Human perception and behavior can impact the success
and likelihood of achievement throughout one’s lifetime. Whether one is a
college student or career oriented it is their personality that makes up a
significant proportion of success. Research helps highlight what personality
traits encourage students be successful by moving toward their career goals. They
found that personal and institutional satisfaction where two different
hypothesized paths.
Not all students will be successful. Some will
inevitably fail. They come to college with a range of issues related to
personal perception, habits, patterns and expectations. Those who have
developed strong traits seem to be more successful. Of course, one cannot say
that students can’t learn new approaches but starting from a negative outlook
will have its disadvantages.
Students make choices about their careers, how long
they are willing to study, and their level of academic engagement. Each choice
comes with possible successes or consequences. The ability to make a choice is often
called human agency. It is the combined unconscious (undirected behavior) and
conscious (goal-directed) behavior that helps or hinders students in their
paths to success.
There are four key factors associated with human
agency. According to Bandura (2001) these four are 1.)intentionally thinking about
future actions, 2.) future oriented thinking about goals, consequences and
possible outcomes 3.) aligning activities to achieve goals, and 4.) the ability
to self-reflect on oneself and their actions. Each function allows for strategizing, setting
goals, aligning activities, and feedback thinking.
In philosophy one can argue that behavior and
choices can either be rooted in personal behavior or historical context.
Personal behavior assumes that all behavior is derived from the person while
the historical context assumes that social pressures arise to determine
behavior. It is commonly believed that few people have true control over their
behavior in the sense that they are reflective enough and intelligent enough to
think beyond the social structures in which they live.
To college students it is important to understand
why students make certain choices about their professions, lines of study, and
their success in allocating their efforts to achieve academic success. Such
students often live within their family histories, personal attributes, and
impressions of their environment that impact their daily decisions and choices.
Knowing which students are most likely to succeed in college can be helpful for
determining appropriate career paths.
A study conducted by Feldt (2012) focused on testing
the measurements and path models of the social cognitive model of college
satisfaction with a focus on career development. They used two measures of
satisfaction which includes satisfaction with personal career development and
satisfaction with availability of resources to foster career development. 270
undergraduate students who were recruited from class five weeks after midterm.
They sought to determine the cognitive measures of 1.) major and career
self-efficacy, 2.) career outcome expectations, 3.) goal progress, 4.)
perception of resources, 5.) satisfaction with career preparation, 6.) life
satisfaction and 7.) big five inventory.
Results:
-Life Satisfaction was associated with
personal satisfaction and extraversion.
-Institutional satisfaction was
associated with resources, self-efficacy, and personal satisfaction.
-Personal satisfaction was associated
with extraversion and resources.
-Goal progress is association with
self-efficacy.
-Outcome expectations were associated
with resources and self-efficacy.
-Resources were associated with
conscientiousness.
Business Analysis:
Student success relies
heavily on the perceptions and resources students bring to their colleges. When
students are satisfied with themselves and willing to engage others they have
higher life satisfaction. Such students are more likely to be happy when they
have resources to fulfill their objectives, believe in their abilities and feel
positive about themselves. The research may also indicate that students that
were conscientious were also more likely to be involved in the university and
its affairs to obtain needed resources.
In general, strong
students are happy, have positive self-image, and believe in their abilities.
They view college as a way to achieve their life goals. The resources within
the college are maximized for their benefit. Perhaps there is no perfect
student but those students who do well are mostly likely to be fully engage in
the college experience and enjoy the benefits of college life. Like any life
activity negative affectively may just impact success in college and career.
Bandura, A. (2001). Social
cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology,
(52) 1.
Feldt, R. (2012). Social
cognitive model of college satisfaction: a test of measurement and path models.
College Student Journal, 46 (4).
