How Undergraduate Students Think about Higher Education and Prepare for Employment

• Main Author: Chindalo, Pannel
• Other Authors: Bascia, Nina
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Higher Education; Employment; Cultural capital; Economic capital; Social capital; Habitus; University field; symbolic power; Minorites; Occupational decision; Student experiences; preparing for employment; 0745; 0514; 0700; 0344
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/26413

This study explores of how university students understand the relationship between a liberal arts undergraduate degree and becoming employment-ready. The study employs a phenomenological approach. Surveys and interviews of students were conducted on the Faculty of Arts and Science students at the St. George Campus of the University of Toronto. Supplementary data were obtained from National Survey of Student Engagement. By employing Bourdieu‟s theory of practice (especially with regard to capital, habitus and field), the study reveals how students went about preparing for the labour market differed by their social class, immigration status and race. Students‟ abilities to secure skill-enhancing extracurricular activities and maintaining high GPA scores appeared related to their cultural capital. Most racialized first generation students experienced levels of difficulties in securing skill-enhancing extracurricular skill activities and maintaining high GPAs, which affected their employment readiness, clarity about occupational direction and their entry to graduate studies. New immigrant students were least aware of the extracurricular activities needed to prepare for employment. The study concludes that most liberal arts undergraduate students are not ready for employment at the completion of their studies and that social class and race may be related to their ability to make themselves employment-ready