To Avoid Baristas with Degrees, Moving College Classes Online Isn’t Enough
When I talked with 60 recent college graduates about the most valuable aspects of their college degree, no one described the learning that took place in a classroom. Instead, these young adults described leadership opportunities they had on campus, mentors they met through their on-campus jobs, and worldview-changing experiences like study abroad. These experiences sparked passions, introduced them to new people, and cultivated transferable skills they could use in their post-college careers.
Why are these quintessential college “campus life” experiences so important? They build what sociologists call social and cultural capital. The benefit of a college degree goes beyond the credential itself. When we talk about the value of a college degree, the intangible “squishy” elements that have nothing to do with what happens in a classroom are significant. The social aspects of college life which are so dangerous during a pandemic — the cramped residence halls, late-night student organization meetings in small offices, and communal dining areas — are actually instrumental to post-college success. Students build networks with their peers, gain access to university alumni, and find mentors among faculty and staff on campus. These networks provide guidance in identifying career pathways, obtaining summer internships, and learning about job openings. Throughout these experiences, students learn professional norms and how to signal their employability to future employers. In short, they build social and cultural capital.
Privileged parents understand that these experiences are an important part of college, which is why they work so hard to ensure their children end up at prestigious universities, even if it means resorting to illegal admissions tampering. But this building of social and cultural capital is even more important for young people who are seeking college as a mobility pathway, like those who are the first in their family to go to college. Students from marginalized communities translate their academic credential into a job by building social networks and picking up the professional norms that are pervasive on many college campuses. This happens to some extent inside the classroom, but much of this social- and cultural- capital building happens through campus life activities.
In my research with University of Maryland graduates, I found the students most likely to be underemployed after graduation — working in a job that did not require a college degree — were the students who could not fully engage in the college experiences that built social and cultural capital. This included students who transferred to University of Maryland from local community colleges, students who were working nearly full time as bartenders and nannies off campus, and students who were dutifully going to class but did not know to seek out the same opportunities as some of their peers. For these young adults, college had not translated into better opportunities; they had graduated, shouldering the burden of student loans, but were underemployed. I talked with graduates who were working in retail, driving for Lyft, and piecing together short-term clerical positions through temp agencies. This was more than a year before the COVID-19 pandemic.
As we approach what would have been graduation season in the context of an ongoing public health crisis and related closures, it’s time to think creatively about how to reduce this inequality in post-college underemployment.
As many colleges and universities explore what the 2020–2021 academic year will look like, whether continuing fully online, attempting in-person, or hybrid in-person/online models, this is a chance for us all to think about how we can re-imagine the learning that takes place outside of the classroom. For students who are pursuing college as a pathway to a better life, the most beneficial aspects of college are not happening in courses, whether in-person or online.
If campus life as we know it is not an option for the foreseeable future, how can we adapt to give students these experiences, bolstering their chances for success post-graduation?
What does it look like to have student organizations continue to operate and offer programming remotely? While study abroad is not safe right now, are there opportunities for students to engage in service learning in their communities with appropriate public health measures in place? How can we facilitate meaningful mentoring relationships for students remotely, and what might this entail?
Of course, no single individual or university can control the structural economic conditions that result in available jobs, or lack thereof, for new college graduates. However, we can all play a role in re-imagining how to ensure that the benefits of a college degree are available to all graduates, not just those coming from already-advantaged backgrounds. This is a chance to build new partnerships and reconsider what learning and mentoring — cultivating cultural and social capital — can look like. The possibilities are endless, not only for current college students, but for entire communities. With record-high unemployment numbers, higher education institutions could be leaders in connecting workers of all ages with new opportunities.
If we do not transform, the consequences are dire. Young people who pursue a college degree as a tool for economic mobility — the American Dream — will not see the return on their investment. We’ll continue to replicate the status quo. Instructors displayed herculean efforts in moving their courses online with little notice as the pandemic spread across the United States. As we close out this academic year, we need to think beyond online course delivery to other parts of the college experience. This is a ripe opportunity to envision new ways of extending access to the other aspects of college that are essential for post-college success.
