THE REASONS BEHIND THE STUDENTS’ CHOICES OF CERTAIN MAJORS AND ITS IMPACT ON SOCIETAL NEEDS Dr. Zaha Alsuwailan Dr. Kalthoum Alkandari Kuwait University

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. Introduction

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. Purpose of the Study

 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? Methodology

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?

 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. Data Collection

Q1:What are the most and least popular majors among the students in the college of education?

MajorFrequencyPercent% 1 English Language Kindergarten Psychology Islamic Studies History Mathematics Chemistry

MajorFrequencyPercent% 8 Geology Arabic Language Social Science Geography Philosophy Physical Education Physics 558.1

MajorFrequencyPercent% 15 Biology Social Studies Science Computer

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?

SubjectEstimated Needs ( ) Current Occupied Subjects in Public schools KuwaitiNon-Kuwaiti Islamic Studies Social Studies Kindergarten _____ Ministry of Education Statistics

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?

 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. Recommendations

Questions?????