THE REASONS BEHIND THE
STUDENTS’ CHOICES OF CERTAIN
MAJORS AND ITS IMPACT ON
SOCIETAL NEEDS
Dr. Zaha Alsuwailan
Dr. Kalthoum Alkandari
Kuwait University
Introduction
One of the main goals of the college of
education is to provide a workforce for
society. Many schools in different areas
are in need of teachers in different
subjects. Yet, many schools have
shortages of teachers in certain majors
which has led to outsourcing to foreign
labour .
Purpose of the Study
This study aims to determine the
personal and social reasons behind the
students' selections of certain majors in
the college of education at both Kuwait
University and PAAT. It also measures
the effect of the students' choices on
society’s needs.
Methodology
 The quantitative research of this study
answers the following questions:
1- What are the most and least popular
majors among the students in the college
of education?
2- What are the majors that have
reached a sufficient level in public
schools?
3- Is there an alignment between the
outputs of the college of education and
society’s needs?
4- What are the reasons behind the
students’ heading toward certain majors
in the college of education?
Data Collection
 This study adopted a quantitative study approach to
investigate the reasons behind the students’ choices
of certain majors. A questionnaire was adopted in
order to understand the impact of the students’
personal and societal motivation on their choices.
 A statistic was also provided from the Ministry of
Education in this study to see if there was an
alignment between the outcomes of the college of
education and the public schools’ needs.
Q1:What are the most and
least popular majors among
the students in the college of
education?
Major
Frequency
Percent%
1 English Language
121
14.8
2 Kindergarten
196
9.2
3 Psychology
114
20.1
4 Islamic Studies
359
39.6
5 History
58
22.5
6 Mathematics
105
44.5
7 Chemistry
17
45.3
Major
Frequency
Percent%
8 Geology
5
45.5
9 Arabic Language
152
52.6
10 Social Science
42
54.6
11 Geography
36
56.3
12 Philosophy
6
56.5
13 Physical Education
29
57.9
14 Physics
5
58.1
Major
Frequency
Percent%
15 Biology
19
59.0
16 Social Studies
240
70.2
17 Science
49
72.5
18 Computer
148
79.4
• The most popular major among the
students in the college of education?
Islamic Studies 359, Social Studies 240,
Kindergarten 196.
• The least popular major among the
students in the college of education?
• Philosophy 6, physics 5, Geology 5.
Q2:What are the majors that
have reached a sufficient level in
public schools?
Ministry of Education Statistics
Subject
Estimated Needs
(2008-2018)
Current Occupied
Subjects in Public
schools
Kuwaiti
Non-Kuwaiti
Islamic Studies
3512
3128
637
Social Studies
1617
1766
290
Kindergarten
4719
3959
_____
Q3:Is there an alignment between
the outputs of the college of
education and society’s needs?
It Appears from the previous table that
there are some subjects that have
become an overload in some schools. Yet
the alignment is somehow missing.
Q4:What are the reasons behind the
students’ heading toward certain
majors in the college of education?
social
Reasons
30%
Personal
Reasons
70%
Recommendations
 Students needs to be guided to
different majors from high schools.
 Social studies, Islamic Studies and
Kindergarten majors in the college of
Education need to be joined to other
majors. E.g (Kindergarten and
Psychology, Islamic Studies and Arabic,
Social Studies and Philosophy).
 Students need to be directed to certain
majors in the College of Education.
Questions?????