Empirical Perspectives on Academic and Career Advising Paul A. Gore, Ph.D. University of Utah...
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Transcript of Empirical Perspectives on Academic and Career Advising Paul A. Gore, Ph.D. University of Utah...
Empirical Perspectives on Academic and Career Advising
Paul A. Gore, Ph.D.University of Utah
Presentation to the Utah Advising & Orientation Association (UAOA)May 22, 2007
This presentation is posted as a courtesy to the members of UAOA. Please feel free to use material from this presentation on your campus with appropriate reference to my UAOA presentation. If you would like to use material from this presentation outside of your campus, please contact me at [email protected] (801-581-7233) to secure permission to do so.
Outline
• Student Expectations for College• Student Academic Readiness• Student Career Development Status
• Promoting Effective Career Decision-Making
• Promoting Student and Career Success • Future Directions
Expectations
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
will graduate fro
m high school
will go to co
llege
will have a job that pays w
ell
will have an enjoyable job
will own a home
will have bette
r life than parents
Per
cen
tHigh to Very High
50% or less
Percentage indicating chances are….
High School Freshmen: Probability Estimates of Life Events
10th Grade Students' Postsecondary Aspirations
12.6
29.830.8
26.7
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
High school Two year college Four year college Graduate school
Pe
rce
nt
Community College Students' Degree Aspirations
4037
20
47
41
70
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1972 1982 1992
Pe
rce
nt
No postsecondary degree
Voc/Tech degree/certificate
Associates degree
Bachelors degree or more
High hopes, but…
There is concern that college students are not prepared to meet the challenges of attaining a college education.
• Average four-year graduation rate at two-year institutions = 34% (Swail, 2004)
• Average six-year graduation rate at four-year institutions = 53% (Carey, 2004)
– First to second year retention rates
• Traditional 73.4%• Selective 81.7%• Two year colleges 52%
• Rate considerably lower for first-generation students and students of color
Percent of Students Who Meet College Ready Academic Benchmarks
26
40
68
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
College Biology College Algebra College Composition
Pe
rce
nt
of
Stu
de
nts
75% chance of getting a C or better
Remedial Course Taking by Institutional Type
2425
29
43
36
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
4-Year Private For Profit 4-Year Public 2-Year Public All Institutions
Per
cen
t o
f S
tud
ent
Po
pu
lati
on
Percent of Students Taking Remedial Course by Course Type
30
77
28
12
35
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
English Math Reading Study Skills Writing
Pe
rce
nt
of
Re
me
dia
l S
tud
en
t P
op
ula
tio
n
Percent of Students Receiving Bachelor's Degree by Remedial Course Taking Behavior
58
27
17
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
No Remediation One or two MathCourses
Any RemedialReading
Pe
rce
nt
ACT Examinees' Expressed Need for Help
37
2024
37 35
9
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Ed/O
cc Pl
ans
Expr Id
eas/W
riting
Read
ing/C
omp
Study
Skills
Math Sk
ills
Perso
nal
Need for Help
Perc
ent
• Students have high postsecondary expectations
• Many come to us under-prepared and in need of remediation
• They appear interested in your help
Major &Career
• Consistent trends over the last 30 years– Students rate “being well off financially” and
“to get a better job” as the most salient reasons for attending college (shift from 1970’s – “to develop a meaningful philosophy of life”)
How Far Along in Making Career Decision?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Pretty co
nfused
Become les
s confused
Identified one option
Have chosen
Chosen and committed
Committed and passio
nate
Perc
ent of Pa
rtic
ipan
ts
Have You Chosen a College Major
46
54
37
73
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
No Yes
Pe
rce
nt
of
Re
sp
on
de
nts
First Year College
ACT Examinees
25% of thoseindicating a majorIn the ACT sample alsoreport being“not sure” of theirchoice
How Important is it to Figure out Career Now?
2
16
26
2827
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Not at allimportant
Somewhatimportant
Moderatelyimportant
Important Very important
Perc
ent of Pa
rtic
ipan
ts
How Motivated are You to Decide on Career Direction Now?
1
7
22
40
30
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Not at allmotivated
Somewhatmotivated
Moderatelymotivated
Motivated Very motivated
Perc
ent of Pa
rtic
ipan
ts
How Much Help Do You Need with Career Direction?
