What Will I Become? Exploring Vocation and Calling

1. What Will I Become? Exploring Vocation and Calling Christian Mission Heritage Series October 28, 2008

2. Presenters Don Thompson Professor of MathematicsAssociate Vice President of Educational and Institutional Research Cindy Miller-Perrin Professor of PsychologyChair of Social Science Division

3. Lilly Endowment Sponsored Research at Pepperdine • Student Development Survey • Goal: To understand how students define vocation and develop their own personal sense of vocation • 2002 – 2006 • Surveyed 300 students • Surveyed at 5 different time periods • Baseline – summer before beginning at Pepperdine • Each spring throughout undergraduate career

4. Cell-Phone Text Message Poll What is Vocation?

6. Defining Vocation • The secular definition views vocation as work or career • Vocation is God’s calling for one’s life – the reason God made you • Vocation is the intersection of faith development and identity development • Vocation is “the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet”

7. Who are you as a class? • Total applications: 7414, total enrolled: 838 (11%) • GPA 3.69 • SAT Verbal 610 • SAT Math 621 • SAT Writing 605

8. Academic Majors

9. Ethnicity

10. Gender

11. Cell-Phone Text Message Poll Motives, Discernment, and Barriers

15. Nicole Wallace’s Story Seattle, Washington Psychology Major Class of 2009 Graduate School Bound

16. The Critical College Years • College years are “critical years” in vocational development • College students consider issues associated with personal identity, faith beliefs, and career options • Faith, identity, and vocational development are not uniform across the college years

17. Faith Attitudes and Behaviors

18. Ego-Identity Status Survey • Students receive scores on four identity scales: • Diffusion: no exploration or commitment • “I haven’t really considered politics. It just doesn’t excite me much.” • 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.” • Moratorium: exploration without commitment • “Religion is confusing to me right now. I keep changing my views on what is right and wrong for me.” • Achievement: exploration and commitment • “It took me a while to figure it out, but now I really know what I want for a career.”

19. Vocational Discernment and Action

20. Vocational Barriers

21. Strength of Belief, Faith Behavior, and Application of Faith • Strength of Belief varied significantly over time • Faith Behavior varied significantly over time • Application of Faith did not vary significantly over time

22. My faith/religion is NOT very important to me.

23. Identity Development

24. I am unsure about what God is specifically calling me to do.

25. I am motivated to choose a career that will provide/fulfill…

26. Barriers to Life Purpose • Total Personal Barriers scores varied over time, marginally

27. Selfishness/Need for personal control prevents me from fulfilling my life purpose

28. Jason Sabo’s Story South Bend, Indiana Philosophy Major Class of 2008 Law School Bound

29. Conclusions • College students experience significant developmental variation over time • Strength of faith belief • Faith behavior • Identity development • Foreclosure, Moratorium, Achievement • Personal Barriers

30. Lessons & Opportunities for First-Year Students • Faith matters – Stay spiritually nourished, seek wisdom • Know Thyself – look for ways to challenge your assumptions • Barriers are real – live through and with them • Sophomore year - expect a watershed • Purpose - bigger and broader than your career

31. How to Contact Us Cindy Miller-Perrin: Cindy.Perrin@pepperdine.edu Don Thompson: thompson@pepperdine.edu