Career Calling

October 26, 2010

Many adults wonder whether young people have a clue what to do with their lives and whether they’ll find a “calling.” But now a new University of Florida study shows freshmen college students are more focused than you think.

Researchers at the University of Florida found many students now see their future careers as a “calling.” In a survey of four thousand college freshmen at a different East coast university, results show forty percent of the students surveyed felt this was true for them while thirty percent were still searching.

Ryan Duffy/UF Survey Researcher: “If we went back like 30-40 years, if you asked students like what do you, when we say the word ‘calling’ what does it mean to you? They’d probably say it means like a very religious or spiritual career like a priest or a nun would maybe be their conception of what a calling is, but I think over time it’s become more secular.”

Regardless of gender, educational aspirations, or religion, the survey found that most college freshmen are slowly veering from the old meaning of “calling.”

Ryan Duffy/UF Survey Researcher: “I think its kind of like a carrot in front of them to kind of guide you along the path, so when you have it you are going to be much more motivated to do well in your courses, and succeed, and get internships and work towards that goal.”

And researchers say that motivation will certainly help those young people as they try to start their careers in a not very good economy.