Research Blog #6: Visual

A Major Decision

The picture to the right illustrates the growing epidemic of college students who are deciding to be undecided in their first year of college. With the pressure higher than ever to find a major and stick to it due to the high cost of a college education, we still find students choosing to remain undecided. This growing number is concerning because indecision among students means that graduation rates will begin to lower. However, this number is not a clear estimate of how many undecided students there really are- most first-year students pick a course of study that they believe they are interested in, only to find themselves switching to a different discipline later in their education. This statistic has caused pressure for many four-year public universities to decrease the time-to-degree completion rates, which is displayed in a national ranking. This presents an interesting question: are colleges really concerned about the financial being of their students, or are they more concerned about how their institution presents itself in statistics?

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Research Blog #2: Scouting the Territory

In Blog #1, I had a few different options of which direction I wanted to go in. After researching all the topics, I decided to further research the pros and cons of the "undecided" major because there is a debate on if it is worth the monetary cost to go to school without a major or concentration. When looking online, I found a lot of research from universities on how to deal with their undecided students. There are many articles that discuss the pros and cons of entering college undecided. Additionally, I found an article about the origin of indecisiveness along with many studies of students who chose the undecided path when entering college. Key terms used in articles : advising, options, direction, epidemic, exploratory, specialization, retention, influence, developmental phase, attitudes. Books and scholarly articles: Bad College Advice- the Undeclared Major : Forbes article discussing how expensive and time consuming the undeclared major is and how it is a bad...

Research Blog #9: Argument & Counter-Argument

With the privatization of public universities today, the price of a college education is at an all-time high. This being said, students cannot afford to waste time and money taking courses that cannot be put towards their major requirements. Undecided students are at a loss when they are still in the process of choosing a major because they may be taking classes that will not translate to their intended major. This means that they may have to spend extra semesters making up for the lost time, which is an additional cost to the student. This problem lead to the development of my research questions: What are the underlying causes that push a student into being undecided? and Can being undecided in college impact the way that a student transitions into adulthood? My thesis is that the "undecided" pathway is essentially only an option for extremely affluent students. Some factors that contribute to a student being undecided are anxiety, career undecidedness, and ...

Literature Review #4

Phase-Adequate Engagement at the Post-School Transition Author, Julia Dietrich MLA Citation : Dietrich, J., Parker, P., Salmela-Aro, K. (2012). Phase-adequate engagement at the post-school transition. Developmental Psychology, 48, 1575- 1593. Summary: This article is about the transition from High School to College or career pathways. The transition presents developmental challenges that are handled differently by every individual. Coping with these challenges differs depending on the individual, their social network and cultural conditions. Once an adolescent choses a vocation, they must do all necessary tasks to fulfill their goal. How these individuals deal with the necessary steps of completion will determine their post-school transition patterns. Information About Author: Julia Dietrich, is a research associate at the Institute of Educational Science in the Department of Educational Psychology. Phili...

Research in the Disciplines: College!

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