Student Teacher 36 | - ✏ Freelance Writer
Aug 12, 2015 | #1
Abstract
Today's generation of college students is more technologically advanced than ever before. With that being said, however, current leaders in our generation feel the young adults of today are not adequately prepared for the responsibilities of adulthood and the demands of the workforce. While more high school students are attending college, more students are leaving college unprepared for their subsequent jobs. This paper attempts to explore those areas in order to better understand why young adults have not been adequately prepared and how the current generation may be able to assist.
Introduction
Every year college students graduate and enter into adulthood. They are met with a new set of responsibilities as they make the move into the working world. This often overwhelms young adults because many of them have lived exclusively dependent on their parents for the past eighteen to twenty-two years and do not understand the meaning of responsibility or, in essence, life. Often, these young adults will begin college with a positive attitude and will quickly begin to spiral downhill in their attitudes and general way of thinking as deadlines and class projects pile up in addition to other duties outside of school such as work or possibly family responsibilities. By the time college graduation occurs, these students are not prepared for the extra demands of having a steady job and diving into a lifetime career. As a society, we pride ourselves with providing for our children throughout their childhood and adolescent years in order to give them everything they need to nurture their physical and emotional growth. They are literally handed almost everything one could imagine, from food to video games to cell phones and designer clothes. The problem is that all of this comes with a price and our young adults essentially are the ones who have been left to pay the bill. The question posed is this: are college students unprepared for adulthood and the world of work?
Literature Review
Many college graduates reflect upon their high school and college years with disenchantment, because they feel they were not quite ready for college or the working world. A poll was conducted to examine how many recent graduates felt as if they were actually prepared for college or work. Approximately forty percent of these graduates reported substandard preparation and felt that, if they had the chance to change things, they would have worked harder in high school to become more prepared for what they now are facing in the beginning stages of their adulthood (Levine). It is alarming that almost half of the students polled could already understand the importance of being prepared for their future and how they had not taken this seriously while in high school in order to prepare in college for the challenges they would face afterward.
Focus group interviews were also conducted in a research study with 22 students to help determine their strategies for college success. These students spoke in great detail about their various academic endeavors and accomplishments, academic failures, social interactions, and how well they were handling the overall environment of the college life. Although the students spoke of several strategies that they felt led to their success in academics and helped them feel a sense of accomplishment rather than failure, the reports reflected that they did not always use those self-strategies in their daily lives (Yazedjian, Toews, Sevin, & Purswell). The key to this study is that the students realized the strategies needed while they were in college, yet did not incorporate them in order to help make their lives easier. Rather, they inevitably learned the hard way.
Lowe and Cook performed a study to examine whether or not certain study habits of high school students would remain persistent throughout their time in college or if they would taper off after the first semester. They found that students were not as prepared as they originally felt prior to entering college for the first time. Also, many of the students participating in the study appeared to be at risk of not fulfilling the objectives set in their individual classes and some of the students were on the verge of probation before the first semester was over. Many of these students chose to drop the class and return to retake the class the following term in order to have another chance at passing the course.
Although there are reportedly more high school graduates attending college today than ever before, this does not necessarily mean they are ready for the challenges of college life and the responsibility that accompanies it. Four out of ten high school graduates are required to take college remedial courses when they begin to take college, according to a Washington based nonprofit educational organization, and two-thirds of the students in Ohio and Kentucky do not earn their college degrees within six years (College preparedness lacking, forcing students into developmental coursework, prompting some to drop out). The current unemployment numbers are staggering, and without a college education, many adults find the task of securing meaningful employment directly out of high school a daunting task that they were not prepared for and either settle for whatever job they are able to find or join the ranks of the unemployed for weeks and months on end.
As a matter of fact, employers have voiced concern over the influx of graduates entering the workforce due to the fact many do not possess the needed skills required and are only satisfactory when competency is concerned, even after a fair amount of training has been provided. They are concerned that the retirement of the 'baby-boomer' generation will cause a shortage of capable workers that can meet the demands of today's increasingly hectic workload and shorter turnaround times. While many of the college graduates entering the work force are academically capable of reading and writing, they are not mature and responsible to handle the demands of the positions needed immediately (Casner-Lotto & Barrington).
