Choice of study: translation students confident about their future

 

A recent study looked at the factors that motivated translation students’ choice of studies. It shows that, even if the majority of students say that they do not yet have a clear idea of what they will be doing in the future, they remain convinced that they will have no difficulty in finding a job. Because of their cross-cutting nature, language skills continue to ensure employability. Another striking fact revealed by the study is that the ‘threat’ of artificial intelligence is not a factor undermining students’ motivation to work in this sector. 88 % of respondents said that AI was not a factor that influenced their choice of studies. The latest dramatic developments in machine translation and chatbots do not change this: almost none of the students considered choosing another area of study, and they all remain convinced that a university education remains relevant.

The new study conducted in December 2023 among students of the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation (FTI-EII) at the University of Mons holds many lessons. Based on a survey sent to the 773 students enrolled in 2023-2024, from first year undergraduates to second year master’s students, it looked at the importance of the factors that guided their choice of study. Particular attention was paid to the impact of artificial intelligence – a burning issue if ever there was one.

267 students – so a participation rate of 35% – spent an average of 6 minutes and 52 seconds of their time answering the 24 survey questions. Conducted on the SurveyMonkey platform and validated in advance by the Faculty management, the survey was sent through the university’s official communication tool.

Students at all levels took part, with the absolute number of respondents decreasing in higher years, a logical consequence of there being fewer students enrolled in those higher years. However, it should be noted that students in higher years had a participation rate almost twice as high as students in the first year (42% of second year MA students participated in the survey (40 out of 95), compared to just 23% of first year undergraduates (72 out of 309)). Incidentally, this might indicate that students who are at a more advanced stage in their studies – and therefore more involved in their discipline – are more likely to participate, as they better grasp the importance of research and are more interested in their future job prospects – but we will refrain from drawing hasty conclusions on this.

Demographic data: Main year of study (in academic year 2023-24)
Réponse(s) obtenue(s) = Replies given
Question(s) ignore(s) = Questions ignored
BAB1 = First year undergraduate
BAB2 = Second year undergraduate
BAB3 = Third year undergraduate
MAB1 = First year Master’s
MAB2 = Second year Master’s

‘General’ factors

As others have already noted, the issue of choice of studies in higher education remains multidimensional and complex. With the support of previous studies, we decided to focus in the first part of the questionnaire on four recurring factors when students choose what to study: employability and the job prospects associated with the degree (1), passion for foreign languages and cultures (2), how generally interesting the course is (3), the reputation of the faculty and the prestige of the profession (4). Several lessons can be learned from the responses.

Firstly, we see that two thirds of respondents (66%) did not have a clear idea of the profession they intended to pursue when they started their studies. This can be attributed – at least in part – to the fact that the humanities are less vocational than other more technical or scientific courses, such as medicine or engineering. They are primarily aimed at building critical thinking and universal skills, which can then be employed in a wide range of fields or professions. Enrolling in the humanities at university is primarily a sign of willingness to learn for the sake of learning, without having a clearly defined profession in mind. It appears that the specific field of foreign languages is particularly suited to this objective of acquiring ‘universal’ skills, which is further enhanced by the diversification of our programmes, which, in addition to ‘classical’ translation and interpretation, offer options in multilingual communication in the broader sense (diplomacy, business), as well as in foreign language teaching.

Choice of study – To what extent do you agree with the following statement: when choosing my course of study, I had a clear idea of the job I was aiming for?
Strongly disagree
Tend to disagree
Neither agree nor disagree
Tend to agree
Strongly agree

The following question, on the diversity of job opportunities, confirms this analysis, as 71% of respondents indicated that this diversity was decisive in their choice of studies. In line with previous data, 82% of respondents mentioned that their interest in the subject was a decisive factor (we will see this even more clearly below), and 71% cited the reputation of the faculty, known for the quality of its degrees.

(Top) Choice of study = When choosing my course of study, regardless of the job I later wanted to do, the following factor was important to me: passion for languages and cultures
(Bottom) Choice of study = When choosing my course of study, regardless of the job I later wanted to do, the following factor was important to me: a large number of job opportunities

‘Heart’ versus ‘head’ in choice of studies

Regardless of whether learning languages is a reasoned choice, a passion for foreign languages and cultures is by far the main element in students’ decisions. This is not really surprising, but still worthy of note: 98% of students point to this factor as being decisive in their decision.