13
25
38
19
6
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
No help at all Some help Moderate help A good deal ofhelp
Lots of help
Perc
ent of Pa
rtic
ipan
ts
• 70% of the 30 fastest-growing jobs will require an education beyond high school
• 40% of all new jobs will require at least an associate’s degree
• 50 years ago, 80% of all jobs were classified as “unskilled”
• Today, 85% of all jobs are classified as “skilled” or requiring education beyond high school
• It is estimated that 60% of all future jobs will require training that only 20% of today’s workers possess
0
5
10
15
20
25
Exec./A
dmin./Manag.
Eng/Scien
ceHeal
th
Teaching/Counseli
ng Law
Writing/Art
Technicia
nSal
es
Admin. su
pport
Protec
tionSer
vice
Transport./
Farm./M
echanica
l
Perc
ent of To
tal
Student AspirationsProjected Jobs
Occupational Aspirations vs. Occupational Options
Workforce Projections vs. Expressed Interest (controlled for college requirements)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Emplo
ymen
t-Rela
ted
Servic
es
Mar
ketin
g & S
ales
Man
agem
ent
Regul
atio
n & P
rote
ction
Comm
unica
tions
& R
ecor
ds
Financ
ial T
rans
actio
ns
Distrib
ution
& D
ispat
ching
Trans
port
Opera
tion
& Rela
ted
Agricu
lture
, For
estry
& R
elate
d
Compu
ter &
Info
rmat
ion
Specia
lties
Const
ructi
on &
Main
tena
nce
Crafts
& R
elate
d
Man
ufac
turin
g & P
roce
ssing
Mec
hanic
al &
Ele
ctrica
l Spe
cialtie
s
% o
f T
ota
l
2012 (requiring college)
2005 Expressed Interest
16
40
44
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Misaligned: Too littleeducation
Misaligned: Toomuch education
Aligned
Per
cen
t o
f S
tud
ents
Alignment Between Students Educational and OccupationalAspirations
Promoting Career
Choice
• Does it matter how you engage students to promote effective career choices?
YESNO
Critical Ingredients
• Ryan-Krane, Brown, and their colleagues reviewed career intervention outcome studies in attempt to determine what particular aspects of career interventions are commonly associated with successful outcomes.
• They focused their attention on career choice interventions
Critical Ingredients
• Computer-Guided Assistance
• Workbook or Written Exercises
• Self-Report Inventories
• Individualized Attention and Feedback
• Counselor Support
• Cognitive Restructuring
• Vocational Exploration
• Values Clarification
• Card Sorts
• Information on the World of Work
• Outside Reading
• Personal Performance Accomplishments
• Modeling
• Anxiety Reduction
• Attention to Building Supports
• Attention to Decreasing Barriers
• Decision-Making Models and Strategies
• Attention to Past Achievements
Critical Ingredients
• Computer-Guided Assistance
• Workbook or Written Exercises
• Self-Report Inventories
• Individualized Attention and Feedback
• Counselor Support
• Cognitive Restructuring
• Vocational Exploration
• Values Clarification
• Card Sorts
• Information on the World of Work
• Outside Reading
• Personal Performance Accomplishments
• Modeling
• Anxiety Reduction
• Attention to Building Supports
• Attention to Decreasing Barriers
• Decision-Making Models and Strategies
• Attention to Past Achievements
Critical Ingredients
0.99
0.61
0.22
0.45
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0 1 2 3
Number of Critical Components
Eff
ec
t S
ize
(D
)
Critical Ingredients
• Which ingredients are you using?
• How are you using them?
• Workbook or Written Exercises
• Individualized Attention and Feedback
• Information on the World of Work
• Modeling
• Attention to Building Supports
Promoting College
& Career Success
College and Career Success Factors
• What student characteristics promote college and career success
Predicting Student Success
• Predicting student success– Primary focus on cognitive factors (ACT, GPA)– Pre-enrollment situational (SES, first generation)– Post-enrollment situational (Housing, hours worked
on campus, campus climate)– Non-cognitive/motivational (engagement,
achievement motivation, self-efficacy)
• Post secondary institutions focus on all four• Psychological research has focused on non-
cognitive/motivational factors
• Current non-cognitive predictors?
