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Education Dive
College
students want careers with a social purpose
Hallie Busta
May 10, 2019
Dive Brief:
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority (69%) of college students aspire
to jobs that have a positive impact on society, according to a new
survey of more than 20,000 students by research firm College Pulse.
Respondents believe the biggest contributors to society are doctors,
engineers, teachers, scientists and construction workers. The
professions that respondents said make the least contributions to
society are consultants, politicians, religious leaders and financial
advisors.
Students at the top 50 universities are twice as likely as others to
think financial service workers contribute "not very much" or "nothing
at all," while more male respondents than female respondents think
entrepreneurs contribute "a lot" to society.
Dive Insight:
Money is still a big motivator for workers and job seekers, but less so
it seems among members of younger generations. A recent Indeed survey
found today's college graduates flock to jobs in the arts and social
services over once-popular finance jobs. That also supports the idea
that newcomers to the workforce want to make a contribution to society.
What will soon be a majority of the labor force — millennials and Gen
Zers — supports "social enterprise," or the idea of measuring a company
by its demonstrated corporate citizenship as well as its financial
performance.
As such, it may be incumbent upon educators and talent professionals
alike to sell students and potential recruits on why such jobs are
meaningful, and to focus on how the skill sets and qualities required
can bring further meaning to that work.
That's one reason colleges are looking at new ways to measure
higher-order skills such as critical thinking and oral communication
among students. In one pilot program, the nonprofit Education Design
Lab and credentials firm Credly worked with several colleges to test
their approach to assessing and awarding badges to these so-called
"soft" skills.
Yet hiring managers and business leaders say college students lag in
some of these areas, according to parallel surveys of the two groups
last year. Fewer than half of each group say college grads have strong
oral communication skills and about one-third each say graduates are
"very well prepared" to apply what they learned in college on the job.
A report last fall from the Strada Institute and Emsi based on a review
of professional profiles, resumes and job postings calls on higher ed
to help students determine and obtain the mix of technical and soft
skills they will need to succeed in their careers.
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