Majoring in business can help to open doors to a variety of careers across all spectrums of industry. While students in this field receive top-notch educational support from professors across the country, the emotional support provided for business majors tends to fall behind those studying different disciplines.
In a recently released study, Gallup concluded that fewer than one in 10 college graduates who majored in business received emotional support from staff, faculty and other influencers during their college years.
At 9%, the emotional support offered to business majors is lower than the support found in other disciplines, such as arts and humanities (18%), social sciences and education (15%) and sciences and engineering (12%).
The first-ever Gallup-Purdue Index was a joint effort between Purdue University and the Lumina Foundation to research the relationship between college graduates’ life after school and the experience they had while attending.
This national study is representative of all U.S. college graduates with Internet access and was conducted with a random sample of 29,560 graduates with a bachelor’s degree or higher between Feb. 4 and March 7, 2014.
To determine the level of support provided, Gallup asked graduates three main questions related to their experience and asked them to rank their answers on a 5-point scale:
- I had at least one professor who made me excited about learning.
- My professors cared about me as a person.
- While attending school I had a mentor who encouraged me to go after my dreams and goals.
Graduates who strongly agreed with all three are considered to have had emotional support during their undergraduate years.
Business graduates trailed the other three disciplines in all three arenas, but recent graduates, those who graduated between 2000 and 2014, did have stronger, more positive responses.
A total of 51% of all business graduates responded they had at least one professor who inspired. Of recent business graduates, 59% said they had an inspiring educator.
Arts and humanities led the pack with 70% of all graduates saying they had an inspiring figure.
About 14% of all business graduates said they had a mentor to guide them during their college years. That number rose to 18% for strictly recent business graduates.
Arts and humanities again led the pack with 26% of all graduates and 34% of recent graduates reporting a mentor.
The gap in answers to the last question was much closer with 21% of all business majors reporting at least one professor who cared and 27% of recent graduates saying the same.
Arts and humanities students had the most positive responses (32% and 40%), but the numbers in all fields were fairly close.
Gallup research has indicated that “emotional support” during college years sets students up for higher workplace engagement and greater overall well-being in life.
While colleges and universities across the country are acting on this research, establishing mentoring programs, much work needs to be done.
In the meantime, students can help themselves by seeking out mentoring opportunities on their own to enrich their undergraduate experiences and help set themselves up for success down the road.
