10 years of nutritional sciences in Jena - viewed by students and graduates

In a cross-sectional study, motivation to and the expectations of their fut ure jobs and/or the actual occupation of 255 students and 24 graduates of n utritional sciences in Jena were examined by means of questionnaires. Of th e students, 92 % were women and 8 % men. The quota of students from East Ge rmany was 91.3 %. The relative number of students from West Germany did not increase significantly during the last 10 years. The freshmen of nutrition al sciences in Jena are very young and strongly oriented towards natural sc iences. A considerable number of undergraduates (6-13 %) had nutritional pr oblems which prompted them to register for nutritional sciences. Many of th em felt that the field of studies is not defined clearly enough. To increas e their competitive capacity at the entrance into their professional career s, more specialization is required. Whether and to what extent the new prof ile of nutritional sciences in Jena with its emphasis on molecular biology will improve the situation, remains open.