Zane Helsel Rebecca Agosta ENGL 1102 14 April 2014

The College End State

An Inquiry of major deviations

Many of us are told to go to school, get a degree, get a job, and to start a life, but for many of us this can change at the drop of a hat. Economies rise and fall job markets that were wide open when you started become saturated in your field. So by the time you have that so highly coveted degree, what do you do? What does this do to the individual? How are they viewed by their families or peers? Or even themself? Many times unemployment figures receive the bulk of the focus and studies but what about the figures of those whove graduated from college and find themselves in careers highly removed from their major with a pay gap to match? I want to focus this inquiry on several topics and their relationship to my key topics first I have established what an identity is and how it relates to the individual and how they are viewed by not only others but also themself. Following that I took a look at the data to see how common or uncommon this trend is or if it is only derived from isolated incidents. Beyond that I have shared what Ive learned from those that Ive interviewed who fall in to this category and examined what they have had to share. Lastly I have a section upon my methods of research, periods of observation, and interviewing techniques. I will provide a detailed bibliography at the conclusion of this paper. 1

Identity The Concept of identity is presented by James Paul Gee in such a way as to really form the basis for its usage as an analytic lens of an individual. Gee give us as researchers four different perspectives of identity where each type of identity is developed from a source of power and has is its own power. The first is the Nature-identity or N-Identity; it is a way of looking at yourself Gee says [it] is a state that I am in, not anything that I have done or accomplished (101). He uses the example of being a twin; this is the most basic of all identities as we all have something that fits here that we have no control of or over. Gee goes on to argue that N-Identities must always gain their force as identities through the work of institutions, discourse and dialogue, or affinity groups (102). This can be demonstrated when someone who is transgendered is legally recognized as something different then their born gender, the institution gives that identity the strength to be fully realized. The second form of Identity is the institutional identity or I-Identity it is who you are, in my personal life for me that would be that I am a veteran it is not something of achievement but can be seen by Gee as either a calling or imposition(103). In my case it was a calling to serve but the same cannot be said for someone who is drafted or conscripted in to the military. The institution giving the power in this case would be the Department of Defense; this identity is fully realized in the regulations I am expected to follow giving both the identity and the institution power.

The third perspective of identity is that of the discursive identity or D-Identity; this is the individual characteristics of a person. This is something that has to be validated through the discourse or dialogue of other people Gee (103). The power identified here is that of recognition, it is reinforced by more people seeing this trait in another like saying someone is being mean and asking your friends if they think so as well, when they back you up it will reinforce this identity of being mean on to the original individual. The fourth and final perspective Gee give us is that of the affinity identity or the AIdentity; this is defined as allegiance to, access to, and participation in specific practices (105). We are told by Gee that this identity is powered by participation or sharing with the group, it is something you must be actively part of to claim as identity. This is not limited to a group that you would formally join but can be one informally bound by members who have common ideas or experiences and engage in dialogue pertaining to it. The reason I take the time and space to share Gees definition of identity is that each form of identity weighs differently in its application to the individual and the same identity can be demonstrated in all four forms each having wildly different implications and interpretations. I want to focus on the last three, the I-Identity, D-Identity and A-Identity of college graduates specifically those who have degrees and do not work in a field related to their studied major. I take the time to include the N-Identity so you are aware of it but since it is something youre born with it will pertain much towards my inquiry topic.

