Why a Master’s Degree in Student Affairs?

Why a Master’s Degree in Student Affairs? Tamara Yakaboski & Saran Donahoo Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Presentation Overview • Topic Origin • Student Affairs (SA) graduate students • Anecdotal experiences • Dated literature on SA choice and motivation • Foundational Research • Structure and data collection • Research results • Implications • Strategies • Moving beyond this case study • Improving recruitment and socialization of SA graduate students

Topic Introduction • Recruitment, Motivation, and Expectations of Master’s Students • Who enters Student Affairs • Preparation of New Professionals • Socialization into Student Affairs • Dated Literature • Doctoral student focus • Dominant view of Student Affairs • A ‘Hidden Profession’ • Fall into it by accident • Undergraduate leadership experience

Research Design • Research Questions • Why do students choose to pursue a master’s degree in student affairs? • What are student’s motivations and expectations for entering a master’s degree in student affairs program? • Study Scope • Master of Education in Student Affairs degree students • 21 students at the beginning of their program

Population 70% graduated from undergrad between 2000-2009

Data Collection Open ended questionnaire administered on Survey Monkey • 2 surveys administered within first three weeks of first semester and first 3 weeks of second semester • First survey • Undergraduate goals and experiences • Approach and attraction to graduate education • Perspective of Student Affairs • Second survey • Experience of first semester’s introduction to SA • Change in perspective of SA • Changes in career goals within SA • Student narratives from Introduction to Student Affairs seminar on perceptions of student affairs

The Undergraduate Influence • Unrelated, specific career goal at the undergraduate level • Changes during undergraduate due to: • Negative experience in first chosen field: • “I no longer wanted to accept the competitve nature of journalism.” - Kappa • 40% Decision to attend graduate school • Surprise absence of undergraduate academic leadership roles/conferences/work

Role of Involvement • 65% attended undergraduate leadership conferences - mostly Greek or general leadership • 65% held undergraduate leadership roles - mostly Greek or housing • Connection to college environment: • 90% On campus work experience, primarily in student affairs offices or departments

Influence of SA’s Profession/Professionals • Student Affairs leadership offices/positions • Job descriptions required masters in SA • Clerical or paraprofessional SA work experience • Desire to prevent negative experiences: • “I enjoy working with students and I want to make sure my students have an advocate and needed support, where it was lacking for me here.” – Beta

Entering Student Affairs • Still a “Hidden Profession” • Students stumbled into the program • Found it by “accident” • Ability to pursue more education while working in a supportive environment • “I love learning and I wanted to pursue education further.” – Lambda • K-12 as a career path to Student Affairs • “As a K-12 school counselor I did not feel that my skills matched with that age level. I was volunteering as an advisor to a sorority and realized that my skills fit much better in a college environment.” – Alpha

Role Models and Mentors • Positive interactions and role models • “Working with the Vice President of student affairs, the Coordinator of Residence Life, and Student Involvement, I wanted to do the job they were doing, and to affect student’s lives.” – Gamma • “Particularly my experiences as an Orientation Leader. I had great mentors who helped me decide it would be a good field for me.” – Sigma

Growing the Field • Early information about SA careers • “I was in a college student affairs group, put together by some hall directors.” – Epsilon • “Many of the individuals I went to undergrad with have pursued their Master’s degree in student affairs/college student personnel.” - Mu • Desire to impact other students • “I wanted to be able to give students the same leadership opportunities that I experienced.” – Nu

Undergrad to Grad to Student Affairs Transition 95% planned to still pursue student affairs 62% have the same career goal that they entered with Pursuing a PhD or EdD in SA:

Underestimation of Transitions • Role change/transition: • “My transition into graduate school is the most significant lifestyle transtion I have chosen in many years…the transition from full time worker to full time student is more challenging than I imagined.” – Gamma • Academic expectations: • “stressful”; “writing expectations”; “theory to practice”

Implications • Validation • SA as a good investment of campus resources • Lasting value of SA programs and professionals • Impact SA has on students • Needs • Exposure to the SA Profession not just professionals • Marketing what we do and how we came to do it • Deliberate recruitment efforts

Strategies • Guiding Questions • How do programs identify prospective students? • What competencies and experiences do pre-professionals need to enter careers in SA? • How do we present graduate programs and SA professions to a wider audience?

THANK YOU! Tamara Yakaboski & Saran Donahoo tamarad@siu.edudonahoo@siu.edu

Why a Master’s Degree in Student Affairs?