Leonardo da Vinci self-portrait.
Erika lett has told her parents she plans on becoming a translator. While she may be well suited for the job—being one of those perfectly bilingual Montrealers who grew up speaking English and went to school speaking French—the 22-year-old thinks her skills might eventually be perfect for a number of other professions: university professor, journalist, editor, even criminologist. But really, she just wants to enjoy her time at university and not have to think about the working world.
Many students feel pressure to choose a career when they simply want to spend time taking in a subject. Parents and universities all seem to want to see young people emerging from their studies with a profession in mind and a job application in hand. Career counsellors implore them to put a plan together in their first year of studies, while institutions like the University of Ottawa put out promotional screen savers on their computers with photos of current students with on-the-right-path quotes like "I will teach children mathematics." On top of this, there's the pressure to get good marks and the competing workloads from their professors, which means that, as one student put it, "learning does not come into the equation."
Leonardo da Vinci, like Erika Lett, also was suited to several professions. He contributed to countless fields including painting, anatomy, engineering, math and botany. Had he been attending university today, one of his parents might have told him to just stick to the drafting, while his career counsellor might have streamed him toward engineering, where he could be more assured of employment.
For Ms. Lett, a philosophy major, thinking about her career is really just background noise as she reads the likes of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, getting through about two books a week for her classes and preparing for an honours thesis. She's in her third year at Concordia University 's Liberal Arts College, an intimate school with small seminar classes, a place that seems to place little pressure on career. Over the years, she has seen herself becoming a better student. She prepares for assignments long before their deadlines and writes up a few extra pages for a paper if she finds herself having to say more on the subject. "It's an awesome feeling to be disciplined and participate and take the time to think through my ideas."
University students should not have to worry about their careers, says Tony Chambers, the director of the Centre for the Study of Students in Postsecondary Education. "The dirty little secret is that those who care about learning get the best jobs," says Dr. Chambers, a professor at the University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
"Learning how to learn. That's what we need to be teaching," he says, adding that he thinks universities are focusing too much of their attention on training students for careers. He says most employers are not looking for specific skills, but more for a person who could adapt to an ever-changing work world. He would rather see universities put more money into creating better learning environments.
Job and career testimonials, recruiting fairs and career centres have become ubiquitous on campuses across the country, and the offering of practical applications for higher education are now the stock and trade of arts and humanities promotion.
At the University of Toronto , one question posed to potential arts students is "What Can I Do With a Degree in English?" While the university goes on to talk about those degree holders possessing the ability to analyze and express complicated ideas coherently, it also says that English is "widely valued as pre-professional training." At the University of Alberta , visitors to the registrar's website are linked to the page, "Employment Outlook for University Grads," where they will find figures that point to a university degree's earning power. At McGill University , the Faculty of Arts tells how committed it is to intellectual inquiry, but it does not want you to forget that the skills you'll take home "are highly sought after in a broad range of professional, academic, cultural, service and business careers."
Research indicates an increased focus on going to school to get a good job, with other reasons such as self-improvement or helping society take a lower ranking, says Dr. Chambers, whose research looks at improving the quality of the student experience.
The shift to a more career-focused student began in the '70s and '80s, he says, when universities started selling themselves as a route to a better life. Statistics showed the million dollars that a university graduate will earn over a lifetime, compared to the earnings of a high school graduate. Governments began to force students, the beneficiaries of these better lives, to bear more of the cost of their education, he says. And that, in turn, ended up leading to higher expectations from parents, who wanted something in return for these increased premiums. The quid pro quo for that investment would be good marks and a concrete career for their son or daughter.
Emma DeBono, who recently finished a stint as a mentor at the University of Ottawa , said she had seen a certain strategizing among her clients. Many of the students she saw were concerned, oddly enough, about course selection. "They would say, 'If I just take women's studies, I probably won't get a good job. I better take political science. It sounds more legitimate.' "
Students can still find pockets in universities where the love of learning trumps jockeying for a career, Dr. Chambers says. Universities that put a priority on building committed learners know that it takes investment, he says.
Monique Provost already had a career, but today she is a student hungry to learn. She is studying ethno-musicology at the Université de Montréal and comes to it through her past work as a member of the promotional team behind the Quebec musical group La Bottine Souriante. While working with the band, she began to question the relationship between musical genres and cultural identity. La Bottine Souriante first was known as folkloric, then traditional, and now is part of the world music scene. Since Quebec's relationship with its musical traditions has also shifted, Ms. Provost is trying to explore, through her master's degree, when music can no longer be seen as traditional. She says she adores the environment that the university has provided her for the past two years and particularly loves the moment when one of her profs puts into words exactly what she had been thinking about.
At age 52 and with a grown-up son, Ms. Provost appreciates that she can take the time to gain an academic understanding of the field that she was working in while she was raising her son. She appears to know very well what she wants from her studies but wonders how younger students, with all the pressure they have on them, figure out the best road for themselves "They don't yet know who they are," she says.
Erika Lett has been spending her time finding out who she is. That knowledge is evident in her growing confidence, and she believes that the two will eventually help her navigate through the career options that come up. "You have to never doubt your abilities. Once you start doubting, you'll be stuck in a dead-end job."
She does sometimes feel a bit left out when she watches friends take a quicker route to a job, spending their new-found money on travel and other nice things. Nevertheless, she continues to read and discuss and think and write. She knows that it will one day lead to a good job, even if she's not thinking about that right now.