NEW DELHI: Psychology is no longer considered, as it once was, a subject that only girls opt for, but Delhi University clearly hasn't clocked that change yet. No co-educational college in either of DU's campuses—north or south—offers the subject. Boys hoping to study it have to go off campus to one of the only four admitting males—Vivekananda (Vivek Vihar), Zakir Hussain (near Ajmeri Gate) or Keshav Mahavidyalaya (Sainik Vihar). The fourth, Sri Aurobindo in Malviya Nagar, is an evening college.
"Boys go to colleges in North Campus but realize none of them teach the subject. They then go to Amity University or other states," says Tania Joshi, principal, The Indian School. Even with the rather narrow opportunities of higher studies in psychology within Delhi, interest in the subject is growing at least in some schools. Where once there'd be just one or two boys in a class of girls, Joshi says now their numbers are nearly equal. "They don't treat it as a 'timepass' and are very serious about it," she says, adding that a quarter of the boys taking the subject actually consider pursuing a career in it. "Most end up going to private institutions. One is going to a college in Kolkata."
The sex ratio in psychology classes is nowhere near balanced in most institutions. Birla Vidya Niketan principal Minakshi Kushwaha and the school's psychology teacher Amrita Singh feel that limited number of seats in DU are responsible for boys not taking up the subject.
"While selecting subjects in Class XI, many boys show interest. Although DU is naturally the most popular choice, they are instantly discouraged," says Singh. As a result, only five students in her class of about 60 are boys. Those who do join, she adds, "end up applying to colleges outside Delhi like Christ College (Bangalore) or Mumbai university". "Every third child wants to study it as there are numerous career options. But the limited seats takes away an option from them," adds Kushwaha.
Mother's International School student Prabhav Rajvanshi abandoned preparation for a career in medicine for psychology. "In Class XI, I opted for physics, chemistry, biology and psychology. I developed an interest in psychology and now I want to do a graduate course in it," he says. He'll wait for the DU cutoff lists, of course, but is exploring other options as well. At an interview in a private university, there were only five or seven boys in a group of 50 candidates and he believes that the skewed sex ratio in psychology classrooms deters boys who might otherwise have been interested in joining, thus completing the vicious cycle.
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