With new questions about career preparation and purpose, this year’s National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) results reveal key insights around empowering students to connect their field of study to career aspirations throughout their collegiate matriculation.
NSSE’s findings – based on responses from students attending nearly 500 four-year institutions in the U.S. – found that 93 percent of seniors believed that their learning was relevant to their career paths. At historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), where preparing incoming students for lifelong learning and future employment “remains a high priority,” researchers found that students attending these institutions reported higher confidence in their career plans and took advantage of more career preparation resources than Black peers at predominantly White institutions (PWIs).
“What’s amazing is how much more confident students are about where they’re headed. It’s inspiring,” said Dr. Jillian Kinzie, associate director of the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research and the NSSE Institute. On the part of institutions and employers, “there has been greater acknowledgement that there are a variety of majors that can prepare one to be successful in a variety of careers.”
The NSSE survey focuses on first-year students and seniors because first-year students have just enough experience to render judgement about their experience and seniors are a little bit more reflective as they prepare to graduate, Kinzie said.
Pointing out an emerging movement in higher education where students are now encouraged to show a Comprehensive Learner Record, Kinzie added that students are gaining more experience in articulating “essential employability skills” that they’ve developed through courses, assignments, internships and other experiences.
Additional NSSE survey findings include:
-Three in five seniors interviewed or shadowed a professional in the field, while about half attended a talk or panel discussion about careers;
