Students Rise to College Faculty Expectations: Study Shows a Dysfunctional Loop

When you earn a college degree, what have you proven to employers? That you can conform to a workplace culture, work reasonably hard and are reasonably smart?

The salary statistics say that a college degree IS worth the effort. But getting hired is just the first step to career success. Retaining a job and making process along the career path is a life success skill that may or may not be developed in college, say authors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. The first two years of college produce no improvement in critical thinking and writing skills for nearly half of college students.

These data shook the higher education profession, because each college is measured on employability of job graduates. Employers want creative thinkers who know how follow-through and know how to communicate well. These skills are often viewed as less important that technical, specialized knowledge that is gained in a college major. They are the deciding factor between equally qualified candidates.

Character traits often predict success in the real world better than I.Q. scores. Colleges don’t teach students how to regulate their emotions, accept criticism, cope with failure and persevere. Test-taking skills are considered remedial.

Today, students spend three times as many hours in leisure than in studying. This is half the amount of study time, compared with a few decades ago. A third of students in the study spent five hours of less per week studying. And this trend is particularly true in less selective colleges, the authors say, where the student population has the greatest need for a leg up in society. Slacking off in college, the authors found, led to problems are graduation: excessive debt, unemployment, and living with mom and dad.

Colleges, parents and students share the responsibility for making college meaningful and worthwhile. Students often rise to the level of a college’s expectations. But maturity, too, plays a large factor in whether students maximize their college opportunities by actually going to class and studying enough to succeed. While colleges have a step in the dance by ensuring adequate and meaningful rigor across their curriculum, students need to balance study time with leisure; “partying” comes to mind. How do students learn to do that?

Early education – even preschool – is a key factor in the development of "non-cognitive" skills, and character traits such as self-control and conscientiousness. These traits are not recognized as a skill set; except perhaps in the home, where values are developed.

Parents lead -- counselors, coaches and teachers help – and ultimately students must be receptive and learn from these examples and their own experiences. The most motivated student can learn a lot despite having “the worst” professor, or being in a less selective college. If you have a value called “personal pride” in your efforts, then you will be motivated to discover, ultimately, what works for you. You’ll recover from failures and ultimately craft wise decisions for your college, major and courses. You’ll get good grades, graduate, find a job in your chosen field, and succeed.

Social Tone on College Campus: The Real Fit Factor

The social tone, or campus culture, can make or break a student’s happiness and success in college. It’s also one of the most difficult campus qualities to understand. Campus diversity, religious affiliation, degree of liberalism or conservatism and style of the learning environment “jell” together to create a unique campus experience. A student must feel comfortable in the environment in order to engage and receive the learning. A bad reaction to campus life could results in detachment, boredom or a feeling of isolation. You can help students be aware of the benefits and challenges of different cultural styles on campus, and help them find a good fit on this basis. In the classroom, the extent of student/faculty collaboration, and the level of student competitiveness, reflect the campus culture and is palpable. “Collaborative learning” is a result of the social experience of working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product. An indication of a college’s level of commitment to collaborative learning is the number of “interdisciplinary courses” offered. These courses allow students to enter and leave with very different technical skills, but to learn while developing collaboration skills. Teachers from different departments also often collaborate in creating the coursework. The best time to dig deep into a college’s culture is after the student has determined that the college meets their academic and financial and practical needs, and has visited. Here’s how students can dig deeper:
1. Read about the college’s mission statement and strategic plan, and look at the president’s message on the Web site. Ask to see the most recent student satisfaction survey, which should be on file in the president’s office or posted on the site.
2. Encourage your students to ask college representatives about the social tone, campus culture, and to provide examples of how they personally experience it.
3. After the student has been accepted but before the financial aid offer is accepted, encourage students to make a second visit and take advantage of any overnight stay programs that may be offered.
4. Encourage students to interview faculty members, especially those in their chosen field of study. Ask for specifics about:
• Activities in which students from different backgrounds meet and work together.
• How often students work in teams to complete assignments, solve problems or apply course content.
• How frequently students engage in service learning to fulfill class requirements.
• How students can collaborate on research with faculty.
• What interdisciplinary courses are offered and whether they are open to all students.
• How many students are involved with living and learning communities.
While you can discuss campus culture and make your students aware of its impact on their happiness and success, don’t expect tremendous insight from a young student. Coach parents to withhold their personal judgments about campus cultures and to listen for genuine enthusiasm from their child to help zero in on their final selection.

