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Engaging Today's Students with the Liberal Arts |
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A Profile of the Humanities The College of the University of Chicago |
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Introduction The project explored undergraduate engagement in the Humanities in light of an increasing concern with professionalization among college students. The methodology included administering class-wide student surveys, interviewing department faculty and staff, and analyzing data such as course enrollment patterns. The ACM grant supported the administration of surveys to first- and fourth-year students about their experiences in the Humanities, their choice of major, and their career goals. The other components of the study also revealed important information, for example several Humanities departments are interested in increasing opportunities for career development in their undergraduate programs. Also, the Classics Department has experienced a recent increase in concentrators which it attributes to its philosophy of providing strong support for its undergraduate concentrators, for example through departmental extra-curricular events and study abroad programs. Surveys of fourth-year students were distributed to students during their annual advising appointments in Autumn 2003; 530 students completed the survey. First- year students received their surveys in their Humanities General Education ("Core") courses during the final week of Winter quarter, 2004. Approximately 80% of first year students completed this survey. The data from the Surveys were tabulated and analyzed by The Survey Lab of the University of Chicago (associated with the National Opinion Research Center) and by a research assistant. Fourth-Year Survey In the fourth-year survey we were primarily concerned with whether and how professionally- and practically-motivated students approached study of the Humanities differently than other students. Professionally-oriented students are defined as those students indicating a career goal in law, business or medicine (42.8% of respondents), while practically-oriented students are those students who are primarily interested in developing a set of skills applicable to their careers. This is a more broadly defined group than the professionals and comprises approximately 60% of respondents. Professional students are most likely to major in Biological Sciences, Economics and Political Science; practical students in Economics, Psychology, Political Science, Biology and Law Letters and Society. Students studying fields in the Humanities are less likely to be professionally motivated than students in the Social and Biological Sciences. Practically-motivated students are marginally more likely to be Humanities concentrators (12.6%) than professionally motivated students (9.4%). Both are significantly less likely to be Humanities concentrators than non-practically motivated students (32.8%). Professional and non-professional students reported similar experiences in the Humanities Core. Over 80% of both groups reported that the course increased their breadth of knowledge. Professional students reported slightly higher satisfaction from the Core's capacity to build skills such as improving their writing skills and ability to analyze text. The largest difference between professional and non-professional students was that 81% of professional students report that their Humanities Core improved their ability to think critically while only 69.6% of non-professional students reported this. There were sharper distinctions between practically and non-practically-motivated students. Seventy-one percent of practically-motivated students reported that improving their writing skills was an important benefit of their Humanities course, while only 65% of non-practical students saw this as valuable. Practically- motivated students also thought the Humanities Core improved their ability to analyze text, to think critically, and introduced them to a new area of interest to a greater degree than non-practically motivated students. Thus, professional and practical students report greater benefit from the "practical" elements of the Humanities Core than other students. These results reflect the concern professional and practical students have with developing "applicable" skills and the emphasis they place on these skills in the context of the Core class. Thus, professional and practical students appear to be largely concerned with the practical aspects of the Humanities Core. Both professional and practical students were less likely than other students to take Humanities courses in addition to those required. For example, while 41% of practically-oriented students take additional Humanities courses, 63% of non-practical students do. Students who take the optional third quarter of the Humanities sequence are less likely to take additional Humanities courses than students taking only two quarters of the sequence. Many of these students take the third quarter to fulfill requirements. Thirty-four percent took the third quarter to fulfill a pre-med requirement and 67.3% indicated that they preferred to satisfy their General Education requirement with three Humanities courses than with additional art, music, drama, or civilization study. Many professionally-oriented students were more likely to indicate that they did not take additional Humanities courses because they had "no interest" in them or that the courses were "not useful;" practically motivated students were more likely than others to report that the "course material was too abstract." Professional and practical students appear to think that additional Humanities study will not improve the skills they valued in the Core. Any additional Humanities study on their part seems to be concerned with fulfilling requirements rather than pursuing an interest. Interestingly, 75% of ALL students (professional, practical, and not) who did not take additional Humanities courses state that this was because they did not have time in their schedules. We investigated student participation in Humanities extra-curricular activities for two reasons. First, we wondered whether students participating in Humanities extra curricular activities (like literary, theatre, music and arts organizations) took additional Humanities classes. Secondly, we were also interested in whether professional and practical students were participating in Humanities extra-curricular activities instead of formal Humanities study. Students studying fields in the Humanities are more likely to participate in Humanities extra-curricular activities. We found that practically-motivated students were somewhat less likely to participate in Humanities extra-curricular activities (42.9% ) than non-practical students (53.6%) and that professional students (36.9%) were significantly less likely than non-professional (54.4%) to do so. We found that students who participate in Humanities extra-curricular activities were more likely to take additional Humanities courses. The majority of students who participated in extra-curricular activities took additional Humanities classes (63%) and the majority of those WITHOUT Humanities extra-curricular participation did NOT take additional courses (62%). These findings indicate that those already involved in the Humanities will seek further involvement and that informal Humanities participation is not making up for those taking fewer formal Humanities classes. We were also interested in how study abroad programs, which at the University of Chicago have tended toward Humanities topics, featured in undergraduate Humanities experience. Practically-motivated students reported a higher rate of study abroad participation (58.5%) than non-practically motivated students (41.5%) and than professionally motivated students (35%). The professional results may reflect that "pre-med" students feel the demands of their science coursework do not allow time for study abroad. Overall, students who studied