Closing the Gap between College and Career

Today, college students face a world where inflation and political strife are up while earnings and life expectancy are down. Likewise, the continuing introduction of technological innovations and alternative working arrangements are reshaping the workplace while existential threats such as global warming, ongoing global pandemics and even nuclear war loom prominently on the horizon. As a result, selecting a viable career path against this backdrop is a challenging goal and an increasing number of young people are deciding that it is not worth the investment and are choosing to avoid college altogether. To determine the current situation, the purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the relevant literature concerning the changing purposes and expectations of completing a college education as well as the manner in which college students are currently selecting a professional career. In addition, the argument is also made that there is a profound lack of career counseling currently available in most high school and colleges and many students continue to rely on the same methods that have been used for decades to find a lifelong career that matches their aptitude and preferences. Finally, the paper provides a summary of the literature review and the key findings that emerged from the research concerning the foregoing issues in the conclusion.

Changing Purposes and Expectations of a College Education

It is reasonable to suggest that some young people enter college in an effort to learn about the world and their place in it. This type of knowledge for knowledges sake goal is laudable but untenable for most college students who expect to receive a hefty lifetime return on their investment of time and money during this critical period in their lives by securing that piece of paper rather than actually acquiring an education. In this regard, Stanek (2019) asks, If a university is not a place where intellectual curiosity is to be encouraged, and subsidized, then it is nothing. Are we going to college to get an education, or to secure a paycheck alongside that diploma? (para. 4).

Certainly, many people have both expectations about their college education and succeed in obtaining a degree while also going on to secure meaningful employment in their preferred professional field, but this conventional scenario is increasingly being replaced with one that is focused primarily on receiving the additional financial rewards that accrue over a lifetime to obtaining a college degree in todays marketplace. This shift in the primary focus of college students today has not gone unnoticed, and a growing body of scholarship confirms that growing numbers of young learners are, for example, less interested in ancient history or metaphysics and more interested in cybersecurity.

In reality, however, even though such a pragmatic approach to obtaining a college education may not include the academic Ivory Tower experience of yesteryear, the workplace of the 21st century is dramatically different from that of just a few decades ago. Indeed, the skill sets that were acquired from a business management or even a liberal arts degree 50 years ago could help a graduate secure a professional position in a wide range of fields but this is generally no longer the case. Todays marketplace demands highly specialized skills in high tech industries or health care settings, and the intensive study needed to obtain a degree in these fields at present leaves little room for the humanities. Therefore, the career selection strategies that are used by students who are primarily interested in pursuing a college education to secure a good job after graduation will likely differ from those who want the traditional college experience and these issues are discussed further below.

How College Students Select a Career

The constellation of individual reasons for selecting a given career are virtually limitless and are unique to every college student. Peoples career aspirations change over time, though, and few individuals actually go on to become what they visualized for themselves during their childhood. As comedian and pundit Stephen Colbert famously observed, Thankfully, dreams can change. If we'd all stuck with...…that many counselors play, they need quick and efficient ways to access up-to-date, comprehensive and trustworthy information (para. 9).

Besides helping high school and college career counselors become more efficient at their job by providing them with the resources they need to assist students prepare for college, including access to professional development opportunities that are frequently lacking in the curricular offerings for school counselors. Career counselors in some regions of the country are especially at a disadvantage since they are not geographically proximate to educational institutions that offer professional development training. This constraint can be overcome by developing a national clearinghouse for the most up-to-date admissions scoring mechanisms used by colleges and universities as well as emerging career fields that are projected to experience significant growth in the foreseeable future (Brennan, 2019).

Conclusion

Taken together, it is clear that the purposes of a college education have changed significantly in recent years and students expectations of their college experience have undergone corresponding changes as well. In the not-too-distant past, the college years were not only a time of higher learning, they were also important years for forging personal relationships and professional networks that would play an important role in a career after graduation. While this type of socialization still exists, it has taken a backseat in importance to securing a degree as quickly as possible in order to join the workforce and pay back the student loans that made a college education possible in the first place. The research did show, however, that college students report a number of other reasons for selecting a given career besides earning power, including the prestige that goes with some occupations and a sense of duty to serve to humankind. Regardless of expectations about the college experience, though, the research also showed that the nations high schools and colleges lack sufficient career counseling staff to meet the needs of todays college students, but there are some steps that educators and policymakers can take that will help overcome the challenges of closing the gap between college and…