Filter by Category:
Search
Year
Thompson, M. N., Perez-Chavez, J., & Fetter, A. (2021). Internship experiences among college students attending an HBC: A longitudinal grounded theory exploration. Journal of Career Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072721992758
Abstract
Hora, M.T. (2025). Teaching transferable skills using a sociocultural perspective: A guide for faculty and institutions for creating college courses that highlight disciplinary knowledge, professional norms, and habits of mind. Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Excerpt: We are in a moment in the early 21st century where higher education in both the U.S. and around the world is increasingly focused on students’ post-graduate success in the labor market, or what some call “career readiness.” This focus is sparking conversations about credentials, artificial intelligence (AI), career pathways, “hot” new jobs, and whether certain skills are being taught in college – competencies popularly known as soft, non-cognitive, social-emotional,
or transferable skills (e.g., critical thinking, communication, teamwork). Increased attention to transferable skills is an immensely positive development, as students will need these competencies to not only thrive in the rapidly changing world of work, but also to properly address problems facing society such as rampant misinformation, a climate emergency, and dizzying technological advances.
But the higher education sector is not well prepared to teach students transferable skills, largely because faculty are too often not trained in how to teach and design a course, much less the more challenging task of teaching complex skills like critical thinking or teamwork. While faculty professional development (PD) is becoming more common, many focus on technique alone (e.g., active learning, inclusive pedagogy) without addressing the problem of skills development, or rely on overly brief one-time workshops on “teaching soft skills.” While some promising examples of robust skills-oriented faculty PD do exist, they are limited by the dominant discourse of skills as generic, de-contextualized “competencies” or “soft skills.” This generic perspective is most evident in influential lists such as the NACE Career Competencies or the AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes (ELOs) – where complex transferable skills such as communication are unfortunately reduced to descriptors such as, “clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives.”
Bañuelos, N., Jang-Tucci, K., & Benbow, R. J. (2022). Hispanic/Latino Student Community Cultural Wealth, social networks, and career development at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater: A report by the Networks and Cultural Assets Project (NCA). University of Wisconsin–Madison, Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions.
This report contains findings from a pilot study by the Networks and Cultural Assets Project (NCA) focused on the career development, cultural assets, and social networks of Hispanic/Latino students at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (UWW), a public comprehensive university of about 11,000 undergraduates in rural southeastern Wisconsin. In partnership with UWW staff, NCA seeks to better understand student resources by drawing on the Community Cultural Wealth framework and social network analysis.
Keywords: Community Cultural Wealth, Latina/o college students, social network analysis, career development, asset-based research, cultural capital, social capital
Jang-Tucci, K., Benbow, R. J., & Bañuelos, N. (2022). Hispanic/Latino student Community Cultural Wealth, social networks, and career development at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater: A methods and data compendium to the report by the Networks and Cultural Assets Project (NCA). University of Wisconsin–Madison, Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions.
About the Study
In this methods and data compendium, we present the qualitative and quantitative methods, data characteristics, and analysis results for a pilot study gathering asset-oriented data from undergraduate
students identifying as Hispanic or Latina/o at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (UWW). Our goal was to better understand these students’ local academic and career development, valued relationships, and the cultural and social assets they derive from these relationships. With guidance from local educators, the design, data collection, and analytical work of the three human subjects-trained authors was undertaken with the permission of the UWW and University of Wisconsin–Madison institutional research boards.
Keywords: Community Cultural Wealth, Latina/o college students, social network analysis, career development, asset-based research, cultural capital, social capital