abroad were more likely to take additional Humanities courses beyond those required by the college. However, these additional courses may have been part of the study abroad program itself. It is possible that practically-motivated students take the opportunity for study abroad to acquire language skills, but further analysis is required to evaluate this. First Year Survey The first year survey focused on the students' understandings and experiences in the Humanities Core, their anticipated further involvement with the Humanities, and how these related to their career goals. Ninety percent of both professional and non-professional students surveyed thought that their Humanities sequence increased their breadth of knowledge and many found that the Humanities courses help them develop particular skills that might be understood as "practically applicable," including 81% of non- professionals and professionals who said the course increased their ability to analyze text, 76% who thought the Humanities sequence would enable them to think critically and 74% who said that the courses improved their writing skills. Nearly 67% of first year students intend to take additional Humanities courses beyond those required and of those students 62% plan to do so because the courses interest them. Of the remaining 33.2% who do not intend to take additional Humanities courses, 75% estimate that they will have "no time" to do so, 48% said they had "no interest" in the Humanities, 40% said the courses were "not useful" and 50% thought they were "not relevant." Of those intending to take additional Humanities classes, 76% were non-professional while 52% were professional. Professional students were more likely to report that they were not interested in further Humanities classes or that they were "not relevant." Forty-one percent of first year students reported that they had "professional" career plans, defined as an interest in medicine, law or business. Professional and non-professional students who were satisfied with their Humanities course responded similarly to questions about their experiences, including more than 80% in both groups citing "intellectual challenge" and "quality of teaching" as important factors, and more than 60% in each group valuing "writing instruction." Sixty-three percent of non-professional students thought the course introduced them to a new area of interest while only 55% of the professional students thought so. Among the 22% of all students who were dissatisfied with their Humanities course, 68.8% of professional students indicated that it was because they were not interested in the course material while only 49.1% of non professional students cited lack of interest. Thus, professional students report less interest in Humanities study. Interest in the Humanities appears to be a factor in which students take the third quarter of the Humanities sequence and why. Fifty percent of non-professional students and 58% of professional students indicated that they were planning to take the third quarter. Of these students, 91.3% of non-professional students did so out of interest in the subject matter while only 72.6% of professional students indicated interest. In fact, 56.5% of professional students taking the third quarter said that they were doing so to fulfill pre-med requirements. Fifty-two percent of professional students intended to take Humanities courses beyond the General Education requirements, while 76% of non-professional students planned to do so. There is a greater interest in studying the Humanities among non-professionals. This is even more pronounced if we account for the professional students taking the third quarter of Humanities to meet a pre-med requirement. The intention not to take further Humanities courses seems fixed early in professional students' college careers. Moreover, the Humanities Core experience did not change the intentions (to either take more Humanities or not) of 70% of non-professional students and 64 % of professional students. For both groups the Core DID motivate 20% of students to take more Humanities classes. Conclusions The survey data reveals some of the ways in which University of Chicago students engage the Humanities through their Core requirement, additional courses and extra curricular activity. The surveys indicate that overall students experience the Humanities Core similarly regardless of whether they are professionally or practically motivated, or not. Professional and practical students are less likely to take additional Humanities courses and are less likely to be interested in Humanities study or to find it relevant. Even when these students take the third quarter of the Humanities Core, for example, they do so largely in order to complete a requirement, rather than out of an interest in the topic. These students see a benefit in the practical skills they developed in the Humanities Core but do not see additional Humanities study as an opportunity to build on those skills. Further study might reveal whether professional students feel advanced Humanities study does not provide the same skills the Core does or whether they feel they have sufficiently developed those skills after completing the Core. Moreover, the Humanities Core is less likely to suggest new areas of interest for professional students. Our data suggests that while we are successful in promoting the skill-building aspects of the Humanities Core, we may be able to improve how the Core generates interest in the Humanities. This may be especially true for professional students as compared with practical students. While the two surveys were not longitudinal and we are unable to compare them directly, the data from both suggests that there may be instances in which the trends of professional and practical students diverge with regard to Humanities study and interest. For example, among fourth years, practical students are more likely to see their experience in the Core as exposing them to new interests, while among first years, professional students are less likely to see the Core as suggesting new interests. However, fourth year professional students are more likely than non-professional students to have found new areas of interest in the Core. Further research might indicate ways to change how we advise pre-professional students specifically about Humanities study. And a longitudinal study might reveal, for example, how students' intentions to study Humanities change through their college careers and whether differences in views of the Core between fourth- and first-year students are the result, for example, of fourth years' longer reflection on their Humanities Core experience. Notably, 75% of all students who did not take or do not plan to take additional Humanities courses (professional, non-professional, practical or non practical) indicated that a lack of time prevented them from doing so. Time was the strongest factor preventing further Humanities study, exceeding all others by at least 20 percentage points, including interest. Students do not feel free to take additional Humanities courses in the context of their other college and major requirements. Sixty-one percent of non-Humanities concentrators do not take Humanities classes beyond those required. We believe that the majority of students who do not take additional Humanities classes are motivated by a desire or perceived need to develop "practical" skills. However, these concerns are not borne out by the variety of fields in which Humanities alumni are successful. This may shape how we advise students about fulfilling requirements and electives, especially how we present information to pre-law, pre-med and business students. It may change how we utilize alumni, for example, at career development events. More broadly, the results also call for a consideration of whether and how liberal arts colleges design programs to inform students of the "practical applications" of broad study of the Humanities. Deborah S. Neibel, Adviser in the College |
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