subjects-offered-humanities

One of the challenging decisions each student and parent faces is
Which stream to choose after Class 10th? This is the most frequently
asked question to students of that age. It is justified to give this issue
such importance because your entire career depends on the answer
to this question.

Although the most common streams are Science and Commerce,
Humanities is gaining importance since the last few years. Yes,
Humanities is becoming a sought after stream, just like other
streams.

There are wide ranging & excellent career options available to
students like Civil Services, Law, Journalism, Literature Scholars,
Geology and such like. Then why not Humanities if someone is
interested. We also have examples like Tina Dabi, who topped the
prestigious UPSC Civil Services Exam. She was very clear right from
the beginning and chose subjects of her interest. This proved to be
extremely beneficial for her.

Now, if you have decided to opt for Humanities, the next step is
which subjects you should choose from a list of wide ranging
subjects. Following factors should be kept in mind:

1: Your interest. (Most important)

2: Availability of the subject in your school.

3: Future prospects of that subject.

4: Availability of good content and support for that subject so that
you end up scoring good marks in Boards.
For your assistance, you can check out the list of subjects here along
with their future prospects:

1: GEOGRAPHY: Geography is a very interesting and scoring

option. Geography is the study of the relationship of humans with
their nature and surroundings. Geography is divided into two broad
categories: a) Physical Geography (You will study in Class 11) and b)
Human Geography (You will study in Class 12). It is a conceptual
subject which makes it more interesting.

Career Prospects: You can specialize in History at your Graduation,

Post Graduation and at Doctorate (PHD) level. Apart from it, you can
find a career in Cartography (Map Making), Surveyor, Drafting,
Geologist, Metrologist, Demographer and such like.

Suggestion: Those who are confused about which subject to

choose, can pick up Geography as a safe option. It does not mean
that you will score marks without working hard in it, but with less
effort, you can score more marks. Understanding concepts is crucial.

2: POLITICAL SCIENCE: This is one of the most popular subjects

among the students. This subject teaches us about the structure of
the government and how it runs, the Constitution of India, World
Politics and Politics in India post independence.

International Relations/ International Affairs is an integral part of
this subject. (since these are linked with politics at international
level)

Career Prospects: You can specialize in Political Science and

International Relations at your Graduation, Post Graduation and at
Doctorate (PHD) level. Apart from it, if you want to pursue a career in
Politics, Psephology, Political Strategist, Journalism and such like.

Suggestion: If you are keen on learning how things work in the

political sphere and international arena, this is the go-to subject for
you. This is helpful in Civil Services too. So choose if this sounds
appealing to you.

3: SOCIOLOGY: Sociology is one of the youngest disciplines which

emerged in the 18th century. Sociology is the scientific study of
Society. One distinguishing feature about this subject is that it is
linked with various other disciplines like Economics, Population
studies in Geography, Political Science and History. Class 11 covers
general concepts of Sociology and Class 12 specifically deals with
Indian society.

Career Prospects: You can specialize in Sociology at your

Graduation, Post Graduation and at Doctorate (PHD) level.

Apart from it, you can get into Demographic Studies, Social Scientist,
Social Researcher, Criminology and such like.

Suggestion: If you are genuinely interested in knowing the society

in and out, you can go for this subject. You will have to ‘unlearn’ a
few concepts which you have learnt as a part of your social
conditioning from your childhood. This is because you have been
conditioned according to your cultural values and sociology values an
academic viewpoint.

4: ECONOMICS: It is an exciting subject which gives an insight

about how Economy works. It entails two sections i.e. Micro and
Macro Economics. Microeconomics will consist of concepts and
numericals to solve whereas Macroeconomics will be dealing with
concepts only.

A catch here is that some universities demand Economics with
Maths. But you can choose Economics without maths. (Numericals in
economics demand some concepts also)

Career Prospects: You can specialize in Economics at your

Graduation, Post Graduation and at Doctorate (PHD) level.

Apart from it, you can get opportunities in finance, banking,
insurance, consulting, Indian Economic Services, E commerce, and
such like.

Economics is an evergreen domain. It keeps evolving and is not going
to be out of prospects in the future also.

Suggestion: Pick only if you have interest in it.

5: PSYCHOLOGY: Psychology may seem an attractive subject to

many. It involves study of the dynamics of Human Mind and
behavioural patterns. There are various fields in psychology which
have emerged ie Child psychology, Sports psychology, Clinical
psychology, etc.

