Several years ago when we were doing research for our book, Inside the Top Colleges: Realities of Life and Learning in America's Elite Colleges, we surveyed thousands of undergraduates through questionnaires and individual interviews. Our purpose was to get to the heart of the college experience at a variety of selective colleges and universities.
We found that our data correlated nicely with the demographics of all of the campuses in terms of representation of the four undergraduate classes, men and women, financial aid recipients, and racial background. While we anticipated a high incidence of concerns over academic workload, time demands, personal stress, finances, social adjustment and loneliness, and substance abuse, another theme emerged that cut across all classes, genders, races, and scholarship and non-scholarship students. The lack of interest on the part of the faculty and advisors in helping students choose a field of study as part of preparing for life after college turned out to be one of the most frequent topics of concern.
Non-traditional students have little frame of reference on the multitude of occupations and careers that are available today.
Not knowing what they could and should do to plan for the future was a constant refrain among the undergrads. Whether or not college faculties and administrators are comfortable acknowledging that a majority of students have enrolled because of their belief that a college degree will lead to an attractive and secure career, the fact remains: Some professional level of advisement is an expectation by virtually all young people on campuses today.
We experience firsthand the results of this issue on a daily basis in our offices. Students start calling us at several distinct stages in their college life. The first is toward the end of their sophomore year when they are choosing their field of concentration. This decision point raises all sorts of questions: What do I like to study? What am I good at? What will a major in a particular discipline prepare me for?
The second stage follows quickly toward the end of the junior year, when the final year of college looms and many students decide whether or not to apply to graduate school. If so, they must prepare for entrance exams and target appropriate programs and universities. Confusion and anxiety rise to the surface rapidly at this time.
Senior year brings excitement at completing the degree and worry over what's next. We find many seniors will decide to apply to graduate schools as a non-decision decision, or avoidance of the reality of not knowing what they really want to do.
Teaching Moments
At each of these critical stages, advisors and faculty can play an essential role in what can become teaching moments for students. Helping them understand how to initiate a search for future opportunities that might suit them based on a self-assessment of unique strengths, personal values, and goals in their adult lives could and should be part of the college's educational process and commitment to its students.
The outcomes: Students are more likely to continue in their college studies rather than leave due to a lack of direction and motivation; they will become satisfied alumni; and they will recommend their college to prospective students with enthusiasm. Most importantly, they will become positive participants and leaders in their communities.
We counsel a large number of recent college graduates who are presently working or studying and who have discovered to their frustration that they are unhappy in their situations. Many state that the nature of the work they are required to handle is of little interest or does not fit with their skill sets. They often refer to the lack of stimulation due to the job itself and the people with whom they work.
These young adults are desperate for advice on career directions and further education to meet their new goals. In most cases they do not feel they can turn to their college for such assistance because they did not have a good experience in getting helpful counseling while an undergraduate, or because they believe their college no longer is interested in helping them.
We strongly encourage institutions to suggest that young graduates contact individual faculty or the career counseling office. What better way to serve the school's future moral and financial supporters?