Of course, the opposite would have been surprising, as observers will rightly point out. However, being passionate about a subject is not as obvious or decisive in all fields of study. Indeed, as demonstrated above all by the many statistical surveys conducted by Sylvie Lemaire in France, in sectors that are more vocational in nature (such as IT or engineering), job prospects outweigh the intrinsic interest in the course. One might even say they are inversely proportional. These results confirm those of previous studies – such as those conducted by the University of Geneva’s Observatory of Student Life – or published in reference works.

It should be noted in this connection that the study in question related to students in (French-speaking) Belgium, where admission to higher education is not conditional on the results obtained in the school leaving examination (known as the CESS (certificat de l’enseignement secondaire supérieur)), or on an entrance competition or examination. Any comparison with other systems, in particular the French one, should therefore be taken with a pinch of salt.

Language pairs: a key indicator?

The survey then looked at the choice of languages. Note that, in French-speaking Belgium, translation studies students choose two source languages. The limited space available here does not allow us to examine this aspect in detail, we will limit ourselves to a few trends, which corroborate the previously illustrated relationship between ‘head’ and ‘heart’.

An analysis of the choice of languages confirms the existence of three categories which echo the above-mentioned surveys, with (1) some chosen mainly for their professional desirability (job opportunities, rarity on the labour market), such as German or Dutch, (2) some chosen mainly for interest or passion for the language and culture, without job prospects being a decisive factor, such as Danish or Italian, and (3) an intermediate category with an almost equal distribution between these two factors, including languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, English or Spanish.

(Top) Choice of language – I chose German because of my interest in the language and culture, without paying much attention to the associated job prospects.
(Bottom) Choice of language – I chose German because of the associated job prospects.

(Top) Choice of language – I chose Danish because of my interest in the language and culture, without paying much attention to the associated job prospects.
(Bottom) Choice of language – I chose Danish because of the associated job prospects.(Right) Choice of language – I chose Danish because of the associated job prospects.

Head/heart comparison between German and Danish

Artificial Intelligence

Let us now turn to the burning topic of AI and, in our case, its impact on choice of studies.

Translation students do not seem to be worried about the impact that the latest technological developments have – or could have – on their future career prospects. Only 11 % of students said that they tended to agree or completely agreed with the following statement: ‘The rise of AI almost led me to choose a different course of study.’

(Top left) Artificial intelligence - General - The rise of AI almost led me to choose a different course of study.
(Middle) Artificial intelligence - General - Over the course of my studies (so far), I have seriously considered changing direction owing to the ‘threat’ of AI.
(Bottom) Artificial intelligence - General – My friends and family tried to dissuade me from this course of study, in particular because of the ‘threat’ posed by artificial intelligence.

Impact of AI on choice of studies

As demonstrated by Bourdieu and Passeron, among others, in particular in Les Héritiers (1964), the phenomenon of ‘occupational inheritance’ illustrates the influence that parents and the family environment can have on the studies chosen by their offspring. We are aware that the issue has much wider (especially sociological) dimensions, but the authors of the study nevertheless found it interesting to question students on this point, through the prism of AI. As above: given the media buzz around AI, we would have expected more attempts from students’ families to dissuade them from studying translation. Moreover, this phenomenon could have been exacerbated by the fact that the media have been presenting translation as a disappearing profession for years (see, for example here, here and here). Yet only 21% of students said that their families had tried to dissuade them from embarking on this path.

The replies to the following question confirm this: ‘Over the course of my studies (so far), I have seriously considered changing direction owing to the ‘threat’ of AI.’ Here, just 8 % of respondents said that they agreed with the statement.

Confidence in the future

The confidence in the future that emerges from these replies was confirmed by the certainty of these future graduates of being able to find a job in the future. There is, however, a ‘level of concern’ of 45 on a scale of 1 to 100 for the specific professions of translation and interpretation, but this decreases when the range of possible jobs is widened: the level of concern falls to 31 for language professions and communication in general, and to only 15 for foreign language teaching.