Soon-to-be-College Grads: Here are 8 Tips for Happiness in your New Career

1. Work in a place where you're comfortable by ensuring that your values are compatible with the employer.
2. Remember that your "life needs" are just as important as your career. Keep a balance between them.
3. Re-evaluate often what you want out of life, especially when life presents its big changes: engagement, marriage, birth, loss, relocation, major investments, and health crises.
4. Find role models, ask them outright to mentor you, and keep those relationships going; even when you change jobs.
5. Think of yourself as a creative problem-solver, not a "subject matter expert". This focus will help you change careers or jobs, which you're apt to do at least seven times! So keep learning about new concepts, methods, tools in your field. Also find out what other industries can make use of your "tools" (your skills, abilities and knowledge).
6. Be assertive in seeking out new assignments that stretch your skills, qualities and knowledge. Don't be afraid to set yourself apart from colleagues with unique accomplishments. The most capable people aren't threatened by competition.
7. Plant networking "seeds" and "cultivate" relationships with the best and the brightest of your colleagues and leaders.
8. Share your ideas with others. Networking is a give-and-take proposition. Play fair.

Criminal Justice Major Emphasizes "Sensory" Values

#Criminal Justice is a college major that emphasizes “sensory” values. This is a vast field with many specializations. #Jobs in #police, detective work, social work, psychology fall under this classification.

Examples are: Correctional Officers Government Lawyers Judges Paralegals Police Officers Private Practice Lawyers Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

Criminal Justice is an interdisciplinary major, with studies in law, psychology, sociology, and public administration. Both associate and the bachelor’s degrees are available. Courses focus on the psychology of criminal behavior and how law enforcement agencies operate. Topics in the introductory courses include the causes of crime, policing styles, courts, and probation and parole. Upper level courses are more specific and incorporate statistics.

In #Ohio, #Baldwin-Wallace College, #Bowling Green State University, #Kent State University, #Akron University, #Ohio University are among the college that offer this major.

For further reading: http://www.bgsu.edu/​departments/dhs/crju/​page36270.html

Your Criminal Justice Career (2000) by the Justice Research Association, and Careers in Criminal Justice (1999) by W. Richard Stephens, Jr.

Six Tips for Understanding Your Career Values

When picking a college major or a career training program, assess what's important to you in a job. But please, don't make your values assessment a stress-inducing process. Your values are apt to change over time, as you gain experience in college and in life. This is the very reason why so many students change college majors; a third of them change majors more than once! To edit a famous writer's expression, "when you know better, you CHOOSE better"!
When you know yourself well, your values will:

• Keep you focused and motivated
• Help you make good decisions based on a sense of purpose, and
• Bring you a sense of fulfillment

What are career values? Here are a few:

- Being needed and appreciated
- The location and environment where you want to work
- Gaining new skills and experience
- Working with people you respect and who you admire.

It can be difficult -- maybe impossible -- to have ALL your values met by a single job, but if you know which values are MOST important, you can feel more at peace and committed when you make career decisions. You will see clearly what you may have to trade-off, perhaps only temporarily, in order to get your most important needs met.
Here's how to assess your values. Don't rush this process. Like any creative techniques, it takes time. Complete a couple of steps, set your writing aside and come back to it several days later. Or, carry it with you, take it out when you have a little time to yourself and read it over. When you make a habit of reflecting like this, I think you'll be surprised at the ideas that will come to you naturally, as you go about your regular activities.

1. Make a list of all the things you love. Don't judge the list; just write as many things are you can come up with. Then:
2. List all the times you felt fulfilled and happy about something you did. Now:
3. Compare both lists. Do you see anything in common? So:
4. Make a list of the values and qualities that you see represented on both lists.
5. Carry these keywords with you. Take them out when you have a moment to yourself. Which ones really mean something to you? Do they make you feel like taking some sort of action?
6. And don’t judge yourself or let yourself become stressed, even by this exercise. This is your time. Your privacy. Your chance to learn about yourself, which is a key driver for success and happiness.