One problem students have is that they have spent most of their academic lives learning on a lower level of comprehension and they do not fully understand how to think. Upper level courses such as Chemistry, Calculus, and Politics cause students to ponder situations and think on a higher level rather than simply memorize formulas in order to take a test. This is important in so many aspects of life. Students often will concentrate on memorizing the content in order to pass the test, but if the material is geared towards their style of learning, they will find it more interesting and easier to follow. This will, in turn, equip them with the tools needed to solve problems on a daily basis as they move through life after high school and college.
Each of these students has a different way of learning. There are visual learners, hands-on learners, auditory learners, and learners who have a combination of different forms. If students are encouraged to find their optimal learning form and use this to their advantage, they will understand at an earlier age what is needed for them to better understand how to solve more complex problems and navigate certain situations. This will help them whether it is in a routine college class or on the job solving a problem during the day (Levine).
It is also important for young adults to be exposed to the issues and current events that are happening in our society in order for them to find their voice and understand how our government works as well as our society as a whole. At first, young adults may not feel the need to attempt to understand current events and wonder why this relates to their lives. However, if an adult takes the time to explain how this can affect them in terms of their future job, academic career, family, or other issues they can relate to, young adults will not be as hesitant to ignore important issues happening in our society. This will, in turn, help increase their responsibility in life as well.
Yet another aspect young adults have not quite grasped is the sense of entitlement. Due to the fact we have provided them with almost everything available from day one, it is partly our fault as leaders of the current generation. The future generation of leaders already feels that they should have everything at their fingertips without working for it. This is a fact that is absurd at best. If you ask nine out of ten people today what it took to climb to the top of the career ladder, whether or not they went to college, they will answer: "hard work and determination". This is important for young adults to understand and practice. They cannot expect to enter the job field fresh out of school and be on the top of the career ladder. This is something that will not happen in 99% of all cases. While it is true that college will almost always better prepare a person for his career and increase one's earning potential long term, it will take a combination of hard work and determination in order to see this through and reap the rewards. Nothing comes without hard work. It is lesson young adults have not had to learn at this point in their lives and one that, sadly, they will need to learn if they are to make it in the working world.
Conclusion
Today's college students are quite different than those of twenty or even ten years ago. With the advent of new technology and increased ways of performing tasks, some of the skills needed to prepare them for adulthood and the world of work have fallen by the wayside. While it is important to move forward in order to be a competitor in a global economy, it is equally important that we not forget the foundational keys of our initial success in becoming a leader in the global market. Today's college students are not adequately prepared to face the world and they must acquire better tools in order to meet the increasing demands that society has pushed on everyone. It is important that, as leaders of the current generation, we equip our young adults with better cognitive skills, a greater desire for being informed of current policies and events, an increased desire to work hard, and a greater determination to succeed in what they do in order for these adults to be able to succeed once they are on their own rather than be overwhelmed by the responsibilities of an ever-changing world that shows no mercy and allows for minimal mistakes.
References
College preparedness lacking, forcing students into developmental coursework, prompting some to drop out.
Casner-Lotto, J., & Barrington, L. Are they really ready to work? Employers' perspectives on the basic knowledge and applied skills of new entrants to the 21st century U.S. workforce. Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Corporate Voices for Working Families, & Society for Human Resource Management.
Levine, M. The essential cognitive backpack. The Prepared Graduate, 64(7), pp. 16-22.
Lowe, H., & Cook, A. Mind the gap: Are students prepared for higher education? Journal of Further and Higher Education, 27(1), 53-76.
Yazedjian, A., Toews, M., Sevin, T., & Purswell, K. "It's a whole new world": A qualitative exploration of college students' definitions of and strategies for college success. Journal of College Student Development, 49(2), pp. 141-154.
