Becoming a Mathematician as a Function of Career Opportunity: Implication for the Curriculum

By: Yenealem Ayalew Lecturer, Department of Mathematics, Dire Dawa University Email:- yene927@gmail.com

Abstract
The 2011/12 graduating class of Mathematics at Dire Dawa University petitioned a letter to the Department with a concern of What is the purpose of learning mathematics; where are the job opportunities? by 15 days to their graduation date. Becoming a mathematician involves not only learning mathematics, but also becoming aware of the mathematical way of thinking at the world, and the role of mathematics in personal and professional life (Wood et al, 2012). This Research aimed at studying the students frustration in studying Mathematics as a Discipline. By implementing the mixed methods, data are collected from Documents, Mathematics graduates during 2003-2005E.C., DDU mathematics students, Mathematics Instructors, & Civil Service Bureau experts. The key instruments were: open-ended questionnaire, FGD, Interview and documents inspection. Data organized in Table and text formats were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and narration of the texts. As a result, Mathematics Departments admission quota and number of students who are being enrolled (2003-2006E.C.) in to the Department with their first choice were imbalance. There are many hindering factors; in turn all are resulted from minimum career opportunities. Let alone the unemployment case, the familiar job opportunities are, mainly in Teaching, far from science and technology areas for which the curriculum targets on. On the other hand, the curriculum is developed with many applied, elective, Mathematics courses. Yet, individuals with only a bachelors degree in Mathematics are not qualified for most of mathematician Jobs. However, those with a double major will have more opportunities (Ferguson, 2008). Therefore, Promotion has to be made on the graduate and professional values of the discipline. Besides, Field works (in Industries), Mathematics Laboratories would be explicitly indicated in the curriculum when there is revision. Under Mathematics Forums, mathematics Fairs & Trails could be mobilized. Supplementary courses could be design based on need assessment. Key Terms: Career, Mathematics Curriculum, mathematics job
Reference

1) Ferguson (2008). Careers in Focus: Mathematics and Physics (2nd ed). InfoBase Publishing, New York. ISBN 978 0 8160 7274 3 2) Wood, L., Petocz, P., Reid, A. (2012). Becoming a Mathematician: An International Perspective, Mathematics Education Library 56. NewYork: Springer.