The Ministry of
Education has revealed the results of its “Majors in Demand” Study for 2018,
which complements its efforts to provide academic support and counselling for
students preparing to pursue their higher education in the UAE.
The study canvassed a
balanced sample of more than 13,000 students graduating from government and
private higher education institutions in 2017, covering over 80% of institutes
across all seven emirates.
Publishing the survey
coincides with the registration period for universities in the UAE, which
serves to raise awareness among soon-to-be university students about the
requirements of the labor market and the available opportunities for graduates
of each discipline. This, in turn, increases their chances of finding suitable
employment in the future, steering them towards developing the right set of
skills they would require.
The study was based on
a clear methodology that sought to reflect an accurate and realistic image of
which specializations and majors graduates chose to pursue, while highlighting
employment prospects and speed of employment associated with each discipline.
The survey focused on a set of specializations, namely: engineering, business
administration, arts and humanities, education, information technology,
environmental and health sciences, medical sciences, law, science, and
agriculture, in addition to majors associated with each of them.
Engineering and
Business Administration Top List of Most In-Demand
Engineering
specializations came out on top in terms of employment opportunities, followed
by business administration, medical sciences, and information technology, as
measured by the number of those who secured employment compared to the number
of overall graduates. In terms of majors within engineering, civil engineering
led the way as the most in-demand, followed by mechanical engineering, then
petroleum engineering. Furthermore, emerging specialisations with high demand
in the labor market were highlighted as well, most notable of which (in terms
of employment) were mechatronics and industrial engineering.
As for business
majors, marketing ranked first in terms of employment opportunities, followed
by finance, accounting and quality management, while retail and tourism came in
last. In medical majors, which were third in the ranking, demand was high for
medicine and surgery, and low for general dentistry. Within information
technology, which came in fourth place in terms of employment opportunities,
information security led the way, followed by networking and information
systems. In fifth place were education majors, with high demand for early
childhood and special education.
The study underlined
the importance of opting for specialised technical majors rather than general
ones, with the former becoming much more in-demand. Accounting and finance, for
example, were more in-demand than general business administration, and the same
applies for education majors, where early childhood and special education
performed better than general education and teaching.
On the same note, the
study revealed an increased demand for specialised law majors, such as
commercial law and international law. The Ministry of Education is currently
working with higher education institutions to provide such majors that are
compatible with labor market demands, ensuring that they will be taught in both
English and Arabic, as opposed to current programmes where Arabic is often the
sole language of instruction. This shift seeks to meet the UAE’s needs as it
has evolved into a major international market, attracting investment and
leading companies from around the world
Education
Specializations, the Fastest to Find Employment
The study revealed
that education majors were the fastest to find employment, followed by business
administration, information technology, then engineering. Environmental and
health science majors lagged behind.
In education, science
teaching was the fastest to find employment, followed by early childhood
education, then English language teaching. Meanwhile, accounting ranked fastest
to employ among business administration majors, followed by international
business management, then banking and finance, with tourism and healthcare
management coming in last.
Similarly, in information technology,
information systems was the quickest major to find employment, followed by
networking, then information security. As for engineering, computer engineering
ranked first, followed by chemical and architectural engineering