Today's generation of college students is more technologically advanced than ever before. With that being said, however, current leaders in our generation feel the young adults of today are not adequately prepared for the responsibilities of adulthood and the demands of the workforce. While more high school students are attending college, more students are leaving college unprepared for their subsequent jobs. This paper attempts to explore those areas in order to better understand why young adults have not been adequately prepared and how the current generation may be able to assist.
Working After College
Introduction
Every year college students graduate and enter into adulthood. They are met with a new set of responsibilities as they make the move into the working world. This often overwhelms young adults because many of them have lived exclusively dependent on their parents for the past eighteen to twenty-two years and do not understand the meaning of responsibility or, in essence, life. Often, these young adults will begin college with a positive attitude and will quickly begin to spiral downhill in their attitudes and general way of thinking as deadlines and class projects pile up in addition to other duties outside of school such as work or possibly family responsibilities. By the time college graduation occurs, these students are not prepared for the extra demands of having a steady job and diving into a lifetime career. As a society, we pride ourselves with providing for our children throughout their childhood and adolescent years in order to give them everything they need to nurture their physical and emotional growth. They are literally handed almost everything one could imagine, from food to video games to cell phones and designer clothes. The problem is that all of this comes with a price and our young adults essentially are the ones who have been left to pay the bill. The question posed is this: are college students unprepared for adulthood and the world of work?Literature Review
Many college graduates reflect upon their high school and college years with disenchantment, because they feel they were not quite ready for college or the working world. A poll was conducted to examine how many recent graduates felt as if they were actually prepared for college or work. Approximately forty percent of these graduates reported substandard preparation and felt that, if they had the chance to change things, they would have worked harder in high school to become more prepared for what they now are facing in the beginning stages of their adulthood (Levine). It is alarming that almost half of the students polled could already understand the importance of being prepared for their future and how they had not taken this seriously while in high school in order to prepare in college for the challenges they would face afterward.
Focus group interviews were also conducted in a research study with 22 students to help determine their strategies for college success. These students spoke in great detail about their various academic endeavors and accomplishments, academic failures, social interactions, and how well they were handling the overall environment of the college life. Although the students spoke of several strategies that they felt led to their success in academics and helped them feel a sense of accomplishment rather than failure, the reports reflected that they did not always use those self-strategies in their daily lives (Yazedjian, Toews, Sevin, & Purswell). The key to this study is that the students realized the strategies needed while they were in college, yet did not incorporate them in order to help make their lives easier. Rather, they inevitably learned the hard way.
Lowe and Cook performed a study to examine whether or not certain study habits of high school students would remain persistent throughout their time in college or if they would taper off after the first semester. They found that students were not as prepared as they originally felt prior to entering college for the first time. Also, many of the students participating in the study appeared to be at risk of not fulfilling the objectives set in their individual classes and some of the students were on the verge of probation before the first semester was over. Many of these students chose to drop the class and return to retake the class the following term in order to have another chance at passing the course.
Although there are reportedly more high school graduates attending college today than ever before, this does not necessarily mean they are ready for the challenges of college life and the responsibility that accompanies it. Four out of ten high school graduates are required to take college remedial courses when they begin to take college, according to a Washington based nonprofit educational organization, and two-thirds of the students in Ohio and Kentucky do not earn their college degrees within six years (College preparedness lacking, forcing students into developmental coursework, prompting some to drop out). The current unemployment numbers are staggering, and without a college education, many adults find the task of securing meaningful employment directly out of high school a daunting task that they were not prepared for and either settle for whatever job they are able to find or join the ranks of the unemployed for weeks and months on end.
As a matter of fact, employers have voiced concern over the influx of graduates entering the workforce due to the fact many do not possess the needed skills required and are only satisfactory when competency is concerned, even after a fair amount of training has been provided. They are concerned that the retirement of the 'baby-boomer' generation will cause a shortage of capable workers that can meet the demands of today's increasingly hectic workload and shorter turnaround times. While many of the college graduates entering the work force are academically capable of reading and writing, they are not mature and responsible to handle the demands of the positions needed immediately (Casner-Lotto & Barrington).
