Helping students enter the working world
By Ben Pack – April 20, 2021
In the past year so much has changed that I’ve often been tempted to focus solely on surviving – getting through another week’s lessons, making sure the grading is done in some sort of reasonable time-frame, supporting and caring for the loved ones in my life. But as we head towards lower Covid numbers (as of this writing in California, and fingers crossed for other places soon too) we’re going to be heading back out into a world that undoubtedly will look different from the one we left in early 2020. To me this has begun to raise questions about how to prepare students for what we used to call “the real world,” meaning life after college. It’s not going to look the same as it did when we entered the workforce as instructors, and a whole set of assumptions – from the skills that are needed to the kinds of clothes you wear to work (or on Zoom) might need to change.
As much as I’d like to believe in learning for the sake of learning, students get college degrees because they hope it will lead to a career they want. They are eager for knowledge about how what we teach in a class will apply to the real world – whether that’s calculus, history or writing. As we head towards graduation for this year’s seniors and the summer where many students will look for internships and early job opportunities, I want to reflect on how we might adjust pedagogy to reflect what the “real world” looks like now.
Creating professional connections in the classroom
I (and others) have written about the value of guest speakers in online classrooms before, but it’s worth bringing up again because these experts (especially outside of academia) have been on the frontlines of what the working world looks like. By bringing in speakers, students can learn not just about a class topic from another perspective, but how people in their chosen career paths have adapted and the new expectations they will run into and the skills they will need to acquire. See the posts on online speakers here and here for more information.
Make classroom practices reflect the world we want to work in, not the work-hell we fear
As a student, I can’t tell you how many times a teacher told me that “in the real world, you can never turn something in late.” I’m sure this is true in many places, it just wasn’t very true in my experience. What’s been more accurate is that in the real world you can’t hide from deadlines and ghost when you mess up, but you can be honest and ask for help when you need it. For example, when my grandmother died in the first month of my first job out of undergrad, I was terrified that my boss would shut me down if I asked for time off. I’d absorbed the mentality that I was in a cut-throat business and that I wouldn’t be forgiven for skipping work and the associated deadlines, even for a funeral. I debated flying back east in secret for 24 hours, before finally bucking up the courage to explain the situation to my boss. Guess what? He was more than understanding. And of course he was – he was someone who was worth working for.
The pandemic has taught us that anyone can get sick or lose a loved one, and that compassion is necessary for surviving together. But the students who thrive in my class have learned to practice self-advocacy and seek help. As a professor, I can assist them in building those skills, not by punishing them for a failure to comply, but through compassion and encouraging them to speak up. When we encourage students to share what’s happening, we can better help them succeed in a variety of situations. College isn’t the only time they will face challenges of work-life balance.
I’m sure someone will counter that students need to develop tough skins and knuckle under. But when students tell me stories about teachers who enforce arbitrary rules in the name of preparing students for the “real world” I’m skeptical. What “real world” is this? According to whom? And even if it is true, fear of retribution isn’t a skill I want to teach, especially when I can foster independence and self-advocacy instead.
Let students know you support them beyond the classroom
In the final weeks of the semester, I begin to reinforce for all my students that although we’re heading into the end of our class, we’re still just beginning our professional relationships together, and that they’re always welcome to come see me in the future, or ask for help. And while I don’t tell this to every student, I am trying to make a stronger effort to tell my best students that if they need letters of recommendation in the future, I’m there to support them. I’m doing this because I remember how stressful it was asking for recommendations from professors, especially after I’d been out of their classes for a couple semesters. It felt like I was adding more work onto someone else’s plate. Except in the case of being a full-time professor, it’s part of my service to the university, and a way to help my students succeed beyond my classroom. I’m hopeful that making my support explicit will mean one less barrier when these students take their next steps into the professional world.