Empirical Perspectives on Academic and Career Advising Paul A. Gore, Ph.D. University of Utah

1. Empirical Perspectives on Academic and Career AdvisingPaul 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 paul.gore@ed.utah.edu (801-581-7233) to secure permission to do so.

2. Outline • Student Expectations for College • Student Academic Readiness • Student Career Development Status • Promoting Effective Career Decision-Making • Promoting Student and Career Success • Future Directions

3. Expectations

4. High School Freshmen: Probability Estimates of Life Events

7. 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)

8. 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

9. 75% chance of getting a C or better

14. Students have high postsecondary expectations • Many come to us under-prepared and in need of remediation • They appear interested in your help

15. Major &Career

16. 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”)

18. 25% of those indicating a major In the ACT sample also report being “not sure” of their choice

22. 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

23. Occupational Aspirations vs. Occupational Options

25. Alignment Between Students Educational and Occupational Aspirations

26. Promoting Career Choice

27. Does it matter how you engage students to promote effective career choices? • YES • NO

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. Critical Ingredients

32. 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

33. Promoting College & Career Success

34. College and Career Success Factors • What student characteristics promote college and career success

35. 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

36. Current non-cognitive predictors? • Emotional Intelligence • Student Engagement (e.g., NSSE) • College Commitment (College Student Inventory) • Study Habits • Academic Self-Confidence • Resilience

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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

41. 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.

42. An Institutional Initiative • 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 • Use the information to match student needs with specific university resources and services • Embed the student profiles in FYE seminars to facilitate understanding of the connection between student needs and campus resources • Use composite indices of retention and academic success to build a customized retention prediction equation for institution

43. An Institutional Initiative • 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 • 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

45. An Institutional Initiative • 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

46. Outcomes

47. Outcomes

48. 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

49. 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)

50. Changing Work Contract • Career development professionals are emphasizing career self-management as a response to changing psychological work contract • Change • Flexibility • Currency • Initiative