Purposeful Work
Preparing students for meaningful work after graduation lies at the heart of the liberal arts mission. The Center for Purposeful Work at Bates is dedicated to helping students align who they are with what they do. It helps students identify and cultivate their strengths and provides opportunities for them to acquire the knowledge, experiences, and relationships necessary to pursue their aspirations with imagination and integrity. Purposeful Work ensures that students graduate with the tools to make intentional decisions about their work, selves, and the relationship between the two.
Almost every college has programs or departments that help students find internships and provide career counseling. But Purposeful Work at Bates goes distinctly beyond jobs or careers. It has four key characteristics:
It is mission-based: Programming is built on the premise that preparing students for lives of meaningful work lies at the heart of the liberal arts mission.
It is developmental in its approach: The initiative encompasses cycles of exploration and reflection that integrate questions about work and meaning into the intellectual and personal growth that define the liberal arts experience.
It is holistic: Bates focuses on the whole person and weaves concepts related to purposeful work into all aspects of the student experience: curricular, co-curricular, athletics, and residential life.
It is highly intentional and pragmatic: Bates doesn’t just talk about work — Purposeful Work enables students to get deeply involved in work in its many forms.
The Center for Purposeful Work is grounded in the Bates mission, has curricular and co-curricular aspects, and takes a four-year, developmental approach to working with students. Purposeful Work is a learner-centered experience that encompasses internships, practitioner-taught courses, job shadowing and courses designed to teach students how to apply their knowledge outside the classroom – all designed to help students identify work that brings them meaning, aligning who they are with what they do. Students are exposed to Purposeful Work on day one of their college careers, and it continues through graduation and beyond. It focuses on every aspect of the student experience, meeting students “in every chamber of their being” with the philosophy that they will derive purpose and meaning in their work (be that as a student, worker, volunteer, intern, or citizen) by aligning their values, interests, strengths, and work. Moreover, they will achieve wellbeing in their work — and life — if they engage in work that they find meaningful, that exercises their strengths, and that contributes to the world around them.
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The Chronicle of Higher EducationHow Colleges Help Students Find Purpose in Their Work |
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QuartzThe thing that turns a liberal arts education into a meaningful job |
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WGBHThe college-career sequence in reverse |
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The Bates Center for Purposeful Work surveyed the Class of 2022 at graduation and again in December 2022 to determine students’ post-graduation plans. In addition to this survey, data was collected through email, social media, and person-to-person communication, for a knowledge rate of 80%.
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97% of the Class of 2022 had at least one high-impact touch point with staff at the Center for Purposeful Work. That number remained high for: first-generation college students (98%), international students (100%), and students of color (100%).
- 39 states (plus D.C.) and 25 countries were represented in the Class of 2022’s post-graduate plans
- Exposure to a range of ideas and disciplines at Bates led 2022 graduates into a wide variety of industries and sectors, including healthcare (17%), education (16%), finance (14%), technology (7%), law (4%), and the nonprofit sector (4%).
- PW Internship Program Instagram takeover Q&A: Question: “How is this internship informing your purpose? Do you see data in your future?” Student response: “Definitely embraced my initiative to help the community; As someone who aspires to work in healthcare, this position is perfect and provides the tools/foundation to help me be successful; Data isn’t my future, it is the future so it’s cool being a part of change.”
- PW Practitioner-Taught Course survey response: “Dr. [x] made the class super fun and allowed us to get an introduction to medical skills such as suturing, surgery, and examinations. He also brought in an amazing crew of guest speakers that allowed us even more opportunity to learn about different healthcare jobs and topics. Dr. [x] as well as all of the speakers were extremely passionate and excited to tell us about their experiences and healthcare in general.”
