Integrate Career Education into Courses

Integrating career education within courses provide ways to motivate and engage students, while also helping them make tangible progress toward their goals. One of the greatest drivers of career mobility is receiving career advice from faculty¹, and faculty sharing knowledge and resources is a valuable way to level the playing field for first-gen and low income students.

¹According to the National Career Alumni Mobility survey developed by the Career Leadership Collective. Snapshot of U-M's survey results available from the Office of Budget and Planning.

Faculty play an integral role in connecting classroom learning to students’ career development and the Hub is here to do the heavy lifting. We offer tailored consultation and funding on career exploration resources that can be easily integrated into your course planning and curriculum. 

The LSA Opportunity Hub will fund U-M courses that intentionally integrate tailored and inclusive career exploration into course design or curriculum planning. Grantees will receive curricular support from Hub staff, who can provide resources, one-on-one consultation, and connections to relevant alumni, employers, and professional development opportunities for students.

Career education is the intentional integration of learning experiences that help students connect their coursework to explore dynamic career pathways. 

Over the course of their studies, students are engaged in professional identity development: the process of figuring out what they want to do and who they want to be while doing it. Students discover interests, declare majors, choose courses, explore career pathways, pursue first-hand experience, advance themselves, and reflect to build a sense of their professional self.

Here are a variety of strategies and resources to engage students by making connections between the classroom and the purposeful work students will go on to do.

Sample Syllabus Language

These examples signal different approaches you could take to making career connections in your course:

• This course will build on readings, lectures, and discussions and ask you to explore how the ideas and frameworks that are presented in this course could be applied to potential further areas of study or career options you might be considering.
• Each assignment in this course will highlight relevant skills and competencies you can build on in your future courses, internships, and career paths.
• To help you synthesize your learning, you’ll be asked to discuss some of the ideas in this course with someone in a career field or field of study you are considering.
• I’m aware that in addition to taking this (and other courses), you also may be working on and planning your career. With that in mind, I’ve linked career resources within our Canvas page. While I’m glad to discuss career options within this field, I’m not as knowledgeable about career options outside of higher education. For that, I rely on the good folks at our campus career centers. However, to make space for you to work on career development, I invite you to replace one of the homework assignments with one from this list of career exploration activities.

Situate the Course/Discipline in a Broader Context

• Share about your career path, the other careers you considered, and why you decided on your current path.
• Map out the divisions within your discipline, as well as adjacent fields. Point out opportunities that study in your discipline opens up, and professions outside of academia that colleagues have gone into.
• LSA Connect is an online networking tool that can help with this. Students can connect with LSA alums from all disciplines, as well as explore professions through the career pathways tool.
• Communicate that you’re aware that most students are interested in both intellectual and career development. Use this Career Development Calendar and have students identify which of the tasks and timelines are most relevant, based on their interests/year in college.

Help students recognize the career relevance of your course by making skill-building explicit, inviting reflection on their goals, and creating opportunities to practice translating their learning beyond the classroom.

Highlight connections between the course and skills students will use in their careers

• Share the NACE Career Readiness Competencies with students, which are derived from employer surveys. Describe the forms that critical thinking and communication will take in your class and ask students how they think aspects of the class map onto these competencies.
• Ask students about their career aspirations, plans, or possibilities they are considering. Have them share what they’re hoping to achieve in college and how this connects to what they envision for their future.
• Invite former students to class to discuss how they have used what they learned in their careers.

Use activities that encourage students to make these connections

• Ask students to connect with a professional or scholar they share an interest with, using LinkedIn, Handshake, or the mentorship platform hosted by their school/college (LSA’s platform is LSA Connect).
• Have students conduct an informational interview with a working graduate from your field or from their major to inquire about their on-the-job learning experiences. Share this informational interview guide or use this Informational Interview Handout to help students prepare for their conversation.
• Near the end of the course, have students complete this Unpacking Your Hidden Knowledge Assignment to help them consolidate what they have learned from the course that may be useful in their lives beyond the course.
• Have students practice how they would talk or write about what they accomplished in the course in a context such as an application, interview, or networking conversation. Use part or all this handout on Three Strategies for Translating Your Experience to help students structure their communication.