Closing the Gap Between College and Career Readiness

Introduction

Today, college students face a world where inflation and political strife are rising while earnings and life expectancy are declining. 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 college is not worth the investment and are choosing to forgo it altogether.

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 ways in which college students currently select a professional career. The paper also argues that there is a profound lack of career counseling available in most high schools and colleges, and that many students continue to rely on the same methods that have been used for decades to find a lifelong career that matches their aptitudes and preferences. Finally, the paper provides a summary of the key findings that emerged from the research 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 knowledge's 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 a broad 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 hold 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. However, this conventional scenario is increasingly being replaced by one focused primarily on receiving the additional financial rewards that accrue over a lifetime to those who obtain a college degree in today's marketplace. This shift in the primary focus of college students 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, even though 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. The skill sets acquired from a business management or even a liberal arts degree 50 years ago could help a graduate secure a professional position across a wide range of fields, but this is generally no longer the case. Today's marketplace demands highly specialized skills in high-tech industries or healthcare settings, and the intensive study needed to obtain a degree in these fields leaves little room for the humanities. Therefore, the career selection strategies used by students primarily interested in securing a good job after graduation will likely differ from those who want the traditional "college experience."

How College Students Select a Career

The constellation of individual reasons for selecting a given career is virtually limitless and unique to every college student. People's career aspirations change over time, and few individuals actually pursue what they envisioned for themselves during childhood. As comedian and commentator Stephen Colbert famously observed, "Thankfully, dreams can change. If we'd all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses." Indeed, the number of occupations available continues to expand as new technologies create entirely new fields of business, and it is little wonder that many college students feel confused about which career is best for them.

Although earning potential is typically ranked highly among the reasons students choose a career, research indicates that people select careers for some unexpected reasons as well. For example, a study by Hassan et al. (2020) found that the main reasons medical students were pursuing careers as doctors were prestige—a construct that does not necessarily equate to higher earnings—and altruism, which carries no financial reward beyond moral satisfaction. Other factors beyond money that are frequently cited by college students as the main reasons for selecting a given career path include scheduling flexibility and employment stability (Watad, 2019).

Recent surveys have also identified additional reasons that college students routinely cite for choosing a career field, including a longtime interest in a profession, encouragement from a family member (especially one working in that field), recommendations from a close friend or respected teacher or professor, and learning about a potentially interesting profession through books or films (Clark, 2021). In other words, many students still rely on the same methods that have been used for decades to choose a lifelong career, which helps explain why college graduates continue to encounter obstacles in securing employment in their desired field. You can read more about career counseling approaches and how they attempt to address these challenges.

Conclusion

Taken together, it is clear that the purposes of a college education have changed significantly in recent years and that students' expectations of their college experience have undergone corresponding changes. In the not-too-distant past, the college years were not only a time of higher learning but also an important period for forging personal relationships and professional networks that would play a meaningful role after graduation. While this type of socialization still exists, it has taken a backseat to the goal of securing a degree as quickly as possible in order to join the workforce and repay 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 reasons for selecting a given career beyond earning power, including the prestige associated with certain occupations and a sense of duty to serve humankind. Regardless of expectations about the college experience, the research also showed that the nation's high schools and colleges lack sufficient career counseling staff to meet the needs of today's college students. Nevertheless, there are practical steps that educators and policymakers can take to overcome these challenges and begin closing the gap between college and career.

References

Behrendt, P., Göritz, A. S., & Heuer, K. (2021). Career counseling process quality promotes reemployment. Journal of Career Development, 48(5), 599–606.

Brennan, L. C. (2019, July 22). When it comes to college and career support, the counselor shortage is only part of the problem. The Hechinger Report. Retrieved from

Clark, B. (2021). Answers to "why did you choose this career?" Career Sidekick. Retrieved from

Hanimoglu, E. (2018). The perceptions of students about the role of school counselors on career selection. European Journal of Educational Research, 7(4), 763–774.

Hassan, M., Shahzad, F., & Waqar, S. H. (2020). Seeking motivation for selecting medical profession as a career choice. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 36(5), 941–945.

Popescu, S. N. (2021). A counselling model of career guidance for youth. Journal of Educational Sciences, 22, 63–84.

Stanek, B. (2019, July 21). Closing the gap between college and a career. Washington Monthly. Retrieved from

Watad, N. (2019). Career perceptions and choice decisions of business school students. Proceedings of the Northeast Business & Economics Association, 274–278.