Description
As students' needs and diversity are drastically changing, educators in higher education need to take a critical look at current learning approaches, many of which date back to the beginning of higher education. There is increasing pressure for continual meaningful reform in higher education and for institutions to make data-informed decisions to support student success. Postsecondary education needs a holistic audit, namely examining how they can better prepare students to succeed in the workforce after college. The pressure is on for higher education to prove its effectiveness to equip students for success both during college and after graduation. Though a great deal of research shows a correlation between high-impact practices and student success in college, there is a lack of association between high-impact practices and student success after college in career outcomes. Additionally, much of the research is focused on the influence of high-impact practices on retention and graduation rates. Although these are important milestones to measure, it is important to measure success in terms of what students view as success. This study explored the experiences of college graduates who participated in multiple high-impact practices, and how those experiences prepared them for the workforce. The main research question was, “How do high impact practices influence career readiness after undergraduate graduation?” A phenomenological approach was employed, utilizing qualitative research through individual, one-on-one interviews with eleven participants. The results of this study suggested a shift in how we define “student success” and examined what activities promote transferable skills for the workforce post-college. This study cannot be generalized to all institutions, but provides insight into hands-on experiences that provided skills to serve as a bridge to the workforce.
