Transitioning from college to work: perceptions from African American graduates on career readiness for their first postgraduate role

One of the main reasons college students in the United States say they decide to attend higher education is to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to be competitive in today’s labor market. As colleges and universities strategize to implement innovative career readiness support services to keep up with the ever-changing technological demands of the workforce, employers have shared their dissatisfaction with the competency levels of recent graduates. There seems to be a gap between what colleges and universities deem as career ready and what employers expect as they look to recent graduates to fill open positions. Workforce development at colleges and universities often includes co-curricular activities such as internships, career advising, job shadowing, mentoring or simulated experiences. As higher education institutions increase their focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, one of the things that has been overlooked is examining the demographics of students who are most and least engaged in co-curricular experiences. This research study investigates how African American and Black identifying graduates perceive the influence of co-curricular engagements on their workforce readiness. This study focuses on identifying which co-curricular activities have the greatest influence on graduates’ self-efficacy as an early career professional, and which co-curricular activities best prepare graduates with the skills and knowledge needed for their first post-graduate role. In a mixed methods study with African American graduates, 44 participants completed an online survey and seven participants engaged in follow up in-depth interviews. The purpose of the study was to determine how co-curricular involvement influenced their transition from higher education into the workforce. Overall, the African American graduates in this study reported feeling underprepared to transition into their career. The findings indicate that the participants with the highest reported level of self-efficacy attributed their confidence to previous simulated experiences and job shadowing opportunities. It was inconclusive as to which co-curricular activity was most effective at providing graduates with the skills and knowledge needed to be effective in their first post-graduate role. Through the lens of Social Cognitive Career Theory, I discuss the findings and share four themes that emerged from the data. Finally, I propose recommendations for how higher education practitioners can better support their African American students in transitioning from college into their first post-graduate role.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Hill, Sara

Contributors dc:contributor

• Pak, Yoon
• Kang, Hyun
• Hale, Jon
• Mason, Curtis

• co-curricular activities
• workforce development
• African American
• higher education
• Social Cognitive Career Theory
• diversity
• equity

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Sara Hill

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115432

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F115432