Gauri Chhabra
No occupation in this world is more trying for the soul and body than the Home Science When the roles were divided in the society the care and upkeep of home fell in the lap of the fairer sex and for quite sometime it was limited to skills of cooking, laundry, stitching and was confined to women.
Today however, it has undergone a paradigm shift and involves a broad spectrum of career options open to both boys and girls, denying the age old adage men for the field and women for the hearth.
It occupies a wider surface area and prepares you for both variety and assortment of career options. It crosses barriers and assumes an inter disciplinary approach that cuts across disciplines and forays into areas like Food & Nutrition, Fabric & Apparel Designing, Human Development, Resource Management and Communication & Extension. A study of home science will give you a foretaste of heaven by opening up a large numbers of employment opportunities.
Entry and eligibility
To begin with, you can take up Home Science as part of your class XII curriculum. However, for taking up home science at B.Sc. level you need to pass the 10+2 exam preferably with science subjects (physics, chemistry, biology) and at least 50% marks.
B.Sc in Home science
Eligibility: 10+2 or intermediate examination or PUC of study or an equivalent examination with any two Biology/Natural Sciences, Physical Sciences, Agricultural Sciences and Vocational courses in Home Science
P.G. Diploma in Home science
Eligibility: Graduate from a recognized University
Diploma in Home Science
Eligibility: Graduate from a recognized University
M.Sc in Home science
Eligibility: B.Sc in Home science or any other equivalent degree from a recognized university.
Ph.D in Home science
Eligibility: M.Sc in Home science or any other equivalent master’s degree from a recognized university.
The following are some of the career options you can go in for after a degree in Home Science:
Teaching and research:
You can take up teaching in case you are fond of children and wish to be surrounded with them. In almost all schools and colleges, Home Science and Home Science related activities are taught for which teachers with educational background of Home Science are required, Home Science teachers are required in schools and degree colleges. Besides this Home Science education background also required for polytechnics, Industrial Training Institutes, Institutes, Institutes, Institutes of hotel Management and Catering etc. Training centers of anganwadi workers and other community workersalso require teachers from field of Home Science. To run hobby classes or teach small groups in all vocational areas of home Science.
You can also go in for more exciting pathways like educating specific segments of the population such as mothers, farmers, and villagers on the food-value of certain food items. Also one can work as a researcher in R&D labs on food preservation.
Preschools and Crèches:
With more and more stepping out of the house for jobs and family system shifting from joint to nuclear, child care is emerging as a fast growing field. Working mothers opt for child care institutes that can take care of their loved ones when they are out for work. Nutrition and care are the hallmarks of such crèches besides an in depth knowledge of Child Psychology. As a Home Science graduate you can run childhood care units like day-care centers, crèches, nursery school and after school centers.There is a plethora of jobs in this arena.
Catering Services:
In this fast and fluid world where everyone is time crunched, good quality food is becoming a necessity and a luxury. With presumptuous and ostentatious weddings becoming the order of the day, catering services are gaining importance. Today, as a Home Science graduate, you can work for a catering or Event management firm. Here the task generally involves these professionals to perform a variety of tasks ranging from product development and promotion to menu planning and promotion.
If you have the entrepreneurial streak in you, you can also open your catering agency.
Home Science students can set up confectionery, Ice-cream Parlors and Bakery. You can use your out of the box skills to develop new product with high nutritive value.
Mumbai Dabbe Walas is an excellent example of confluence of culinary skills and six sigma distribution and logistics for those people who are working in factories, offices and do not have time or arrangement to cook meals.
Food Preservation:
Preservation of vegetables and fruits in the form of pickles, jams jellies, marmalades etc. could be undertaken. It is a one of the major areas for employment and it offers as
Production Supervisor, Quality Analyst, Instructor of the Community Canning center and Laboratory assistant.
Social Work:
With more and more organizations going in for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)initiatives, you can study a subject Extension Education which creates new opportunity of employment in social work and community program. You can also work with any institute which is working for women, children, old people, youth, and drug addicts and alcoholics welfare.
Interior Decoration: Home Science students also study a subject Resource Management which undertakes the study of managing the home economically and effectively. It also covers the interior decoration. You can join as Interior Designer and as a Furniture Designer.
Textile Designing:
Textile Designing implies weaving, dyeing, printing of textiles. Wage employment can be carried out by a person in his own factory/ shop/ production unit or he may be employed by someone. Organizing hobby classes in tie and die, batik, fabric painting is an avenue of self-employment. You can also join a Garment Manufacturing firm as Manager, Production assistant dress designer.
Renuka Madhok,Consultant Dietician, Health Street Hospital Bhatinda, shares her experience “When I graduated with M.Sc Diet and Nutrition after a B.Sc in Home Science I thought it had more of a matrimonial value than any vocational value. Today, my view has changed completely. Today, I have pursued the calling of both my heart and my head. I am a lecturer in Home Science, SSD College Bhatinda, and also am a consultant in one of the leading hospitals. Food and Nutrition is the most sought after offshoot of Home Science as the students are most sought after by leading Food Manufacturing companies like Dabur, NutriChoice inorder to help them in taking care of the nutrients in the food products.
Home Science offers a floodgate of career options and with the enhanced FDI in Organized Retail;the options would grow at an exponential rate”.
Health care:
You can also work as dieticians in hospitals and clinics. They can further specialize in therapeutics, teaching, food administration, etc.A nutritionist can also work in Public Health as a Food Inspector and be an important part of development and welfare programs.
Institution Scape:
A large number of institutions offer good courses in Home Science. Below are a few:
*Dev Samaj College for Women, Ferozepur Punjab offering both B.Sc and B.A in Home Science.
*Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
*Kanya Maha Vidalaya, Jalandhar offering B.Sc Home Science and PG Diploma in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics’
*Indira Gandhi National Open University , New Delhi
*Punjabi University Patiala offering B.A and B.Sc in Home Science and B.A and B.Sc in home Management
*Government Home Science College (Affiliated to Panjab University, Chandigarh),B.Sc. Home Science (3 Years), M.Sc. Home Science (2 Years)
The Road Ahead:
With growing obsession and compelling need for fitness and health, the road for Home Science Graduates is escalating and will envelop other slip roads like Commercial Food Services and Public Health in its domain.
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