One of my research areas is on public and parental perceptions of higher education and one of things I've looked at is the divide between people who think about higher education in transactional terms (butt in seat=degree=job) and those who think of it in transformational terms (college= become better critical thinker=become more interesting=have a passion=get a job). There is a really sharp divide along political affiliations and I am very certain that influences how students think about the idea of learning for learnings sake.
Parental influence is an interesting dimension to all of this! The students all seem pretty progressive and just, I guess, extremely idealistic--but surely parental attitudes about the value of a biology degree would filter in..
As someone who dropped biology as soon as I was able at High School, I found this post very interesting. Thank you.
Glad to hear it!
One of my research areas is on public and parental perceptions of higher education and one of things I've looked at is the divide between people who think about higher education in transactional terms (butt in seat=degree=job) and those who think of it in transformational terms (college= become better critical thinker=become more interesting=have a passion=get a job). There is a really sharp divide along political affiliations and I am very certain that influences how students think about the idea of learning for learnings sake.
Parental influence is an interesting dimension to all of this! The students all seem pretty progressive and just, I guess, extremely idealistic--but surely parental attitudes about the value of a biology degree would filter in..