In degree programs, there are inconsistencies in the Philippines regarding major and minor subjects. While I cannot definitively say how programs are defined colloquially, I can talk about the more proper usage here1.
Take, for example, B.S. in Floor Sweeping, minor in Detritus Acquisition:
- The B.S. (which stands for Bachelor of Science) is the degree itself. In particular, this is also an undergraduate, bachelor’s degree.
- Note that B.S. or BS is used interchangeably, even in the global context.
- One is then majoring in Floor Sweeping. Majoring is typically omitted here.
- This also leads to some institutions offering dual-major programs (e.g. UPD’s BS BAA).
- Sometimes, “in” is also omitted, even in the global context.
- Finally, some institutions offer an area of concentration, or an academic minor2, such as the minor in Detritus Acquisition above.
Additionally, a lot of people in academia believe that an undergraduate is supposed to produce a well-rounded student. Which leads to the belief that having specializations, or even majors leads to unnecessary tribalism, and loss of importance to multi-disciplinary understanding, and I partially agree to those points. However, with how the world works right now, this system is seemingly inescapable and unavoidable.
Aspects of pedantry
I’d argue in this case that you should avoid the colloquial usage here. Unlike with other topics (e.g. the courses and subjects bit), I believe the more common usage only leads to confusion. If you’re unfortunate enough to hold said confusing degrees, I wish you (1) my condolences and (2) best of luck in explaining how the hell your degree is structured to your peers outside your university.
Fortunately, in common parlance in the Philippines, in the most case, no one really cares about that. However I’m sure you’ll have some problems filling out forms with dropdowns and textboxes for
degree,major, and so on. I’ll leave the interpretation of your degree program to you.
Colloquial example
Taken from Pampanga State Agricultural University’s site3.
Even I’m confused and can’t accurately interpret that. But based on common understanding:
- B.S. Civil Engineering is the course, or degree program.
- Water Resources is the major, somehow.
I’ve also seen the same structure in De La Salle University, which leads to interesting conversations with my DLSU friends:
Taken from DLSU’s site4.
Proper example
Taken from ADMU’s chemistry page5.
In the above, we can easily interpret the degree program’s structure:
- BS is a bachelor’s degree. Particularly, a Bachelor of Science degree.
- This is a dual-major program, Chemistry being the first and Material Science and Engineering as the second.