The impact of co-curricular involvement on college students' need for cognition

Abstract

During the latest recession, a college degree was one way to seek job security. As of 2010, the unemployment rate for those with a high school diploma and no college is 10.1%, in contrast to 4.7% for those with a college degree (United States Department of Labor, 2010). The advantages of a college degree also are projected to continue with widespread technological advances and the increasingly global marketplace (Carnavale, Smith & Strohl, 2005). Economists forecast that, by 2015, the economy will recover enough to replace the nearly 8 million jobs lost since December 2007. However, most of these jobs were lost by individuals without a college education, and more than half of the replacement jobs will require at least some college (Lacy & Wright, 2009). Automation and overseas competition also have cut into the employment opportunities once available to persons without education past high school (Carnavale, Smith & Strohl, 2005). Thus, the economy of the future will be different than that of even the recent past. This new economy will demand more education and an adaptability of its workers. Employers are looking for educated employees who are competent with the technical aspects of their jobs, skillful in a wide variety of human interactions, adaptable to changes in the work environment, and motivated to seek opportunities to continue to improve their skills (Peter D. Hart Research Associates, 2005). In a 2009, Hart Research Associates interviewed 302 employers regarding their views on college learning. They found most employers, around 90%, asked employees to take on more responsibility, use a broader set of skills and work harder than employees in the past (Peter D. Hart Research Associates, 2009). They expected graduates to possess skills in communication, self-directed learning, information literacy, critical thinking, and selfawareness (Peter D.

Rx to Lead—Examining Pharm.D. Leadership Development Commencing during Pharmacy School through Co-Curricular Engagement

“…Additionally, this study highlights the importance of offering co-curricular opportunities to graduate and professional school students. Engagement in co-curriculars has been found to be quite common in undergraduate students [17], and to enhance critical thinking in undergraduate students [51,52]. Even though up to 80% of undergraduate students engage in co-curriculars during their efforts to obtain a bachelor's degree [17], that still leaves a significant number of undergraduate students who are unable to engage in co-curriculars during their undergraduate endeavors.…”