(Top) Skills/usefulness of the course – On a scale of 1 to 100 (where 1 = not at all concerned and 100 = extremely concerned), how concerned are you about finding a job in translating or interpreting after you graduate?
(Middle) Skills/usefulness of the course – On a scale of 1 to 100 (where 1 = not at all concerned and 100 = extremely concerned), how concerned are you about finding a job in languages and communication in the wider sense after you graduate?
(Bottom) Skills/usefulness of the course – On a scale of 1 to 100 (where 1 = not at all concerned and 100 = extremely concerned), how concerned are you about finding a job in language teaching after you graduate?

Level of concern regarding future employability, by category of job

Given the boom in short webinar-type training courses that lead to a 'diploma' (in the French-speaking translation world, for example, we could mention the well-known organisation Edvenn), the authors of the study also considered it useful to ask students about the relevance of two-year university master’s degrees.

Skills/usefulness of the course – I have wondered whether, once I have my undergraduate degree, I could take a vocational course to become a translator or interpreter in another form (short seminars, self-study, etc.), in particular in the form of distance learning, and whether a two-year, full-time Master’s degree is the right approach for me?

The average rate of agreement with the statement was 21%, which suggests that a majority of students retain their faith in university education. In order to have a more objective idea, it would be interesting to ask the same question to translation professionals who did not complete a university course (who trained, for example, with Edvenn). This might be assumed to be inversely proportional, as regardless of the type of training chosen, learners tend to convince themselves that they have taken the right path and thus stand by their choice. Moreover, as they do not really know what they have missed, they cannot really compare... Food for thought for a future study!

So?

The following conclusions can be drawn from the study: We should be wary of simplistically extrapolating the results of this survey to all students, since, as mentioned above, university courses can vary enormously, from the most academic to the most vocational. Surveys of students from other universities would be useful to confirm – or refute – the observations presented here.

The first conclusion to be drawn is that most students enrolled in our faculty at the University of Mons do not have a clear idea (or any idea at all) of the job they will end up doing, which may seem surprising at first sight but reflects the trend already observed in the social sciences and humanities, where acquired (language) skills are ‘universally’ useful. When asked about their employability, students do not fear that they will end up unemployed, one reason being the wide variety of job opportunities available to them. However, there is a decline in this level of confidence when it comes to more specialised professions: they think they are more likely to find a job in language teaching and in communication professions in the broader sense than in translation and interpretation.

The study also indicates that a passion for languages and cultures remains the main reason why students opt for this path, well outstripping job prospects. This is in line with the other replies to the survey’s questions and also confirms the results of previous studies, in particular those conducted in France. Nevertheless, nuances, sometimes significant, can be observed depending on the language combination chosen. Languages such as Dutch or German tend to be chosen for pragmatic reasons (job opportunities or labour market needs), while Italian or Danish are chosen almost exclusively for emotional reasons without really knowing about the associated job opportunities – if they even exist.

Finally, the rise of artificial intelligence – especially in 2023, with the boom in ChatGPT-type bots – does not seem to be discouraging students (and those close to them) from studying translation or foreign languages or causing them to question the merits of this type of university course.

Skills/usefulness of the course: Throughout my studies (up until now), I believe that I have been sufficiently informed by the faculty and my lecturers about the changes brought about by AI in the translation profession and sector.

To conclude and pave the way for further studies and reflections, we would like to mention the replies to the last question: ‘Throughout my studies (up until now), I believe that I have been sufficiently informed by the faculty and my lecturers about the changes brought about by AI in the translation profession and sector.’ The percentage agreeing with this statement was (only?) 38, which might suggest that many future graduates are extremely confident about their employability, while at the same time acknowledging that they are not sufficiently informed to say this with certainty. In addition to this inherent contradiction, the observation undoubtedly also calls for a reappraisal on the part of teaching staff – on the assumption that they are better informed, which is not necessarily the case, given that the pace of change is causing instability and making it more difficult to predict the future. In this vein, the comment added by one of the respondents to the survey summarises the situation well: ‘What will tomorrow bring? The future will tell us!’

To see the full results of the survey, click on this link.