Hard Data In my research I was able to come across a 2007 study of work relatedness and college major conducted by the National Science Foundation, this information was analyzed and expanded upon by Robst. What was discovered was that 55% of individuals report that their work and field of study are closely related, while 25% report that they are somewhat related, 20% of the sample report their field of study and work are not related (402). This data shocked me, I was very surprised to see that nearly 45%, almost half of all college graduates at the time of this survey had found themselves in jobs that far from their studied major. Robst goes on to analyze which college majors have the highest rates of as he calls mismatch, these majors are English, foreign languages, social sciences, and liberal arts. He cites that the biggest cause for those majors and mismatch is that they provide more general skills than occupation specific skills (402). This explanation alone is applicable to two of the individuals I choose to interview as one earned a ceramic arts degree and the other has BS in game art and design. The other measurable statistic that the 2007 survey exposed to me was that of wage gap and how closely it relates to the amount of mismatch in job and degree. Mismatch in those who have general skill degrees have the least amount of pay difference as compared to their peers working inside their major career field, despite having the highest levels of overall mismatch. The research also shows that those workers with occupational specific degrees although not as commonly occurring has a much larger pay gap with their peers that are in the correct career field. There was a question asked in the survey pertaining to the reason of working outside their field of study, less than 20% claimed that work was unavailable in it.

Interviews I choose to interview three different types of graduates to establish a wide range of views and opinions, Robert Helsel my father who graduated from Goshen College in 1989 with degree in ceramics, Brandon Thatcher a fellow colleague who graduated from UNC Greensboro in 2004 with a degree in accounting and finance, and David Goldstein who graduated from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in 2012 with a degree in game art and design. I interviewed this wide range of ages as to not just focus my research on the recently graduated but also those whove had some time to distance themselves from school. Goldstein With this interview I was able to get the most recent graduates view, currently he is employed by a finance company performing a data entry job, this is in part due to the high amount of computer skills he gained towards his video game art and design degree, he also is a part time bartender. I asked him if he felt defined by his college degree his response was honestly, no. The closest I get to my degree is when Im at home building my portfolio. I asked him about Identity which he was familiar with having studied Gee in his sophomore year so I put forward the question of how he felt he was viewed by others having the identity of a new graduate who is only employed because of basic computer class he took in the beginning of college. I feel most people who know me arent shocked with the current job market and with me being out of school for a little over a year, Id say in this time span its to be expected. In this circumstance the I-Identity and D-Identity are closely matched, he has a degree from a school and in his spare time continues to enhance the skills that it signifies, at the same time his peers and family regard his state of employment as something transitory, that it is a path to having enough experience to get where he can make full usage of this degree. He also is a member of several online communities where he submits his digital work to be reviewed by his 5

peers so he can continue his passion in video game designing feeding his A-Identity, and setting him up for potential success in making his career his passion. Thatcher This interview I was able to gain a different vantage on my topic. Thatcher is currently employed by Starbucks where he is a supervisor like me, he has worked there for five years and risen up from the bottom to where he is now, he graduated ten years ago with a degree in finance and accounting. Since graduating he found himself in legal trouble, on top of that he also has a son to provide for, as a result of these obstacles he has found it very hard to find employment with his degree and really just had to make due to pay off his school loans and provide for his son. When asked he had a vague idea of what identity was but not in its entirety, after explaining it I asked him if he felt that it defined him as a person. At this point I feel its a piece of paper I spent thousands on, I dont see myself going anywhere with it where it will be looked at as any more than a check in the box. I feel that he negatively embraced this identity of having gone to college and it not leading to where he thought hed be. In this situation the IIdentity of his legal issues that is imposed on him overshadows the I-Identity that he earned in school. When asked how his peers view him, he said that he hadnt had contact with any of them in years. I asked him if this helped him grow as a person I learned to work as hard as possible before had I was lazy, expected my degree to carry me in to some high paying job, since then Ive grown more than Id imagined. He told me despite his setbacks his family is proud of how hard he works and this positive D-Identity reinforcement helps push him towards making the best of his situations. Helsel I felt I had to interview my father as he was the inspiration for this inquiry topic; he graduated from Goshen College in Indiana in 1989 with a degree in Ceramics. I was born in 1990 and he very quickly realized hed have to pay off his school loans and care for me and my 6

