Education

An interesting subject to look into in regards to cultural studies is education.  The following are just a few topic suggestions in this area to get you started.

Example education dissertation topic 1:

A comparative study of the rate of suicide amongst girls aged fifteen to nineteen in South Korea and the United Kingdom: Is academic stress a significant factor?

The rate of girls aged between fifteen and nineteen who committed suicide in South Korea is 4.9 per 100,000, yet this figure is only 1.8 per 100,000 in the UK (Wasserman, Cheng and Jiang, 2005). This dissertation examines the stresses on South Korean youth that are not as evident in British culture (Lee, Hong and Espelage, 2012), and focuses on the issue of academic stress, given South Korea’s highly geared academic environment. Encompassing a broad literature review, this thesis also offers the opportunity to undertake primary research through surveys of female high school students in both the UK and South Korea, as well as in-depth interviews of school psychologists in both countries. Finally, it makes recommendations as to reducing academic stress without invoking a diminution in standards.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Lee, J., Puig, A., Kim, Y.B., Shin, H., Lee, J.H. and Lee, S.M. (2010). ‘Academic burnout profiles in Korean adolescents’, Stress and Health, Vol. 26(5), pp. 404-416.
• Lee, S.Y., Hong, J.S. and Espelage, D.L. (2010). ‘An ecological understanding of youth suicide in South Korea’, School Psychology International, Vol. 31(5), pp. 531-546.
• Wasserman, D., Cheng, Q.I. and Jiang, G.X. (2005). ‘Global suicide rates among young people aged 15-19’, World Psychiatry, Vol. 4(2), pp. 114.