Undergraduate Student Career Development and Career Center Services: Faculty Perspectives

Abstract

Despite the rise in scope and role of campus career centers and the role of faculty in career advising, faculty perspectives on undergraduate careers have received minimal scholarly attention. We conducted a qualitative study bounded in a medium-sized R1 institution (i.e., a doctoral university with very high research activity in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions) in the Northeast to examine faculty perspectives on undergraduate career development and undergraduate career services. Eight faculty members participated in semistructured focus groups allowing for in-depth conversations and analysis. Using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), we identified five principal themes: (a) positive impressions of the career center, (b) barriers to faculty engagement, (c) collective responsibility for students' career development, (d) nonlinear career paths, and (e) student perceptions. Results indicate career centers should engage faculty as a constituent group, describe to faculty how centers help students address broad career questions, and tailor resources for faculty. Future research with larger, more diverse, and multi-institutional samples of faculty could expand knowledge in this area toward improved synergy between faculty and career centers in promoting student career development.