Career Prospects: You can specialise in Psychology at your

Graduation (Psychology Honours), Post Graduate and Doctorate
level. You become eligible to open your own clinic and deal with
patients suffering from mental health issues after your Post
Graduation. Every hospital now-a-days employs a psychology expert
to deal with the mental health of patients.

Mental Health has become one of the most talked about issues in
the modern stressful world. Psychologists help us deal with our
mental health.

Suggestion: Choose if you have interest and a decent amount of

patience to hear the problems of people struggling with stress,
anxiety and depression.

6: HISTORY: History is not a new subject for the students. History

covers World History in class 11th and in class 12th the focus is on
Indian history. (From Indus Valley Civilization to post Independence
history of India). It is a fact based subject with few concepts. It is also
static in nature, meaning it is not changing with time. Whatever has
happened, remains happened, and that is History.

Career Prospects: You can specialize in History at your Graduation,

Post Graduation and at Doctorate (PHD) level.

You can also become Archaeologists, Heritage Managers, Academic
Researchers and such like.

Suggestion: Your interest plays a key role. If you do not have any

interest, it can turn out to be a nightmare for you. Yes, it is difficult
to memorise the content of history. You will have to go through
multiple revisions as well.

7: PHILOSOPHY: Philosophy is one subject which has close linkages

with History. It contains various thinkers/ philosophers and their
philosophies. It is not a very popular subject and neither such a
scoring subject. But if you have keen interest in this subject, then you
can go for it.

Career Prospects: You can specialize in Philosophy at your

Graduation, Post Graduation and at Doctorate (PHD) level.
Philosophy will be helpful in Journalism and Civil Services also.

Suggestion: Take this subject only if you are interested in knowing

about ideologies of various kinds and keen to know about new
perspectives to view life.

8: INFORMATICS PRACTICES: This subject is the one for ones

having interest in Computer Science. However, this is not the only
subject related to computers in 12th. One can learn Database
Management Systems (DBMS), Programing languages like Oracle,
SQL and Java.

Career Prospects: Bachelor and Masters of Arts in Computer

Application. Apart from this, one can find prospects in the following:

Computer Programming; Web Designing; Database Administrator;
Multimedia Programer; Software Development; Software Consultant
and such like.

Suggestion: If you have slightest interest in computers, go for it.

You live in a digital age and this age will continue for a long time to
come. So no dearth of scope and opportunities if you have this as an
option in your hand.

9: FINE ARTS: This subject is completely for the ‘Creative Ones’. It is

a must choose option for those who have interests in painting,
graphics, Sculpture, and Commercial arts like photography and such
like.

Career Prospects: One can go for a Diploma Course in Fine Arts,

Bachelor and Masters in Fine Arts. Apart from these courses, one has
a wide ranging prospects like:

• A career in photography
• Interior Design
• Painting / Artists
• Sculpting
• Cinema
• Set Designing for movies and TV Serials.

Suggestion: You should definitely opt for this subject if there is a

‘Creative Human’ inside you. There are ample universities offering
courses in Fine Arts in India. The importance of this stream is also
increasing day by day.

10: HOME SCIENCE: This subject is a combination of Science and

Arts. This subject teaches us about human development, nutrition,
health, food and such like. To sum up, it focuses on Home
management.

Career Prospects: Diploma in Home Science, B.Sc & M.Sc in Home

Science are some of the options available in degree courses.

Apart from it, one can pursue career options in:

Food Processing industries, Nutritionists or Dieticians, Health and
Fitness industry, Apparel designing and such like.

Suggestion: Those who wish to join the food and wellness industry,

should go for this subject. Apart from it, those who pursue to be a
homemaker, should opt this subject.

The list does not end here, but these are the most popular subjects
in Humanities Stream.

There are some other subjects like Physical Education, Fashion
Studies, Entrepreneurship, Media Studies and Law. These subjects
are less popular (except Physical Education) and are seldom
imparted by schools also.

Some common Career Prospects that are common in all the subjects
mentioned above are:

Civil Services
Teaching
Journalism
Research Scholars

To conclude, you must be smart enough to choose your subjects. No
subject is good or bad. Every subject is equally important and good,
depending upon your interest in it. Just trust your choices. If in the
midst of your journey, any of the subjects troubles you, be flexible
enough to drop that subject and choose another one. Remember,
you are the sailor of your ship and it is your responsibility to cruise
well and reach the destination.