Abstract
This chapter acknowledges that many students come to campus with little understanding of who they are and what major makes the most sense for them. It advocates the position that the focus of attention in the first year or two of the undergraduate experience should be to assist students in identifying the type of work they might enjoy doing rather than a specific career (though some will come with that already in hand). In response, it puts forward a different vision for general education and those foundational courses found in any academic major. Advocating for the development of key-shaped graduates, it elevates the importance of experiential learning and catalogues the many forms that might take place within an existing curriculum.
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Notes
- 1.
The Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at UCLA publishes the results of an annual survey they conduct of incoming students. In their 2019 survey, the number one reason for deciding to go to college was to get a better job (83.5%) (Stolzenberg et al., 2020, p. 42).
- 2.
Ma et al. (2019).
- 3.
The Social Security Administration has carried out their own analysis (Social Security Administration, 2015) at: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/research-summaries/education-earnings.html. A more nuanced look is provided by the Center for Education and the Workforce (Carnevale et al., 2021):
- 4.
Merrill (2021).
- 5.
Dhingra and Schaniger (2021).
- 6.
“If employed graduates feel their college prepared them well for life outside of it, the odds that they are engaged at work rise nearly three times. Experiences in college that contribute to feeling prepared for life after college, such as internships or jobs where students are able to apply what they are learning in the classroom, active involvement in extracurricular activities and organizations, and working on a project that took a semester or more to complete are part of this preparation” (Gallup and Purdue University, 2014, p. 9).
- 7.
“More college graduates are thriving in purpose well-being than any other element of well-being. These graduates like what they do every day and get to learn or do something interesting on a daily basis, leading more than half of them (54%) to be thriving in this area. Other Gallup research shows that people with purpose/well-being are more than twice as likely to be thriving in their lives overall” (Gallup and Purdue University, 2014, p. 15).
For a theoretical exploration of educational experiences that contribute to fulfillment see Dewey (1963), Freire (1973), and Walton and Cohen (2011).
- 8.
According to the US Department of Education, about 30% of undergraduates with a declared major changed their major at least once within three years of enrollment (Leu, 2017).
A survey by Best Colleges looks across generations at the reasons for changing majors (Staff Writers, 2022).
More detailed analyses can be found in Eide and Waehrer, (1998), Galotti (1999), Galotti et al. (2006), and Wright (2018).
- 9.
In a study undertaken by Ellucian, almost two-thirds felt overwhelmed by the process of selecting a major and one in three students was unsure which major aligns with their chosen career path (Ellucian, 2019, p. 5). This agrees with a more theoretical examination of social influences on our choices by Bourdieu and Passeron (1977).
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
In making their case that learning needs to be linked to work through career-relevant instruction, Taylor and Haras contend: “The value of nonprofessional majors has not been represented to employers the way that professional majors have… The issue is that liberal arts are often contextualized within the confines of academia and have yet to fully embrace their relevance in the workplace, and in language that speaks to employers (and students)” (Taylor & Haras, 2020, p. 2).
See again, Eliot (1898).
- 13.
A liberal education for the twenty-first century mandates the acceleration of integrative, high-impact learning opportunities that engage every student in solving unscripted, real-world problems across all types of institutions, within the context of the workforce, not apart from it. Lynn Pasquerella, President of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, reports on the work the organization is doing in support of the liberal arts in her 2019 Harvard Business Review article (Pasquerella, 2019).
A longer exposition can be found in American Association of Colleges and Universities (2020).
Finally, for a theoretical perspective see Eliot (1898). Charles Eliot, president of Harvard University for 40 years and respected educational theorist espousing the merits of a liberal arts education, contended that higher learning in the US needed to be “broadened, deepened, and invigorated.”
- 14.
Brint et al. (2009) introduces four general education models.
- 15.
Trends in general education are discussed in Section II of the AAC&U and Hanover Research report (American Association of Colleges and Universities and Hanover Research, 2022).
- 16.
New England Commission of Higher Education (2021).
- 17.
