Barriers to Student Engagement
On Wednesday I sat in on a Campus Conversations Lunch Series session on "Engaging Students in Campus Life". The discussion began with observations on the rewards of getting engaged, but quickly turned to the obstacles. Some of the points that were raised:
- On a large, diverse campus like the University of Minnesota, there are too many choices: hundreds of student organizations. The overload of options may make students throw up their hands and decide to opt out. Or they may get involved in too many things and do justice to none (including their studies).
- It may be hard to break out of high school habits and friendships, to get engaged with new activities and new people.
- Many students need to work 20-30 hours per week to pay for tuition and other expenses, so they don't have time to get engaged.
- Much of the discussion seems to presuppose that engagement takes place outside of class. Academics should come first, and engagement should be better integrated into coursework.
- Some majors, especially those that require professional accreditation (e.g., engineering) demand so much work and have such rigid requirements that there's no time for engagement activities, either inside or outside the curriculum.
Most of these obstacles are not insuperable, and some useful suggestions arose from the discussion:
- Advising is key, both from academic advisors and from student peer advisors.
- Engagement in service-learning or internship lets students test a potential career. Getting directly involved is a good way for them to find out whether it's what they want to pursue.
- Value quality over quantity of engagement.
- Students need to take the initiative to find the type and level of engagement that's right for them.
- Engagement, coupled with all the other demands of a busy student life, can teach balance and reflection.