Sakkubai Ramachandran: Compassion in Context
Most people imagine that the choice of what to study springs from personal passion — a love for numbers, ideas, or discovery. But history shows that this decision is rarely untouched by the politics and economics of the time. Across the world, waves of educational enthusiasm have mirrored national priorities and market demands. During the Cold War, for instance, government funding for defense and space research triggered a surge in students choosing physics and engineering, seen as patriotic and prestigious. In contrast, the 1990s and 2000s saw the rise of finance, management, and computer science, reflecting globalization and the digital economy’s pull toward data, coding, and markets. Every generation’s “hot field” is a mirror of its moment and is defined as much by geopolitics and money as by intellectual curiosity. Against this backdrop, veterinary science seems to stand apart — often seen as a field chosen out of personal affection for animals rather than political or e...