited what you can do to make the science less heavy,” she said. “When you then combine it with a set of rigid requirements that are really the things that so many people love about Columbia, it’s hard to throw away. Nobody wants to throw it away. But ... it’s easy to see the choices and the flexibility go away.”
John Hwang, CC ’08 and a biology major, agrees that the requirements can be overwhelming. He explained that although he has received a solid undergraduate science education, he regrets the fact that his science requirements—in addition to the Core—left him little time to pursue other interests.
“I do feel like it leaves me strapped for time,” Hwang said. “I haven’t taken classes that I would otherwise be interested in. The Core obviously is a good way for science majors to branch out but other than that ... there isn’t enough time.”
McDermott said that while there have been proposals about how to combat this decline, no drastic measures have been taken. No changes to the science program are being seriously considered, and the process of change would take a long time, she added.
“We’ve had a monopoly on science and engineering pipeline in this country that might have never been destined to last,” McDermott said. “But I think that we can hold on to it better than we are.