“Students, as they are increasingly posed with problems relating to themselves in the world and with the world, will feel increasingly challenged and obliged to respond to the challenge. Because they apprehend the challenge as interrelated to other problems within a total context, not as a theoretical question, the resulting comprehension tends to be increasingly critical and thus constantly less alienated” (Freire, 1968, p. 68). See also Rogoff (1990).
- 18.
- 19.
Skills, and not just knowledge, need to be intentionally taught.
- 20.
- 21.
Education should not be separated from the identities and personal interests of the students, lest it become an alienating and unmotivating entity; in offering educational experiences that align with student interests, an institution is providing a number of avenues for students to pursue meaningful work that interests them (Bourdieu, 1987; Dewey, 1963; Eliot, 1898; Freire, 1968; Freire, 1973).
- 22.
- 23.
Freire (1973).
- 24.
Many companies hire based on fit, which often means the candidate is the type of person you would want to have a beer with. Interesting lessons about how to hire can be found in McCord (2018).
One of the concerns associated with hiring for fit is that it perpetuates cultural biases. See, for example, Tulshyan (2022).
- 25.
The idea behind key-shaped graduates can be found in Wilkinson (2021).
- 26.
- 27.
- 28.
Some of the challenges associated with the case method are found in Jack (2018).
- 29.
As more and more job activities become automated, soft skills, which cannot yet be replicated by machines, have become more important to employers (Lau, 2021).
- 30.
Of course, this is less of an issue for MBA programs that require their students to have at least five years of work experience. In that set of circumstances, the students are able to bring relevant experience into the classroom that might offset any lack of real experience on the part of the professor. An interesting story that captures industry vs. academic environments can be found in Osborn (2018).
The advantages of working in a non-academic environment are chronicled in Lohr (2016).
- 31.
Sternberg et al. (1993).
- 32.
Vlachopoulos and Makri (2017).
- 33.
Laverie et al. (2022) discuss the effectiveness of simulations in marketing courses.
- 34.
- 35.
Bias may emerge in a manner that is similar to the development and adoption of textbooks. Due to the large upfront development costs that can only be recouped if there is a large number of adopters, publishers/developers may try to create a simulation that appeals to the broadest audience possible. By appealing to the least offensive outcome, the simulation may be so generic that there is little to be learned upon successful completion. In addition, machine learned models exhibit bias, often because of implicit biases in the developer or due to biases in the datasets used to train them (Motavalli & Nestel, 2016).
- 36.
- 37.
Grossman (2002).
- 38.
- 39.
Some of the key findings from a Strada Education Network study of internships found that: (1) students with paid internships tend to get paid more after graduation; (2) students with work-based learning experiences report greater career satisfaction after graduation; (3) paid internships lead to greater confidence (Torpey-Saboe et al., 2022).
- 40.
Unfortunately, another finding from that same Strada report is that black and Latino students, women, low-income students, and first-generation students are less likely to experience a paid internship. Students located in rural communities also find it challenging to navigate (and afford) the logistics associated with a paid internship (Torpey-Saboe et al., 2022; Ezarik, 2022).
- 41.
The idea of legitimate peripheral participants is developed in Lave and Wenger (1991).
- 42.
Northeastern University (2023).
- 43.
Cooperative education was developed at the University of Cincinnati in 1906. A brief discussion of the history and benefits associated with cooperative education can be found in Cedercreutz and Cates (2010).
- 44.
Northeastern reports that 90% of their graduates are employed full time or enrolled in graduate school within nine months of graduation. Fifty percent of students receive a job offer from their co-op employer and 89% of graduates are doing full-time work in a field related to their major (Northeastern University, 2023).
- 45.
- 46.
The number of internships is growing. There are about $800,000 internships and while college enrollments have declined by about 15% over the past decade, the number of apprenticeships has increased by more than 50% (Belkin, 2023).
- 47.
More information about writing across the curriculum can be found in Palmquist et al. (2020).
- 48.
As noted by Knight and Yorke (2003, p. 4), “The student learning that makes for strong claims to employability comes from years, not semesters; through programmes, not modules; and in environments, not classes.”
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Niman, N.B., Chagnon, J.R. (2023). Self-Discovery and Curriculum. In: The Work-Ready Graduate. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33910-3_4
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