• Emotional Intelligence• Student Engagement (e.g., NSSE)• College Commitment (College Student Inventory)• Study Habits• Academic Self-Confidence• Resilience
• Robbins and his colleagues (2004) recently conducted a Meta-analysis of the role of academic and non-academic factors in predicting college outcomes
• These authors identified non-cognitive constructs that were predictive of student outcomes
Non-Cognitive Factors
• Academic Discipline• Goal Striving• Commitment to College• Social Activity• Social Connection• Academic Self-Efficacy• General Determination• Study Skills• Communication Skills• Emotional Control
Predicting Academic Performance
• Academic Discipline• Goal Striving• Commitment to College• Social Activity• Social Connection• Academic Self-Efficacy• General Determination• Study Skills• Communication Skills• Emotional Control
Predicting Academic Persistence
• Academic Discipline• Goal Striving• Commitment to College• Social Activity• Social Connection• Academic Self-Efficacy• General Determination• Study Skills• Communication Skills• Emotional Control
An Institutional Initiative• Many colleges and universities lack a systematic, integrated, and
coordinated set of programs to promote student success
• Effort was undertaken to bring together first-year campus programs around a common focus and to use data to drive coordination efforts
• Project developed by workgroup on first-year including advising, faculty, FYE, Native American and Multicultural Student Centers, Assessment, LAC, and New Student programs
• Goal: proactive, intrusive interventions which could influence first year student success.
An Institutional Initiative
1. ID early and make direct contact with students who were determined to be at risk for either failure to persist or failure to remain in good academic standing
2. Use the information to match student needs with specific university resources and services
3. Embed the student profiles in FYE seminars to facilitate understanding of the connection between student needs and campus resources
4. Use composite indices of retention and academic success to build a customized retention prediction equation for institution
An Institutional Initiative1. Direct contact with students at risk
• Composite indices in Student Readiness Inventory used• Identified group of reachable students based on resource decisions – invited for
individual appointments in the Gateway Student Success Center; enrolled in Retention Alert Program; met with peer advisors in Multicultural Student Center or Native American Student Services if appropriate
• NAU used retention risk index and did not allocate their resources to the lowest percentiles
2. Connect students to campus resources using scale scores
• Direct contact via email or postcards encouraging students to access services or participate in events. SRI not explicitly referenced
• Students with potential academic problems invited to LAC• High scores invited to meet with Res Life and New Student Programs • Students with low social connectedness invited to participate in Student Life, Campus
Services, and Union activities
An Institutional Initiative3. Including student SRI profiles in lesson and instructional activities in FYE
seminar courses
• Traditional 3-credit FYE for special admit students• One-credit FYE course for regularly admit students• Scores used regularly as opportunities for reflection in class• Students met one-on-one with instructor to develop student success
action plan
Resource Use by GPA
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3
0-4 5-19 20+ 0 1 2+ 0 1+ 0 1-3 4+
GP
A
Recreation Resources Social Resources Academic Referrals Advising/Career Sessions
Outcomes
Resource Use by Retention
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0-4 5-19 20+ 0 1 2+ 0 1+ 0 1-3 4+
Ret
enti
on
Recreation Resources Social Resources Academic Referrals Advising/Career Sessions
Outcomes
• Further analysis revealed interactions between risk factors and utilization of services in relationship to outcomes– With respect to GPA, there was an interaction
between academic referrals and risk– Those at higher risk benefited even more from
referrals
Bringing It All Together
• SCANS reports among other suggest successful workforce will possess– Basic academic skills – Higher order thinking skills - including decision-
making, creativity, learning how to learn– Interpersonal and teamwork skills – negotiation,
conflict resolution skills, leadership skills– Ability to work with others– Basic success characteristics and attitudes (e.g., self-
esteem, self-efficacy, motivation, responsibility, integrity, conscientiousness)
Changing Work Contract
• Career development professionals are emphasizing career self-management as a response to changing psychological work contract– Change– Flexibility– Currency– Initiative
• Theories of Adult/Student Development and Institutional Persistence– Goal Commitment (goal striving)– Social and Academic Integration (social
activity, social connection, academic discipline)
– Institutional Commitment (commitment to college)
– Intent to Persist (general determination)
Postsecondary Applications
• The First-Year Experience Seminar
• Integrating career and academic advising functions – promoting career and college success and decision-making
• Curricular infusion – promoting career education and college/career success attitudes/behaviors in the teaching classrooms
• Institutional efforts that are data driven
Outcomes of Career Education
• Early and accurate identification of college major/career
– Congruence between college major – and measured interest is predictive of college major stability, persistence, time to graduation, and satisfaction with choice
• Preparation for career transition is more than just making a good choice
• Students must be ready - Students must possess college and workforce readiness
skills/attitudes/behaviors
• Questions/Discussion