About a third of college students leave school feeling
unprepared for the workplace, according to a new survey.
One way institutions can help is by making officials and faculty aware that
initiating contact with students about their career readiness makes a big
difference.
Researchers found that students who had a conversation
with at least one instructor or staff member were more likely to feel ready to
begin their careers. About 40% of those students said they were confident they
would graduate with the necessary skills to be successful in the job market.
When faculty or staff failed to initiate the career
conversation, just 25% of students said they were convinced they would find success
in the job market.
“We tend to think in higher ed, that’s the job of career
services,” said Carol D’Amico, executive vice president of mission advancement
and philanthropy for Strada Education. “Well, we learned that most students
don’t access the career services department, so it’s really everybody’s job at
the university or college.”
More than 32,000 current students from 43 four-year
institutions selected at random participated in the survey, conducted by Gallupand the Strada Education Network. The schools ranged from large public
universities to small liberal arts colleges, but for-profit institutions were
not included.
The study also reported that 62% of
students earning science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees
strongly agreed that they would find a good job. Just 40% of liberal arts
majors and 51% of business majors felt the same way.
“If I was still a chancellor … I would be concerned by
that and I’d want to know about my own students,” said D’Amico, a former
chancellor for Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. “This is a nationally
representative sample so I think they should want to know where their students
stack up.”
