College students’ comparative focus on grades, career preparation, and educated citizenry.

Abstract

Given decreasing college enrollments, universities have placed new emphasis on student retention. Therefore, it is useful to examine factors that relate to student success and persistence toward graduation. Students' goals are one factor that impact retention. We assessed college students' goals and how short-term messaging influenced those goals. Participants (n ϭ 116) were randomly divided into a control condition or 1 of 3 conditions that began with a written prime emphasizing a different focus: educated citizenry, career preparation, or earning top grades. Students agreed that whatever prime they read should be their top priority in college; however, their actual priorities were an emphasis on career preparation and educated citizenry. Students believed that their high school and college teachers shared these priorities. Students' priorities were predicted by their entitlement, sensitivity to criticism, parents' expectations, high school teachers, and gender. Students' priorities linked to campus behavior in ways that have the potential to impact both success and retention.

What is most important to focus on now for success after college? Students’ responses mirror and diverge from what employers consider essential skills.

“…We argue that it is too early to draw this conclusion and urge additional tests of the influence of how the psychology major is framed to students by faculty and advisors. Evidence from Ritzer and Sleigh (2019) revealed that when students were assigned to read one of three different goals of college (i.e., getting good grades, preparing for the workforce, or educated citizenry), they rated the particular goal they were assigned as their top priority in college. Likely, the framing of one’s major and college in general, are presented often by advisors and faculty, and not just in a 1-min video or a short paragraph.…”

Flexible teaching during a pandemic and beyond: A reflection on lessons learned from the society for the teaching of psychology’s pivot teaching committee.

“…One way to do this is to incentivize progress early in the course through the use of formative assessment and frequent feedback, as well as an overall de-emphasis on the importance of grades. Educators can encourage students to consider other motivational factors related to learning, such as career preparation or becoming an overall educated citizen (Ritzer & Sleigh, 2019). Finally, clearly articulated grading rubrics can communicate high expectations without increasing anxiety or decreasing student motivation (Aloni & Harrington, 2018).…”

Day 1 lesson plan—Discuss skills. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. (or: How a focus on professional skills impacts psychology statistics students’ course, instructor, and self-perceptions).

“…Similarly, in a 2015 nationwide survey asking over 1,000 students why they had decided to go to college, the top three responses were directly related to career success and income, and traditional-aged students were particularly likely to place high importance on the ability to use their college experience to obtain a good job (Fishman, 2015). Given this job-seeking mindset, it is not surprising that students also tend to be more motivated to learn when they feel that their professors prioritize the career-related goals (Ritzer & Sleigh, 2019) in order to help them to attain their professional aspirations. Even if today's professors prefer and prioritize intrinsic motivations, it would be detrimental to both their students and themselves if they ignore or devalue the extrinsic motivations of their students.…”