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Mun Yuk Chin, Chelsea A. Blackburn Cohen, and Matthew T. Hora (2018). The Role of Career Services Programs and Sociocultural Factors in Student Career Development. WCER Working Paper No. 2018-8. Wisconsin Center for Education Research. University of Wisconsin-Madison
Abstract: Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily focused on students’ rates of utilization and their satisfaction with the programs and services offered. Based on survey (n = 372) and focus group data (n = 35) from undergraduate business students, we found that participants were most satisfied with the CSC’s provision of practical tools that enhanced employability and were least satisfied with the CSC’s integration of students’ backgrounds and interests during advising. Our qualitative analysis yielded three categories of contributors (i.e., sociocultural factors, independent activities, and institutional factors) to student career outcomes, which were psychological characteristics, career decisions, and social capital. Sociocultural factors were most prominently featured in students’ narratives of their experiences, in that they shaped how students leveraged institutional resources and how they engaged in independent activities as part of their career trajectories. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.
For a shorter version of this paper see this research brief.
Benbow, R., & Hora, M.T. (2018). Reconsidering college student employability: A cultural analysis of educator and employer conceptions of workplace skills. Harvard Educational Review 88 (4), 483-515.
Hora, M., Benbow, R., & Smolarek, B. (2018). Re-thinking soft skills and student employability: A new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 50 (6), 30-37.
Hora, M.T. (2018). Beyond the skills gap: How the vocationalist framing of higher education undermines student, employer, and societal interests. Liberal Education, 104 (2). Association of American Colleges & Universities.