Dissertation Defense Announcement

The College of Education announces the final dissertation defense of

Clay Andrew Woemmel

for the degree of Doctor of Education

April 5, 2016 at 10:00 am in 207 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Richard James, PhD

A Descriptive Study of the Career Perceptions of Diverse Freshmen Students in a First-year Experience Course

ABSTRACT:
This study examined archival data gathered from freshmen students who completed a career exploration unit in a first-year experience course during a recent four-year time span (2011-2014) in an effort to determine how levels of career confidence differed among students based upon race, gender, and place of college residence. Four specific research questions were examined: (1) How does confidence in the ability to identify the skills necessary for a desired career differ among freshmen students based on race, gender, and collegiate residential status; (2) How does confidence in chosen academic major vary among freshmen students based on race, gender, and collegiate residential status; (3) How does confidence that academic major will lead to a specific job/career path differ among freshmen students based on race, gender, and collegiate residential status; and (4) How does confidence in the ability to choose a second major when the first choice did not work out vary among freshmen students based on race, gender, and residential status.

Participants were 1953 freshmen students who enrolled in a first-year experience course, ACAD 1100, and completed the ACAD Career Exploration Unit and its associated learning assessment during the years 2011-2014. Fifty of the participants identified as Asian/Asian American, 1009 identified as Black/African American, 68 identified as Hispanic/Latino, and 826 identified as White/Caucasian. Six hundred forty-two were male while 1311 were female. Eleven hundred were residential students while 853 were commuter students.