Why College Students Need an On-Ramp Now More than Ever
We can’t compare current college students to our own experiences, or to college students from even a decade ago. This generation has been raised on smartphones. In addition to being more diverse regarding race and ethnicity and representing the first generation of "digital natives" in history, Generation Z students are distinguished from earlier student cohorts by their pragmatic dispositions (Dollinger, 2023). With devices that quickly provide information and entertainment, if they have questions, they may likely seek those answers out. They also have unique needs and our approaches need to adapt to better meet them.
A recent research report from the Pew Center (Minkin et al., 2024) demonstrates a transformation in the trajectory of young adulthood. According to the findings, over the past thirty years, key milestones for young adults have shifted significantly, reflecting broader social and economic changes. One finding is that young adults are more likely to enroll in college than ever. But what does the research tell us about our current students?
Zool (2023) accurately describes our current college students, significantly impacted in a post-COVID world, “The individuals arriving on campuses this fall were high school sophomores when the world shut down in 2020. Just as their horizons were beginning to expand, they were confined back to their childhood bedrooms, with their world reduced to pixels and bytes.”
When we returned from lockdown, I had to put in a lot of effort to help my students feel comfortable working on collaborative projects and interacting socially. Now–years later–I am experiencing a greater number of students who have trouble turning away from their phones, even when implementing engaging activities in the college classroom. I am also seeing what Dr. Weiss mentions, with students juggling jobs and more students needing extensions and struggling to keep up with assignments.
Haidt (2024) discusses how technology has created a “rewiring” of our children, with kids increasingly scrolling on social media apps that apply behaviorist models to make children stay as long as possible in the apps through “rewards.” A particular issue is that many of these apps are asynchronous, and our students are spending less time in face-to-face interaction. He asserts that we have technology that has helped to raise a generation of individuals with mental health challenges and lacking in important social-emotional skills. A longitudinal study has found that Internet Gaming Disorders were associated with academic and social challenges in first-year college students (Benjet et al., 2023).
There are other variables, other challenges that I will address in future posts in greater detail, including the unique needs of first-generation students. I love working with college students and know that they can succeed. However, they need more scaffolds and support as they transition between high school and college. There needs to be a bit more of a bridge built though, and I have some recommendations based on my personal and professional experiences:
Policy-level suggestions include greater alignment between secondary and post-secondary institutions.
For students with disabilities, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that by age 16, students with disabilities must have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that includes a transition plan to facilitate the move from secondary to post-secondary education or employment. Team members at the high school should work closely with students and their families to make sure they have the tools, information, and plans in place for their students to be successful.
More parent workshops that offer specific information on how to support students in their first year. Workshops could be developed with district/school personnel with support from university partnerships to help high schools tailor support to students.
Blame is unproductive. What we need is a strategic plan that involves all stakeholders and an innovative approach to meet our students where they are so they can take off.
References
Benjet, C., Orozco, R., Albor, Y. C., Contreras, E. V., Monroy‐Velasco, I. R., Hernández Uribe, P. C., ... & Borges, G. (2023). A longitudinal study on the impact of internet gaming disorder on self‐perceived health, academic performance, and social life of first‐year college students. The American Journal on Addictions, 32(4), 343-351. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajad.13386
Dollinger, M. (2023). Critical challenges to support Generation Z learners. In Advancing Student Engagement in Higher Education (pp. 147-155). Routledge.
Haidt, J. (2024). The anxious generation: How the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness. Random House.
Zook, M. S. (2023/10/13/). Gen Z Is Ready to Talk. Are Professors Ready to Listen?: How a successful gen-ed program is using the humanities to reach this very different generation of students. LJ Davids for The Chronicle. The Chronicle of Higher Education, http://ezalumni.library.nyu.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/gen-z-is-ready-talk-are-professors-listen/docview/2900640194/se-2