Exploring the Relationship between Adolescent Activities and Choice of Graduate School Discipline: Implications for Creativity Development

Abstract

The relationship between adolescent extra‐curricular activities and choice of graduate‐education field was examined among students from three fields of study, science (n = 12), art (n = 12), and education (n = 14), using qualitative and quantitative methods. Results of profile analysis indicated that the different majors participated in stereotypically varying activities when they were adolescents. Science majors generally participated in mathematics and science activities during adolescence. Art majors generally participated in theater and music activities, and education majors tended to have participated in social leadership and educational activities. Interviews with the participants supported these findings and provided a more comprehensive discussion of these tendencies. While in high school, the participants had many influences when determining a field of study. Using personal happiness as a guide, the participants chose activities and ultimately graduate‐level majors that reflected their interests. It was concluded that adolescent extra‐curricular activities are important in the development of interest in creatively talented individuals and may lead to graduate field selection.

Developing Leadership Talent in Adolescents and Emerging Adults: A Systematic Review

“…That learning must be paired with direct instruction on the skills needed to lead and achieve goals, such as techniques for requesting administrative approval for school-based projects. Graduate school students in STEM, the arts (i.e., creative writing, theater), and education reported that they were already engaging in and leading in their domain of interest by high school (Hartzell & Hong, 2016), which indicated that providing a variety of early career-related opportunities for exploration and engagement can facilitate the integration of new learning, reflection, and adaptation into a clearer sense of educational and career goals for adolescents and emerging adults.…”

“…Secondary school-based contexts were explored in 31.6% (n = 12) of the studies with four studies focused on leadership curriculum (Archard, 2013;Eva & Sendjaya, 2012;Langram, 1997;Schneider et al, 1999) and eight that examined leadership in extracurricular activities (Bush et al, 2019;A. Coffey & Lavery, 2018;Guest, 2018;Hartzell & Hong, 2016;Kagay et al, 2015;Mitra et al, 2010;Preus et al, 2016;Weinberger, 2014). Community-based contexts were the focus of 21.1% of the studies (n = 8), with four examining after school programs (Carruthers & Busser, 2000;Conner & Strobel, 2007;Halsall & Forneris, 2018;Schilling et al, 2007), two looking at extracurricular activities (Hilliard et al, 2019;Kudo et al, 2012), and two focusing on summer residential camps (Henderson et al, 2007;Whittington et al, 2017).…”

“…One study, representing 2.6% of the sample, focused on the leadership development of a single individual across time (Hébert, 2019). Two of the studies that examined school-based extracurricular activities (Hartzell & Hong, 2016;Weinberger, 2014), one that focused on summer residential camp settings (Whittington et al, 2017), and three that addressed adult professional contexts (Bernstein et al, 2019;Kell et al, 2013;Makel et al, 2016) also had longitudinal or retrospective study designs.…”

Scholarships versus training for happiness gained from an education in creativity: A dynamic analytical model

“…Moreover, the focus of the present study was on unstructured training rather than a dedicated curriculum (Al‐Samarraie & Hurmuzan, ; Watson, ). Similarly, Hartzell and Hong () emphasised that extra‐curricular activities during adolescence are crucial for developing the skills needed to improve creativity in adult work. Otherwise, people might not choose (for example) an accounting school if a course in philosophy was introduced and might not choose an art school if a course in the ancient Greek or Latin languages was introduced.…”

“…Moreover, the focus of the present study was on unstructured training rather than a dedicated curriculum (Al-Samarraie & Hurmuzan, 2018;Watson, 2018). Similarly, Hartzell and Hong (2016) emphasised that extra-curricular activities during adolescence F I G U R E 4 Couples of β and δ (the areas below the two curves) such that a curriculum dedicated to creativity will be chosen by rational individuals (here, defined as individuals who want to maximise the discounted net happiness they receive from creativity): α = .5 and γ = 0 (thin line) versus α = 0 and γ = .5 (thick line), where α represents divergent thinking, β is the ability to learn, γ represents convergent thinking and δ is the discount rate. People who learn easily and who are more wealthy will choose educational curricula related to both divergent and convergent thinking (dark grey shading near the origin), whereas people who have more difficulty learning would not choose education related to divergent thinking (light grey shading near the y-axis) and less wealthy people would not choose education related to convergent thinking (light grey shading near the x-axis) [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] are crucial for developing the skills needed to improve creativity in adult work.…”