By Dr. Mandy Savitz-Romer, Nancy Pforzheimer Aronson Senior Lecturer in Human Development and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE)
Reading time: Five minutes
The National College Attainment Network (NCAN) is featuring Dr. Savitz-Romer's work in a series titled, "A Developmental Approach to College Access and Success," consisting of webinars, blog posts, and peer exchanges. The first webinar in the series was held December 5, and NCAN members can access the recording through our webinar archives.
College advisors and counselors often find themselves puzzled when bright and talented students choose not to pursue specific postsecondary pathways, or when their behaviors seem to contradict their expressed goals of attending college.
As a high school counselor, I was often troubled when some students prematurely dismissed higher education as a viable option or started on a particular path only to falter before succeeding. With significant investments in college and career readiness,
and growing attention to the value of a postsecondary credential, I still hear educators ask, “What’s going on? Why are some students not engaged in this readiness process?”
The answer is that students are developing – socially, emotionally and cognitively. These developmental changes that youth experience have a direct impact on their future-oriented aspirations, planning, and choices. Yet, too often, much
of the postsecondary planning and support efforts fail to incorporate developmental theory into the work of practitioners. Ready, Willing, and Able calls for a new approach focused on leveraging adolescents’ social, emotional, and cognitive development to engage young people in future planning and to prepare them for postsecondary success.
Why Theory?
Theory provides a strong, well-researched foundation for the work that practitioners do. Without it, educators fill that gap of information with ‘working theories’, personal experiences, and/or assumptions about the sorts of practices, programs, and policies that they believe will lead to improved outcomes for young people.
This approach has evolved in part because the field has not advanced a codified body of knowledge behind postsecondary advising and because research on developmental psychology has not been linked to postsecondary advising practices. Fortunately, there is a broad base of research and evidence in related fields like psychology and behavioral health that educators could use in their desire to support students.
In Ready, Willing, and Able, Suzanne Bouffard and I draw on decades of developmental psychology applicable to a wide range of young people and educators, but particularly important for working with youth who are traditionally under-represented
in higher education. Here, I offer some opportunities for change to incorporate into your work.
Opportunities for Change
With growing declines in postsecondary enrollment, and emerging policies that may signal that admission to college is harder than ever, I urge college advisors, school counselors and all educators who engage with young people to step back and ensure you
are paying attention to their developmental readiness and engagement in postsecondary planning processes. Here’s how!
Dedicate Time for the Meaning Making
Too often, limited time with students and time sensitive deadlines means that educators are focused on outcome-focused activities and steps including career interest inventories, building college lists, or disseminating program information. However, no
two students will experience these processes the same way. Students benefit when we take time to support their meaning making from these experiences. Be sure to dedicate time before or after a concrete activity to ensure students
are walking with accurate and supported information.
For example, if you take students on college visits or send them on job shadow days, dedicate time to ask them about their experiences. Consider questions like:
What were your expectations before you went? Were they accurate? Why/Why not?
In what ways could you see yourself in that role/at that place? In what ways does it feel hard to imagine yourself there?
What were you surprised to see/learn/find/experience?
Manage the Balance of Sharing Personal Experience with Attention to Adolescent Development
It is natural (and often helpful!) to share personal experiences with students. These stories sometimes challenge students’ misconceptions of potential future avenues. At the same time, advisors must be cautious about over relying on personal experiences
that may get in the way of addressing developmental needs that differ from our own.
Theory and research relieve educators from unintentionally utilizing their own lived experience by providing additional knowledge that broadens and builds on personal experience. Accomplishing this requires listening for single stories
of what postsecondary pathways look like and incorporating any of the following into your everyday conversations:
“That was my experience, but there are so many different paths to take each one is different."
“For me, …..but that is just one experience.”
Advisors might also incorporate reflective activities that prompt students to think about their backgrounds, values, beliefs, and goals. Journals, vision boards, or essays can be useful in helping students articulate their personal narratives and connect
them to their postsecondary planning.
Redefine Ready
College and career readiness initiatives are particularly adept at supporting young people who already have the motivation, initiative, and skills to pursue higher education. It is much harder to find ways to engage students who have a lot of promise but maybe do not see a clear future for themselves in postsecondary education. Practitioners may dismiss eligible students who don’t knock on their office doors or submit applications as "uninterested" or "unmotivated." Other requirements such as minimum grade point averages may block potential college-going students from receiving
support.
Given research on motivation and a growing awareness that not all students exercise the same level of help-seeking skills, advisors might consider re-interpreting students choices and behaviors as lacking the readiness or belief systems needed to participate
in existing programs and initiatives. A common strategy to address this is to require all students to participate in “filling out college applications” or “career and college exploration tasks.”
However, these approaches miss the mark on addressing what might be interfering such as a belief system that is otherwise telling them these tasks are not worth it. While those other strategies are not wrong, they are insufficient. Instead, educators might prioritize giving students the tools to build college-going identities, develop positive motivational habits and regulatory skills, and instill agency alongside these postsecondary tasks.
In addition, students also need safe, welcoming spaces to talk about personal identity topics that are sometimes considered too charged, such as the role of race and income in determining what is possible for them. Practitioners can provide opportunities
for youth to talk about what opportunities they perceive are open to them in relation to their race, class, or and other dimensions of identity through group discussion groups, topical panels, literature and classroom lessons. Advisors might also
encourage students to use self-assessment tools such as personality tests, interest inventories, or strengths assessments. These tools can provide valuable insights into their preferences, values, and skills, guiding them toward academic and extracurricular
activities that align with their identity.
Students have a wealth of assets and the capability to leverage those assets to construct positive futures for themselves when they are provided with tailored supports and opportunities. Incorporating these approaches into college planning can equip students
with a deeper understanding of themselves and support them in making choices aligned with their evolving identities.
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