Aligning Purpose: Beginning Students’ Career Plans and College Value

Session Abstract: Career and life purpose issues weigh heavily in new students’ experience and are important to gauge given the current emphasis on demonstrating college value. This session uses matched student data from BCSSE and NSSE to explore the relationship between beginning students' expectations for career and life purpose and their engagement in the first year, including faculty interaction, peer collaboration, perceived gains, and career advising experiences. Results demonstrate the importance of aligning expectations with first year experiences and emphasize facilitating students' early exploration of career and life purpose for higher levels of engagement and success. Importantly, such data can help illuminate the college value context, inform interventions, and guide institutional effectiveness initiatives for student success.

Keywords: Career education, first-year students