“No Plan B Whatsoever”: Student Perception of Vocational Preparedness with Career Ambiguous Majors

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dc.contributorBissell, Kimberly
dc.contributorBolland, Anneliese
dc.contributorChilcutt, Alexa
dc.contributorNaidoo, Jef
dc.contributor.advisorCarmack, Heather J.
dc.contributor.authorGeorge, Hannah K
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2022-02-04T20:16:36Z
dc.date.available2022-02-04T20:16:36Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractOrganizational socialization is the process of “becoming” within a defined group. This process begins with Anticipatory Socialization and the initial exposure to norms, behaviors, culture, and expectations of a defined organization. For the majority of individuals, an academic major relating to a future career is the first step in this journey; but how do students with a career-undefined major make sense of the skills learned in college and attribute them to future vocations? This dissertation uses Weick’s (1993) theory of Organizational Sensemaking, Jablin’s (1985) theory of Organizational Assimilation, and Knapp et al.’s (1981) concept of memorable messages to understand what employable skills students in career-undefined major feels they are learning, and what skills they feel they are lacking. Participants confirmed the sources of anticipatory socialization as described in Jablin’s 2001 work and identified a new source of “nonfamilial adults.” Messages and lasting impressions were gathered from intentional conversations as well as actions observed and deemed memorable by the participant, providing a context of Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977). Student-defined employable skills learned in the career-ambiguous major open the possibility for an additional stage in the Organizational Assimilation process that proceeds Vocational Anticipatory Socialization. Building on the ontology of the phrase “real job,” these messages obtained by vocational osmosis fit into the realm of “work socialization” (Clair, 1996, p. 265), which provides a space for messages outside of the specific organizational context. The stage of Workplace Anticipatory Socialization is where liberal arts majors and soft skills can have the most impact on student development, prior to encountering a specific organization or occupation. Recommendations are also presented for curriculum and assessment of career-ambiguous academic programs, based upon the information presented by students.en_US
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otherhttp://purl.lib.ua.edu/181716
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0004006
dc.identifier.otherGeorge_alatus_0004D_14681
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/8281
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectanticipatory socialization
dc.subjectCollege students
dc.subjectCommunication Studies
dc.subjectorganizational assimilation
dc.subjectsensemaking
dc.subjectsocial learning
dc.title“No Plan B Whatsoever”: Student Perception of Vocational Preparedness with Career Ambiguous Majorsen_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. College of Communication and Information Sciences
etdms.degree.disciplineCommunication
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.leveldoctoral
etdms.degree.namePh.D.

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