<p>^^^
good ol’ wikipedia comes through again! [url=<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabul_University]Kabul”>Kabul University - Wikipedia]Kabul</a> University - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<a href=“I%20was%20surprised%20there%20were%20more%20than%203%20women,%20truth%20be%20told…”>/url</a></p>
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<p>Reading Lolita in Tehran was quite an education in the experiences of women at these universities. Just attending is a woman’s studies course.</p>
<p>And brava! to the brave women who do.</p>
<p>All kidding aside, you are correct mythie. Women should be treated equally everywhere.</p>
<p>I am amazed, 1700 women is unexpected. They are incredibly brave, the girls of all ages who are going to school in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>And hey, are we pc on this thread? I try to avoid that whenever possible…</p>
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<p>And many of them will admit that they do that and not back pedal later trying to pretend they didn’t.</p>
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<p>Uh, if I decided not to buy you any more sweaters, that = cutting off the sweater flow, Baelor :-)</p>
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<p>What’s sad about it to me is reducing the value of education only to what are immediately and directly marketable skills. Education is so much more than that. Frankly I’d rather have my kid major in art history than accounting. And I think people who think that a career is determined by what you major in are incredibly uncreative. BTW, I say that as someone who happens to be doing something related to what she majored in and married to someone who did the same.</p>
<p>I majored in one subject, graduated, and immediately got a job in a completely unrelated field in which I had eight credits of college coursework. Among my circle of friends in college… let’s see…
[ul]
[<em>] one majored in journalism and did work in the field for a while, got a master’s in creative writing, and is now a published author (fiction and non-fiction) and professor
[</em>] another majored in journalism, never worked in the field, and is now a section chief in a government agency handling medical research
[<em>] another majored in history and has spent his career at the Library of Congress, not doing anything related to history, but to languages instead
[</em>] another one who majored in history never worked in that field; she is a special ed teacher
[li] yet another majored in food science, worked in that field for a short time, but has spent the majority of her career in the computer field[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>My current manager does not work in the field in which she majored; my best friend at work clearly is not teaching elementary school, so she isn’t working in her field, either. My best friend/maid of honor/corroborating witness in not one, but both of my divorce trials :rolleyes: majored in math and now carries a Federal agent badge in a field which is decidedly not math. </p>
<p>Most of the people I know have jobs which have nothing to do with their undergrad majors, or sometimes even their terminal degress, such as Mr. Current-and-someday-ex-husband-Cornell-PhD.</p>
<p>I don’t care what my son majors in in college, except that it be what he wants to major in. What I do want and expect is honest effort in his classes. There are fields he has yet to discover, subjects he has yet to explore, and if his, say, East Asian philosophies class sets in him a burning desire to major in East Asian studies, philosophy, or some other related field, I say go to it and enjoy!</p>
<p>My CPA husband will apparently stay unemployed as long as he only looks for a job in the accounting field, his major. </p>
<p>To survive in this unpredictable, ever-fluctuating world, one has to be adaptable, creative and flexible. If not, you’re sunk. Take it from one who is sinking fast, tethered to the rigid and narrowly-focused. </p>
<p>I’m not doing anything related to my college major. I am using skills I gained at my college job, however.</p>
<p>I tell my kids to find what they love and make it their life’s work. The path to finding it may or may not be college. Regardless of what that is, or the way to it, they have my abiding love and faithful confidence it is unfolding as it should.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^What a lovely sentiment. Lucky kids.</p>
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<p>It’s good they don’t think that then. I never said that their restrictions would be based on practicality.</p>
<p>Well, good grief, practicality (accounting, nursing, engineering > Greek, art history) at least is understandable. Why else would someone restrict a child’s major EXCEPT out of fear that child won’t be employed?</p>
<p>This thread has kept me very entertained as I waiting at an airport. I have read every post and many people have raised some points. </p>
<p>I am not much of a loosey goosey parent. My girls have been raised more strictly than their friends. One of their teachers actually said to me that I was too hard on them when they were younger. On the other hand, another teacher in HS asked me what I did to raise 2 very happy confident, well mannered girls. My answer was it’s hard work. It takes time and effort to communicate with kids, to let them know why they need to behave in a certain way. It’s easy to bark out orders, it’s much harder to take the time to explain, and it’s even harder to follow through all the time. </p>
<p>It is always sad when the only way you could get your kid to do something is throught monetary control. I think kids would take your opinion into consideration when they respect you and trust you. When you have their best of interest at heart they will always listen. </p>
<p>There have been a few threads where parents are upset their kid couldn’t find a job after graduating with a foo foo degree. Well, if your family situation is such that getting a job after graduation is important, did you bother to talk it out? Not every person could afford to into performing arts. Long time ago only the wealthy could afford it. If your kid had aspiration to go to top tier school, did you bother to explain what it would take? Or do you wait until 12th grade to try to figure out what it would take to get into top 20, and we have a ver long thread on that effort right now. </p>
<p>It takes a lot effort to raise a child to adulthood. I haven’t always agreed with POIH view. But I see he has spent a lot of time, effort in raising his daughter. It’s much better than some parents with “should have, could have, if only…”</p>
<p>Just a side note: Hey, pizzagirl - I promise I won’t belittle your art history kid if you won’t denigrate my Accounting D.</p>
<p>Carry on</p>
<p>Why should we denigrate each other at all. The world certainly needs practical folk, but it needs its dreamers, too. And we don’t “order” our basic natures. We can modify them to a degree to be more practical or to the demands of our environments but not completely.</p>
<p>and oldfort – I would be all the parents here feel we’ve given that extra something to raise kids who received compliments like yours. Is there a backhanded swipe there or not? I tend to overreact so I’m asking, because it sure felt like it.</p>
<p>And I am not loosy-goosy either, though some people watching from the outside thought I was because I would never let a child cry himself/herself to sleep. If a child cried, I went into the room and picked the child up. Yup, every time. I was whispered about. It’s true.</p>
<p>And I was accused of being “too protective” because I wouldn’t hire sitters. I was just too anxious to leave my kids with anyone but their grandma. Oh well.</p>
<p>It’s easy to look from the outside and critique other parents. But we are all dealing with different variables, different cultural histories, different personal histories, different temperaments and different children.</p>
<p>I swear I did not encourage my son to be so difficult to toilet train. The only thing I did was treat him with love and compassion. I am a patient sort. This sure did annoy some folk. Would I have injured him if I’d pressured him more? Probably not. Just not my personality.</p>
<p>I haven’t read every post here, so sorry if I’m repeating but: I think one should enter life through one’s own interests, passions, fascinations. Starting toward a music/business major might lead any number of directions but they will be directions that branch out of the OP’s son’s interests, and I think that is the most solid foundation anyone can have, in a very chancey world. “Luck” settles on people who are deeply engaged in what they do. The OP’s son is lucky to have strong interests that will help him grow and change.
(I love je ne sais quoi’s post too)</p>
<p>Of course you’re right, mythmom - no one’s choices should be denigrated. Sometimes I hear a little “reverse” discrimination here on CC against those with the practical leanings and mindsets (i.e., accounting.) And I speak as one who is a little dreamy-ish whose child turend out to be the complete opposite… </p>
<p>Perhaps I, too, am hearing backhanded slights where there aren’t any. Sorry.</p>
<p>My comment is no more back handed swipe as some “fore handed” swipe as some parents so readily calling others as controlling, demanding.</p>
<p>No denigration whatsoever, scout59 - the world needs accountants and the world needs art historians. It’s all good.</p>
<p>oldfort: Well, I don’t cotton to that either.</p>