“What Are You Going to Do With That Major?” Colloquial Speech and the Meanings of Work and Education

Abstract

This article explores the function of the ubiquitous question, "What are you going to do with that major?," in advancing particular meanings of work, higher education, and the work-higher education relationship. Analyzing 110 student descriptions of encounters with the question suggests that the colloquialism powerfully shapes student interpretations of work and education, cementing vocational understandings of higher education and perpetuating a linear view of careers. Such interpretations pressure students to make early commitments to particular identities and induce significant anxiety, particularly in those whose majors are not seen as preparing them for preferred forms of work.

Millennials’ “Get a ‘Real Job’”

“…To begin, the current study identified money as the top characteristic of a real job, a finding similar to previous research (Clair, 1996;Lair & Wieland, 2012). However, students in this study did not expect a real job to provide a "six figure salary," as was reported in Clair's (1996, p. 257) findings.…”

“…To answer the research questions of this study, we utilized a purposive sample of students (juniors and seniors) enrolled in three upper division communication courses at a mid-sized Midwestern university. College students' understandings of the real job colloquialism are removed from a specific organizational context (Kramer & Miller, 1999) and role-specific contexts (Kramer, 2010;Lair & Wieland, 2012). Further, because of their impending transition between pre-and post-college employment, the term has high salience for the participants (Clair, 1996).…”

“…In contrast, the essays in this study connected wages to existing financial obligations that constrained their independence. Rather than a status symbol (Clair, 1996;Lair & Wieland, 2012), the essays described salaries in a more utilitarian manner. The connection between salary and debt responsibility could be associated with Millennials' high levels of student loan debt.…”

What Happens Before Full-Time Employment? Internships as a Mechanism of Anticipatory Socialization

“…Vocational anticipatory socialization includes messages people receive about specific roles (e.g., Kramer, 2010;Myers, 1994), work in general (e.g., Clair, 1996;Lair & Wieland, 2012), and careers-an "overarching structure that brings together jobs, work, and occupations" (Buzzanell, Berkelaar, & Kisselburgh, 2012, p. 2).…”

Desigualdades No Centro Da Cidade Partida: Sentidos Do Trabalho Entre Jovens De Diferentes Classes Sociais

“…No Brasil, essa "reprodução cega" da classe, segundoSouza (2010), tem seu ápice na classe média e na dita "nova classe média", por ocorrer de forma extremamente íntima, emocional, através do exemplo.O interesse acadêmico pelos jovens, de acordo comGonçalves (2005), desponta de tempos em tempos. Inclusive, atualmente, é notório que este segmento etário se destaca como um grupo que concentra grande atenção por parte de pesquisadores, principalmente entre aqueles que se dedicam a estudar o sentido do trabalho(RUIZ et al 2008;FERRARI et al 2009;RIZZO;CHAMON, 2010;OLIVEIRA, 2011;WRAY-LAKE et al 2011;CAVAZOTTE, LEMOS, VIANA, 2012;LAIR;WIELAND, 2012, TEIXEIRA et al 2014; O'CONNOR; RAILE, quando comumente tem-se o início da vida profissionalpossibilitaria a identificação de tendências sobre como o mercado de trabalho tenderia a se desenvolver num futuro próximo(WRAY-LAKE et al 2011).De todo o corpo teórico produzido, todavia, chama atenção uma questão referente à diversidade social dos jovens contemplados por essas pesquisas (ROCHA-DE-OLIVEIRA, PICCININI, SILVEIRA, 2010). Lemos, Mello e Guimarães (2014) explicam que em sua maioria, os estudos partem de uma perspectiva ocidental e consideram jovens pertencentes às classes sociais mais abastadas.…”