The document discusses potential solutions to the problem of students feeling limited in their college study and career options outside of engineering fields. Three solutions are proposed: 1) A regulated socialist economy with equal wages and full employment across all fields. 2) A "midway" solution allowing 60% of college study in employment-focused areas and 40% in personal interests, continuing this 80/20 split into careers. 3) Continuing online education allowing self-paced, flexible learning to discover new interests without public failure. The "midway" and continuing education solutions are favored as allowing more choice and flexibility for students to explore interests both in and beyond college, while the socialist approach would disrupt the current economic system but incent

1. Design Thinking: Empathize and Define
August 2013

2. Problem Statement
The school leaving students need to have more
flexibility in what they study in their college and be
assured of jobs prospects for non-engineering
courses because it is better for them if they get a
chance to study what they love and enjoy and so,
there is a greater chance of their success.

3. Solution: Regulation Driven
•Be a socialist economy where everyone, from engineers to artists to farmers are having full
employment and equal wages
•Government benefit schemes for non-engineers who want to pursue more non-traditional jobs
•Encourage basic research or fine arts through grants and scholarships
•Make investments in students to encourage such courses tax deductible
•Mandate team composition with % non-engineers in many jobs e.g. product design teams
•Reserve government projects or sourcing to companies which employ people with basic science
(Physics / Chemistry, etc..) or liberal arts background

4. Solution: Midway Solutions
•60:40 devotion of time in college with 60% to streams which are employment oriented (e.g.
engineering) and 40% of time devoted to doing what a student is intrinsically motivated to do or
is good at doing and continuing this into workplaces at 80:20 rule (e.g. broad extension of 20%
of personal project time in Google)
•Continuing education and Open courseware projects to learn what one is interested in, at one’s
place pace and place of convenience to open for interesting broadening of knowledge:
employment focused and motivational
•Mandate a year which is free for students to explore different subjects to know more about a
topic they like before deciding on a college mix

5. Solution: Futuristic
•Create a population through artificial selection at birth such that a person’s internal skills are
according to needs of society
•Create a society where employment benefits are indexed across an occupation and every
occupation has same hierarchical benefits
•Have different planets across universe populated so that each person is placed in a planet
where he / she is free to pursue a subject or work he / she is passionate about and benefits that
planet as well so dual benefits of personal and society is obtained

6. Idea Selection: Easiest
•60:40 devotion of time in college with 60% to streams which are
employment oriented (e.g. engineering) and 40% of time devoted to
doing what a student is intrinsically motivated to do or is good at
doing and continuing this into workplaces at 80:20 rule (e.g. broad
extension of 20% of personal project time in Google)
•So, for 40% of time in college, a person can study arts even though
he / she is an engineering student
•Later, more time and resources (e.g. a stipend) to pursue ones
interests
•Although similar things may be happening in some countries, in
India, the choice of subjects one can take in college are limited and
there is not much choice of mixing and matching

7. Idea Selection: Disruptive
•Be a socialist economy where everyone, from engineers to artists to
farmers are having full employment and equal wages
•This may upturn our whole capitalistic society but give people
incentive to pursue what one wants to, since he /she will be assured
of decent living amenities, irrespective of career choice

8. Idea Selection: Favorite
•Continuing education and Open courseware projects to learn what
one is interested in, at one’s place pace and place of convenience to
open for interesting broadening of knowledge: employment focused
and motivational
•Online courses allow us to experiment and even fail, without public
humiliation
•One can discover new interests and sometimes, there are revelations
that one may not be good at or like what one thought may be
interesting initially
•Allows people to pivot in life: 2nd chances, 3rd chances or more

9. End of document