Forget about volunteer work.
For some students, the resume is boss, and they spend their college careers building it up through activities that tailor to their career fields.
As the number of college students in the United States grows, they face increasing pressure to build their resumes so they can better compete for employment and graduate school. As a result, many students focus their time on career-specific activities and organizations, often devoting less time to general volunteer work that is important to building strong communities. The challenge for universities across the country is how to help students satisfy career needs while also becoming more civically engaged in the community around them.
"It's not that college students are apathetic," said Harry Boyte, co-director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the University of Minnesota. "It's just that their kind of involvement is changing. They like work that ties learning into their careers."
COMPETITION
Students face competition from a number of fronts: An increase in the number of young people attending college, an increase in international students and a weak economy, said Melinda Messineo, Ball State University assistant professor of sociology. As a result, many students face overwhelming pressure to build a solid resume that will allow them to compete upon graduation, Messineo said.
Last fall, an estimated 15.9 million students returned to college or entered as freshmen in the nation's colleges and universities, according to the Committee on Education and the Work Force.
"Students are sensing we're in a weak economy, so they feel they need a competitive edge," Messineo said. "The [competition] has added to the pressure students are feeling, and it's getting complicated."
In many ways, college is an extension of high school, where many students focused on extracurricular activities that would build strong college applications, Messineo said. To stay one step ahead of their competition, many college students know they have to get involved in activities that will similarly build strong resumes, Messineo said.
CAREERISM
Employers are looking for students with a college degree backed by career-related experience, said Carmen Burke, Ball State University career assistant, said. Engaging in career-related activities provides students with the experience they need in their fields, and it allows them to network and demonstrates a sincere interest in their areas of study, according to the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.
Many times, however, devoting more time to career-specific fields means spending less time doing general volunteer work, Messineo said.
As many students continue to devote more time to career-specific activities and less time to community volunteering, community organizations could feel the pinch, she said.
"Some groups might suffer because there isn't a career track with them," she said. "If students are using the hours they used to use for general volunteering, agencies not linked to service learning courses or to a student's career focus are clearly at a disadvantage."
Messineo teaches a service learning course that allows students to work with local organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, Animal Rescue Fund and A Better Way. Many students participate in the organizations simply to fulfill a class requirement, and only a few students remain truly committed to the organizations after the course ends, she said.
"I'm always pleased when I have a handful of students who continue with the organizations after the class is over, but they're always the minority," she said.
SOLUTIONS
As careerism remains a strong focus, encouraging more students to make volunteering a priority is an ongoing task. Stressing the importance of civic engagement is the first step, Messineo said.
"We need to value civic engagement for civic engagement's sake," she said. "We need to develop the mindset where there's an expectation that people give back. We all should find ways to give back as citizens."
Continually stressing volunteerism in the curriculum is another effective way to encourage students to get outside of their comfort zones, Messineo said.
"Within the curriculum, we deliberately encourage students to pursue things they haven't thought of," she said.
Society also needs to examine why people are often too busy to volunteer, Messineo said. Students who do a lot of resume-building might find that if they re-prioritize their schedules, they might have time to do general volunteer work, which can actually help build a resume in the long run, she said.
Nonetheless, volunteers must always remain focused on helping the community, not just themselves, she said.
"If we're doing it for our own end, it defeats the purpose," Messineo said. "When an activity is tied to resume-building it may lose some of its altruistic nature. It's not bad that people are resume-building, but it changes their motivation and sort of diminishes the experience."
Although focusing on a future career and building a solid resume is vital during the college years, taking the time to give back to the community is just as important, and it provides students with a sense of gratification, Burke said.
Students need to remember they can touch many lives through their involvement, and remaining civically engaged should be a constant goal, Boyte said.
"Students have to play a role," he said. "It's very important for students to learn how to take action. It's important for students to work for democracy."
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