Family and Consumer Sciences Major: Courses, Degrees, Universities, and Career Prospects

Have you ever heard of the Family and Consumer Sciences major? It must still sound very foreign to your ears. It turns out that this major has been around since 2005 at one of the state universities in Indonesia. Many people feel that the Family and Consumer Sciences major is the same as the Early Childhood Education major. In fact, there are differences ranging from the fields studied and career prospects. For those of you who are curious about the Family and Consumer Sciences major, let's discuss it together below!

What is the Family and Consumer Sciences major?

The Family and Consumer Sciences major essentially discusses 3 things, namely Family, Children, and Consumers. These three things are discussed and studied from a scientific perspective, with a focus on developing the quality of children and empowering families and consumers.

Students from this study program are expected to be able to provide alternative solutions to problems and can provide advocacy in order to improve family resilience, improve the quality and protection of children, and empower consumers.

This major is suitable for those of you who are interested in digging deeper into the importance of the role of the family, child development, and consumer science in developing a society. Currently, the Family and Consumer Science major is only available at the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB).

Courses in Family and Consumer Science Major

1. Introduction to Management

The first course in the family and consumer science major is introduction to management. One of the main foundations of this major is management. Simply put, management is a process of organizing or managing a group of people to achieve a certain goal.

In this case, you will also learn how to manage or organize a group of people so that they are able to work together to achieve goals. Utilization of human resources, processing, and how to organize them is very important to be arranged.

Apart from the arrangement or planning, management also studies the implementation or movement, as well as supervision. That way, if a problem occurs, it can be resolved with the right steps.

2. Family Science

The second course in the family and consumer science major is family science. This major is the most concerned course because it will discuss the ins and outs of the family and how to manage family resources so that it can create prosperity.

In this course, you will learn about the concept and various theories regarding family resilience, how to protect children, and efforts to improve the quality of families and human resources within them.

3. Psychology

The next one that is no less important than the two courses above is psychology. This one science is the foundation that you must master because it will be very relevant throughout the lectures, or until you work later.

In the family and consumer science major, psychology is used to deal with humans and how to process humans within the family. Not only that, one of the focuses in this study program is about children, so psychology courses will be very important to study.

4. Family Economics

The next course is family economics. To create family resilience, a stable family economic condition is also needed. That way, a prosperous family economy will be achieved and can improve the quality of human resources within it.

Family economics also discusses in detail the efforts that can be made to meet needs as social beings. The needs here are not only about material, but also about the psychological needs of each family member.

5. Social Marketing

The last of the family and consumer science courses is social marketing. Since you are also learning about consumers, marketing will be very important to pay attention to. This course specifically discusses strategies in meeting needs, satisfying consumers, and how to maximize profits. In this case, the maturity of the concept or design will be very important to do.

Graduate Degree of Family and Consumer Science

It should be noted that IPB University only has a science department. So, after graduating from the Family and Consumer Science department, you will get a Bachelor of Science degree.

Universities with Family and Consumer Science Departments

This department is indeed very cool, but currently the Family and Consumer Science department in Indonesia is only at IPB University. The Department of Family and Consumer Science (IKI) is one of the departments at IPB that was established in 2005.

This department has scientific discipline to realize family welfare by focusing on developing the quality of children and empowering families and consumers.

Career Prospect for Family and Consumer Science Departments

1. Marriage Therapist or Mentor

The first career prospect for family and consumer science majors is to become a marriage therapist or mentor. Marriage is a big and meaningful event in a person's life, so choosing to get married is not an easy decision.

As a marriage mentor, you will help provide the right advice in starting a marriage relationship, then help mental preparation for couples who are about to get married, and also tips on how to live a marriage to the fullest.

2. Lecturer

The next career prospect for family and consumer science majors is to become a lecturer. This major is still very rare in Indonesia. On the other hand, knowledge about families and consumers is starting to be needed at this time. Seeing this situation, there will be great potential for various universities in Indonesia to open family and consumer science majors.

Not only that, as a lecturer you can still do several other jobs. For example, becoming a researcher or even a journalist. Not only that, now there are many scholarships that will fully fund you for S2-S3.

3. Family Consultant

The last career prospect for family and consumer science majors is to become a family consultant. In addition to being a marriage mentor, you can also work as a family consultant. This job itself is closely related to psychology, as taught in the courses in this major.

As a family consultant, you will also work in handling family problems, good parenting knowledge, and providing advice on homeschooling or education for children.