The Theological Exploration of Vocation among Students PTEV Final Conference Lilly Endowment February 9, 2007

1. The Theological Exploration of Vocation among StudentsPTEV Final Conference Lilly Endowment February 9, 2007 Cindy Miller-Perrin Don Thompson Pepperdine University

2. Research Hypothesis • Vocational Development is the intersection of Faith Development and Identity Development. • Vocational Development is significantly correlated with both Faith and Identity scores over time.

3. Research Methods2002-2006 Student Development Faith, Vocation, Identity Surveys (N=300; Response Rate=64%-83%) Interviews (N=150; Response Rate=70%-81%) Autobiographical Writings Vocation Discussion Groups

4. Results • Identity Development • Faith Development • Vocational Development • Significant Predictors

5. Ego-Identity Status Groups • Achievement: exploration and commitment • “It took me a while to figure it out, but now I really know what I want for a career.” • Moratorium: exploration without commitment • “Religion is confusing to me right now. I keep changing my views on what is right and wrong for me.” • Foreclosure: no exploration, but commitment • “My parents decided a long time ago what I should go into for employment and I’m following through with their plans.” • Diffusion: no exploration or commitment • “I haven’t really considered politics. It just doesn’t excite me much.”

6. Identity Development

7. Faith Development Measures

8. Faith Development

9. Faith Strength & Importance

10. Vocational Discernment and Action

11. Vocational Development

12. Career Choice

13. Vocational Barriers

14. Vocational Barriers

15. Personal Barriers

16. Best Predictors of Vocational Maturity Faith Maturity Diffusion & Moratorium Ego-Identity Scores Personal Barriers Vocational Maturity

17. Conclusions • Students experience significant developmental variation over time • Strength of faith belief • Faith behavior • Identity development • The sophomore year is a particularly critical milestone • Strong Relationship Between Vocation and Faith • Strong Relationship Between Vocation and Moratorium & Diffusion Identities • Students Perceive Particular Barriers to Vocational Development • Emotional problems • Selfishness • Need for personal control • Importance of Examining Gender Differences in terms of Faith Development and Vocational Barriers

18. Programmatic Predictors of Vocational Development • Mentoring • Selected Readings • Autobiographical Reflection • International Program Experience • Barriers

19. Lessons & Opportunities for Nurturing Student Development at Christian Universities • Engender faith growth – mentoring, spiritual nourishment, challenges • Promote self-discovery – leading to achieved identity – reflective experiences – summation as well as formation • Respect the barriers • Understand dynamics of gender • Capitalize on opportunities for impact in the sophomore year – especially International Experiences

20. Final Details • We found gender differences with regard to faith, barriers, and service, but not discernment.  • All three subscales of faith (strength of belief, faith application, and faith behavior) are related to both vocational discernment and vocation as service (with just a few exceptions) for each of the assessment time periods (baseline, first-year, sophomore, junior, senior).  • Identity is also related, pretty strongly, but slightly less consistently across assessment time periods and only with vocational discernment, not vocation as service.  • The significant relationships seem to be between moratorium scores and diffusion scores and the relationship is negative (higher moratorium and higher diffusion scores are related to lower vocational discernment).  • Barriers (personal in particular) are also fairly consistently negatively related to vocational discernment (but not vocation as service) for most assessment time periods.