One problem students have is that they have spent most of their academic lives learning on a lower level of comprehension and they do not fully understand how to think. Upper level courses such as Chemistry, Calculus, and Politics cause students to ponder situations and think on a higher level rather than simply memorize formulas in order to take a test. This is important in so many aspects of life. Students often will concentrate on memorizing the content in order to pass the test, but if the material is geared towards their style of learning, they will find it more interesting and easier to follow. This will, in turn, equip them with the tools needed to solve problems on a daily basis as they move through life after high school and college.
Each of these students has a different way of learning. There are visual learners, hands-on learners, auditory learners, and learners who have a combination of different forms. If students are encouraged to find their optimal learning form and use this to their advantage, they will understand at an earlier age what is needed for them to better understand how to solve more complex problems and navigate certain situations. This will help them whether it is in a routine college class or on the job solving a problem during the day (Levine).
It is also important for young adults to be exposed to the issues and current events that are happening in our society in order for them to find their voice and understand how our government works as well as our society as a whole. At first, young adults may not feel the need to attempt to understand current events and wonder why this relates to their lives. However, if an adult takes the time to explain how this can affect them in terms of their future job, academic career, family, or other issues they can relate to, young adults will not be as hesitant to ignore important issues happening in our society. This will, in turn, help increase their responsibility in life as well.
Yet another aspect young adults have not quite grasped is the sense of entitlement. Due to the fact we have provided them with almost everything available from day one, it is partly our fault as leaders of the current generation. The future generation of leaders already feels that they should have everything at their fingertips without working for it. This is a fact that is absurd at best. If you ask nine out of ten people today what it took to climb to the top of the career ladder, whether or not they went to college, they will answer: "hard work and determination". This is important for young adults to understand and practice. They cannot expect to enter the job field fresh out of school and be on the top of the career ladder. This is something that will not happen in 99% of all cases. While it is true that college will almost always better prepare a person for his career and increase one's earning potential long term, it will take a combination of hard work and determination in order to see this through and reap the rewards. Nothing comes without hard work. It is lesson young adults have not had to learn at this point in their lives and one that, sadly, they will need to learn if they are to make it in the working world.
Conclusion
Today's college students are quite different than those of twenty or even ten years ago. With the advent of new technology and increased ways of performing tasks, some of the skills needed to prepare them for adulthood and the world of work have fallen by the wayside. While it is important to move forward in order to be a competitor in a global economy, it is equally important that we not forget the foundational keys of our initial success in becoming a leader in the global market. Today's college students are not adequately prepared to face the world and they must acquire better tools in order to meet the increasing demands that society has pushed on everyone. It is important that, as leaders of the current generation, we equip our young adults with better cognitive skills, a greater desire for being informed of current policies and events, an increased desire to work hard, and a greater determination to succeed in what they do in order for these adults to be able to succeed once they are on their own rather than be overwhelmed by the responsibilities of an ever-changing world that shows no mercy and allows for minimal mistakes.
References
College preparedness lacking, forcing students into developmental coursework, prompting some to drop out.
Casner-Lotto, J., & Barrington, L. Are they really ready to work? Employers' perspectives on the basic knowledge and applied skills of new entrants to the 21st century U.S. workforce. Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Corporate Voices for Working Families, & Society for Human Resource Management.
Levine, M. The essential cognitive backpack. The Prepared Graduate, 64(7), pp. 16-22.
Lowe, H., & Cook, A. Mind the gap: Are students prepared for higher education? Journal of Further and Higher Education, 27(1), 53-76.
Yazedjian, A., Toews, M., Sevin, T., & Purswell, K. "It's a whole new world": A qualitative exploration of college students' definitions of and strategies for college success. Journal of College Student Development, 49(2), pp. 141-154.