Undergr aduate orientations to study and career: what students say

Undergraduate orientations to study and career: what students say Maura O’Regan Business School Julia Horn Centre for Career Management Skills

Research aim To investigate how undergraduate students conceptualise and contextualise their career by exploring the factors which influence their career preferences and the role they, others and the environment play in their career development

Research strategy PRACTICAL APPROACH Three Phases QUALITATIVE & INTERPRETIVE Volunteers = 30 Second year undergraduates 14 History (single or combined) 16 Economics (modules) 15 Male 15 Female Interviews & Diary entries Formal Conversations & Email Informal

A theory of career pursuit Emerging patterns and differing student orientations to career • who are content living the university life • who are anxious and quite stressed • who are inclined to procrastinate • who pursue every opportunity

Young people in transition I D E N T I T Y S T U D E N T S T U D E N T C A R E E R Who I am Who I want to be Fugate, Kinichi & Ashforth (2004)

Motivation and career pursuit Career motivation (London & Mone, 1987) Identity How central career is to the individual’s personal identity, how you define yourself by work Insight Realistic career expectations, strengths and weakness, goal setting Resilience Ability to adapt to changing circumstance, cope with different work situations – demonstrate initiative, maintain performance levels despite pressure or lack of support

Orientations to career pursuit: 1 I just don’t think it is important enough for me to start worrying about what I want to do. I’d rather focus on other stuff that I think is more important like- em - like studying Career Rationalists Value their education Enjoy their university experience Likely to postpone career decisions Have established an undergraduate student identity Set a high priority on what they are gaining from university

Orientations to career pursuit: 2 Deliberators Did not make a smooth transition to university Found it difficult to make friends and fit in Reflect on their current situation constantly Likely to worry about being successful on their course Find new situations difficult Worry that they are not doing anything about their career ...but I’m so worried about my studies and that’s what concerns me most at the moment…

Orientations to career pursuit: 3 Career Hesitators Reasonably confident and enjoy university Know what they need to do to realise their career aspirations Take responsibility for their procrastination Can appear motivated but admit they are ‘lazy’ Easily distracted I won’t do anything until there is a deadline I have to reach and I won’t take action until the deadline is closing in…

Orientations to career pursuit: 4 Career Activists Have adapted well to university Consciously make career related choices Actively seek opportunities to realise their career aspirations Are likely to be persistent and tenacious …a benchmark. It gets you more money… A stepping stone from school to a job.

HIGH RELEVANCE NOW FOCUS THEN LOW CAREER CAREER ACTIVISTS HESITATORS CAREER RATIONALISTS DELIBERATORS

Implications: Practical Delivery ‘One size does not fit all…’ Careers Service Guidance…? Target Career Activists at the expense of other students? Events too Business (finance) or Law orientated CMS Creative, challenging, embedding, optional…? Deliberators (too anxious), Career Rationalists (unconcerned about future), Career Activists (‘nothing new’ not challenging enough) Career Hesitators (need to be pushed and motivated) PDP Neither personal nor useful – tick box exercise if done at all

Implications: Practical Policy ‘One size does not fit all…’ Employability or experience? Can employability be learnt? taught? Not allPlayers or Purists (Brown & Hesketh, 2004) Makes assumptions about student priorities Increases anxiety and compounds extremes – success and failure Widening participation Change in student population different expectations? Successful transitions? Prepared to cope with uncertainty and instability? Increased / reduced numbers of Career Hesitators, Deliberators, Career Activists, Career Rationalists?

Continuation Retain contact with students for a further year -from May 2008 (just before or during final exams) to a year beyond university - 26 of 30 original students have been interviewed as part of this second round - They will also submit diary entries and do one further interview in a year’s time

Attitudes to risk and uncertainty (1) Maybe I rushed into making a career decision in my second year which was quite early I think…at the time it felt good…I was just overwhelmed by the fact that they offered me a job and I just went along with it. Some activists seek certainty, and then experience doubt (experience a job offer as doors closing) Many students, especially hesitators and rationalists, are able to support a considerable degree of uncertainty (persevere in the face of rejection/ willing to experiment/ able to reorient ambitions if an opportunity presents itself) It doesn’t bother me now what happens. Life’s too short to plan out your whole life….I’ll just get a job…work my way up…you don’t have to dive straight in the deep end…you can just take it slowly.

Attitudes to risk and uncertainty (2) Many students feel they already have considerable experience in the job market (and have low levels of anxiety about it) The majority have a safety net (home/parents/continuation of work in low paid jobs) I’ve always had a job, for the past five years. I don’t care. It’s not: ‘I’ve given up, I don’t care’. I’m quite relaxed. I’ve got somewhere to live, I can afford to live temping, and I’ll be able to afford to have time off to apply for jobs.

Thank you m.g.oregan@reading.ac.uk j.r.horn@reading.ac.uk

Undergr aduate orientations to study and career: what students say