siblings to follow, so he joined the U.S. Army and used their college repayment benefit for his years of service. During his enlistment he started up a pottery business and really got to put his degree to use, after his contract was up he found he was going to have to do something else to provide for his wife and three kids. This lead to him entering the Information Technology world he stood out very rapidly for his recruiting abilities and had been working in that industry since the late 90s. In the past 6 years or so his company moved out of charlotte but had him to continue to recruit but out of the house, as he only needs an internet connection to perform his job. With this development he began to transform our garage in to a home studio where he has gone back to making and to a lesser degree selling pottery. Using the skills he gained outside his intended major he was able to start up a website selling his mugs and teapots. When I asked him if the identity of his college degree shaped him he said its who I am, even with taking many years away from it ceramics is my passion, I knew Id come back to it, even if Id have to wait till you and your siblings are off in school, because I can be a starving artist but my children won t be. Here my father embraced his I-Identity even when he knew it alone would not suffice, our family grew up learning how to throw pottery and prep the kilns we embraced it as much he did giving him the D-Identity that is needed to reinforce ones views. Lastly my father for as long as I can remember belonged to pottery clubs, sending his best pieces off to museums and competitions. By doing that he gained the A-Identity that someone who is passionate about something truly needs, that group provides active participation and opportunity to learn from others and grow.

Reflections While researching this topic I found many ways to look at the college experience, but what matters most is its end state and where it takes you, not that the journey itself is not important. You just that you have to keep in mind what Krista Goerte has to say The bottom line is, if you follow a career in certain areas strictly because its your passion, theres a distinct possibility it wont pay the bills. Yet, if you choose to follow a career path you have no interest in or passion for, you run the risk of spending a good part of your life doing something that does not fulfill you as a person. I wholeheartedly agree with this as I heard it all the time growing up as a child, which is why I find that I align myself with my father in that he did not do IT recruiting because he loved it, he did it because he loved us, however he did not abandon his passion which was his identity as a potter and a father. All of the people I interviewed had to make decisions based on their college loans. Charley Stone studied recent college graduates in 2012 he found that about a quarter took a job they were not enthusiastic about so they could pay down their loans and put off furthering their education (23). His recent study gives a key insight in to whats happening right now in the job market and what to expect, he shows that 40% of 2012 college graduates said they would change their major to reflect the shifting job market. Over all I feel that despite the major and what career you end up in, how you are viewed by peers and family ultimately has the power to shape you if you let it, this is key to ones identity as a whole.

Methods For this inquiry my key methods of research came from my interviews, these provided me with a wealth of information allowing me to get the personal view points and opinions, which are what I was focused on learning. I used most of my questions I developed in my proposal and took the best answers for use in this paper; those that I interviewed were able to learn a little as well about themselves through learning the key concepts of identity as explained by Gee. After compiling my notes from the interviews I began searching for appropriate fact based scholarly articles, something with real data that is recent, that I can use to show what kind of trends are developing in todays job markets with college graduates. I found the studies conducted by Stone and Robst; these were focused on my core topic of college graduates and how many end up in their studied job field. Once I had hard data and numbers to rely on I was able to put this paper together by combining facts and feelings to explore this identity based inquiry topic.

Bibliography Gee, James P. Chapter 3: Identity as an Analytic Lens for Research in Education. Review of Research in Education. 25.1 (2000): 99-125. Print. Goerte, Krista B. "Choosing between a Career and a Passion." Newsbank.com. The Paris News. 27 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. Goldstein, David. Personal interview. 30 Mar. 2014. Helsel, Robert. Personal interview. 28 Mar. 2014. Robst, John. Education and job match: The relatedness of college major and work. Economics of Education Review. Volume 26. Issue 4. August 2007. Pages 397-407. Stone, Charley, M.P.P., Carl Van Horn, Ph. D., and Cliff Zukin, Ph. D. "Chasing the American Dream: Recent College Graduates and the Great Recession." Work Trends. May 2012. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. Thatcher, Brandon. Personal interview. 1 Apr. 2014.

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