COVID-19 is challenging student beliefs about the long-term value of their education, according to a recent poll of 4,000 undergraduates enrolled in a bachelor’s degree-earning institution.
In fact, one in five students said that COVID-19 has made their opportunities for exploring careers “much worse” than pre-pandemic, in a September COVID-19 Work and Education Survey, conducted by the Strada Education Network, in partnership with Public Viewpoint of the Center for Education Consumer Insights. Furthermore, only 15% of college students said they “strongly agree” that their education would be worth the cost, and another 27% did “not agree” at all with the statement that their education is worth what they are paying.
What has caused this downturn in student trust in their degree? For one, a recent lack of career and mentoring support by faculty. Whether this reduction of support is a fact— due to fewer in-person office hours or the struggle to make connections virtually on a new modality—or just a perception, students are having trouble seeing their future career benefits.
Therefore, support from the institution in connecting careers to education has proven to make a difference. Strada reported that when students feel support from their schools is “very good” or “excellent,” somewhere between 63% and 88% of them “agree” or “strongly agree” that their education will be worth the cost.
And the lack of support goes beyond the career services office; it is also a reflection of mentoring in the classroom. When asked if COVID-19 had impacted faculty and staff for providing mentoring and professional development, 42% of students said that professors were “somewhat less available,” and 13% said “much less available.”
In addition, only 37% of those surveyed felt “very comfortable” or “somewhat comfortable” asking a professor for career advice or for connections to a job or internship and 42% were “very uncomfortable” or “somewhat uncomfortable”. Yet another 26% reported a job or internship was cancelled due to COVID, and another 32% were planning to try for a job or internship but changed their plans when the pandemic hit.
Data collected on other surveys reveals that it’s not necessarily the majors with the highest earnings that report feeling connected and confident in post-collegiate careers, according to Nichole Torpey-Saboe, Director of Research, Consumer Insights, Strada Education. Instead it was those fields with direct training and preparation built into the career path, such as teaching, which inspired the most confidence among students, she said.
So, what can higher-education institutions do to rebuild students’ trust in their degrees?
“The old idea that faculty can just post their lectures online and forget about the course is far from true,” said Henry M. Smith, EdD, assistant professor of educational leadership, Johns Hopkins School of Education. “When college students are online, particularly now when so many of them did not choose to be online, faculty need to redouble their efforts to communicate more with their students,” he said.
There are a number of ways to increase faculty and student contact, Smith said.
First, faculty can implement more synchronist class sessions that include break-out groups and time with individual students. This attention to individuality gives the faculty the opportunity to know each student and it’s also a good time to mentor students and serve as a career adviser.
Plus, don’t underestimate the value of an emotional connection, added Torpey-Saboe, especially in these challenging times.
“Many students are feeling isolated and have heightened anxiety and so it’s important to reinforce connections,” she said. Strada, which has been collecting data from students and from the general population, has noticed an accelerated need for connecting a degree with career opportunities over the past decade.
Another way to increase faculty and student partnerships is for professors to integrate students into the teaching and learning process.
“My students love it when I ask them to present a brief lecture online—they come loaded with power points,” Smith said. Another way is to divide the class into debate teams and let them wrestle with the course content, he said.
Smith recommends dividing students into small groups and directing them to create a pictograph of that week’s class content. “These types of things really engage the students with the class,” he said.
Although a lot of students’ response is a result of the pandemic, Torpey-Saboe notes that “some of what we’re seeing here in this survey reflects a larger trend with uncertainties around the value of education.”
And with almost half of students enrolled in a bachelor’s program right now doubting their need for a degree, moving forward, higher education institutions will have to rethink their strategy in order to keep enrollment up versus losing potential students to the workforce.