Master's Tea Club No. 2: Be Active and Don't Be Afraid to Experiment

According to Professor Colman Ross, there is a gap and skill gap between those who study social sciences and humanities and other fields. You can become a social scientist, you can also be a carpenter, an IT worker, a manager, a communicator, all of which require those skills. But at university, students cannot have those skills because they are too busy with exams. Therefore, young people need to take the initiative to develop those skills on their own, in addition to learning theory at school.

Considering that having a foundation of knowledge about the world and social sciences and humanities is very important for students, Professor Coman Ross shared his thoughts that Vietnam needs to restructure the entire system to be more effective and suitable for new generations of Vietnamese people. And this depends on the efforts of all social sectors, but there needs to be a discussion between educational institutions to restructure the system. There needs to be a balance between theory and practice, between a research university and the concern for application in the community. It needs to be recognized that manual workers such as farmers and intellectual workers such as professors both contribute to the economy. These two types of workers are both paid fairly and are the driving force for innovation and development. Some countries such as Sweden and Finland have done this.

Sharing experiences in the field of research, scientists believe that natural sciences have a fairly small research object that they can directly impact, but social sciences are more difficult because the object is too broad. Therefore, when doing research, we can have new ideas but are confused about narrowing down the research content. Therefore, Professor Ross believes that do not do anything too broad, but choose something very small in your field of expertise to start. If you have your own data that only you can access, your research will be much more valuable than just repeating other people's views. Researchers also need to know how to connect theories and methods in research with field data. For example, you can conduct many studies on the participation of stakeholders in the Vietnam War, instead of just interviewing politicians, interview ordinary people in the war, your documents will be much more honest and attractive.

Appreciating practical experiences, Professor Ross advises young people to take advantage of every opportunity to participate in volunteer activities to improve their skills, especially in non-governmental organizations. Finding your own learning environment is important and necessary because it helps students gain more skills and relationships to support their studies. Going to university is already an opportunity and if you are not sure what you are studying for, young people should take the time to learn about themselves first. Ask yourself: do I want to be a social worker, do I want to study business administration...? And finally, don't think about money right away, do what you like, invest in practical internships and sometimes those experiences will help you get job opportunities in the future.