Common Read: Student Engagement Problem
Is Kelley Indianapolis focusing on the right issues (student engagement)?
Problem:
Student engagement with career development programing has increasingly declined over the last 4 years. Currently around 13% of the Kelley student body engages with planned career development programing.
The Challenge the Problem Presents
Kelley Indianapolis Career Services has two charges: 1. Help students navigate the transition from college to career and 2. Provide engagement opportunities for students to connect with employers. The consistent decline in student participation in career development workshops, Career Coaching appointments, Kelley Corporate Experience, Career Panels, Career Fairs, and low email open rates has hindered the ability to effectively follow through with these two charges. While Kelley Indianapolis imbeds career development into the curriculum with BUS -X220 and BUS-X 320, it’s not enough to address the personalized career development needs of students or meet employer demands for access to students. Students express a need for more specific career development topics beyond what’s presented in the classroom and employers pay for access to students through events. Thus, low student engagement in career development programs equals employers not coming to campus to engage /recruit and students missing personalized career information. Going forward there is a lot of uncertainty about how to improve student engagement with career programming to keep employers coming to Kelley Indianapolis and properly preparing students for the transition to the workforce.
Note: The student engagement issue is not just a Kelley Indianapolis issue, Career Services across the country are facing similar issues in varying degrees.
The Ask (discussion deliverables)
Is Kelley Indianapolis focusing on the right issues (student engagement)? In other words, are we asking the right question(s)? Should we reframe the question/problem?
Based on your personal experiences and group discussions. What barriers do students face with current career develop programing? (i.e., Student appointments, career panels, career fairs, internships, career workshops, etc.)
Based on your personal career needs, interest, and information you gathered in group discussions. What suggestions do you have to improve student engagement with career development programing? No suggestion is too little or too big. Use design thinking to really explore this problem from different angles.
Answer preview is Kelley Indianapolis focusing on the right issues (student engagement)?
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