The Indian Obsession With STEM

India’s education system, over the past decades, has leaned towards an obsession with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), creating an either/or mentality that undervalues the humanities, such as history, philosophy, literature, and the arts. This approach risks producing a generation that excels in technical proficiency but lacks the critical thinking and creativity required to be effective stewards of technology.

India's obsession with STEM education is evident from the staggering numbers involved in engineering and medical entrance examinations. Each year, over 1.5 million students appear for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) to secure one of the approximately 16,000 seats in the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Similarly, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical colleges attracts over 1.8 million aspirants for around 90,000 MBBS seats. This intense competition underscores the societal and economic premium placed on STEM careers, driven by a market pay structure that offers significantly higher salaries and perceived job security in these fields. Consequently, this focus has overshadowed the importance of humanities and social sciences, leading to a skewed educational landscape that prioritises technical proficiency over a holistic intellectual development.

This imbalance is exacerbated by a social hierarchy that places STEM and medical sciences at the apex, relegating other fields to a lower status. This outdated mindset has fueled a culture where coaching classes overshadow the holistic education schools should provide from grades 9-12. The fierce competition to secure a place in STEM or medical programmes after high school results in lakhs of students vying for a limited number of seats.

This is why we have also kept rationalising when one to two generations of Indians went abroad for higher education as well as careers, and we see a trend that engineers since the 1970s have hardly remained innovative engineers but become managers – selling everything from soaps or French fries to frenchies or fixed deposits – but have never built a circuit board after their engineering college!

The curse of tuitions and coaching classes arises from our societal obsession with STEM education and an imbalanced market pay structure that elevates technical fields above others. This fixation has spawned a lucrative industry where coaching classes have become a bigger business than school education itself. Instead of investing in and improving the school system to provide a well-rounded, high-quality education, we have created a parallel education economy focused on cramming students for entrance exams. This approach is fundamentally flawed, as it perpetuates inequality and places undue stress on students, while neglecting the development of critical thinking, creativity, and a broader understanding of diverse subjects essential for holistic personal and professional growth.

The dichotomy in Indian parental behaviour is striking: while they enthusiastically watch and cheer for programmes like MasterChef, celebrating creativity and excellence in the culinary arts, they often harbour rigid expectations for their children to pursue only STEM fields. This contradiction extends to other interests, where a child’s passion for geography, languages, or the arts is frequently overshadowed by the parental expectation of a STEM career. This highlights a broader societal inconsistency: admiration for diverse talents and achievements in the public sphere do not translate into support for similar pursuits within their own families.

The goal is not to privilege one field over another but to dismantle the false dichotomy between sciences and humanities. To thrive in the contemporary era, we need to integrate both disciplines more than ever before. Liberal arts education imparts vital skills such as critical thinking, effective communication, ethical reasoning, and cultural literacy – attributes indispensable for developing empathetic leaders and informed citizens.

A holistic education that balances STEM with the liberal arts fosters interdisciplinary thinking, essential for addressing complex challenges. Issues such as the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, societal impacts of climate change, and cultural considerations in global business cannot be fully understood through a purely technical lens. These require insights from various humanities disciplines.

Moreover, the narrow focus on STEM undermines India's rich cultural and intellectual heritage, eroding the cultural fabric that binds the nation. Educational policymakers must recalibrate the current trajectory, valuing   humanities alongside STEM to enrich students’ experiences and prepare them to be adaptive, empathetic, and innovative. Schools and universities must foster environments where interdisciplinary learning is encouraged, recognising the intrinsic value of all fields of study.

In an increasingly interconnected world, the ability to think critically and creatively, communicate effectively, and understand diverse perspectives is paramount. India’s educational system must evolve to meet these demands by embracing a more inclusive approach that values the humanities and social sciences alongside STEM.

Neglecting the liberal arts and social sciences in favour of an exclusive focus on STEM education leads to significant social issues, as it results in a generation lacking critical thinking, creativity, and cultural awareness. Without dedicated learners and educators in fields such as history, philosophy, literature, and the arts, society risks producing individuals who, though technically proficient, are ill-equipped to navigate complex social dynamics, ethical dilemmas, and cultural nuances. This creates a population of two-dimensional individuals, or "zombies," who can follow instructions and perform tasks but lack the depth to innovate, empathise, and lead effectively. The absence of these essential skills undermines societal progress, leading to a workforce that excels in technical domains but falters in areas requiring nuanced understanding and thoughtful engagement.