A Winning Double

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday December 29, 2001

Perrie Croshaw

Students are no longer forced to choose between the Arts or Sciences. The most consistent advice from most universities is for students to keep their options open by taking one of the growing number of combined degrees.

The flexibility of these degrees means graduates have more choice to go one way or another, combining their skills and talents in a number of areas.

If you want to, you can do music and business in the same degree at Macquarie, says Therese Bean, the university's high school liaison officer. A graduate with a passion for music could not only perform or compose but also work on the marketing and business side of the industry.

Students doing double degrees tend to be more broadly focused, with their eye on job opportunities and with more developed communications skills, says the University of Wollongong's dean of science, Professor Margaret Sheil.

"All of our degrees can be done as double degrees," she says. "And we can tailor a degree [for students] if they are keen. For example, we had a student recently who was a brilliant musician, but wanted to do a Bachelor of Biotechnology, so we developed a double degree program for her. Another student who was gifted in languages chose to do Medicinal Chemistry and Arts, majoring in French. She is now completing a PHD in Chemistry."

Science and Creative Arts double degrees are popular, as is a Masters of Law matched with Science, Arts, Commerce, Computing, Engineering or the Media.

One double degree that seems to have struck a chord with students of the 21st century is the Bachelor of Mechatronics/Science degree which works on constructing artificial joints directly linked to the brain, says Ian Porter, sub-dean of engineering at Wollongong.

Anne Robertson, student recruitment officer at the University of NSW, says that rather than taking up "trendy" degrees or areas of study, students should look at their own strengths and weaknesses before they make their final choices. They should also talk to employer groups to find out where the jobs are.

Two different strategies

Darren Ma (below) started at Macquarie University doing a double degree in Actuarial Studies and Applied Finance. These subjects not only interested him but were ones he felt would provide job security.

About to go into his final undergraduate year, Ma has changed his strategy. He has chosen to take a single Bachelor of Commerce degree then go on to a Masters of Commerce majoring in Actuarial Studies.

"There are two reasons for this choice," he says. "The first is that both options take one year to complete. I could have taken an extra year to complete my double degree or, with a little extra work during that one year, I could get myself a Masters."

Ma says from what he has seen and been told, if you intend to work in finance, a Masters Degree is considered more credible than a double degree.

"The second reason ... is that getting this Masters Degree is now covered by the Postgraduate Education Loan Scheme, which works the same way as HECS. Previously, it was too expensive to consider taking a Masters because of the large upfront charges. But it's financially possible now."

(The new loan scheme comes into operation on January 1. For further information see www.hecs.gov.au)

"But it all boils down to what works out for the individual," says Ma who is confident he made the right choice.

He was set to work - "probably on a risk management project" - with PriceWaterhouseCoopers during the summer holidays.

In his fifth year of an Engineering/ Commerce double degree at Wollongong University, Rob Hutchings (below wanted to keep his options open and remain as flexible as possible.

"When I first looked at going to uni, I didn't know what area I wanted to go into. I knew I wanted to do engineering and physics and chemistry, but I was also interested in the humanities side with commerce.

"At that stage there weren't many double degrees being offered - only five or six of us out of 200 students, whereas there are many more now."

Hutchings, who lives in Thirroul, was first turned on to the double degree possibility when he became aware that BHP was offering a course in engineering with a commerce major in management.

As an enthusiastic 17-year-old, Hutchings was attracted to the management side of engineering and so chose management as his commerce major. But by his second year, the industrial relations strand to the commerce course held more interest and he decided to change his major. As a result, he doesn't graduate until next June - after five and a half years at university.

But he has a degree that gives him a bigger picture and "lets you go either way - union or management".

© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald

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