“It's What I Have Always Wanted to Do.” Advising the Foreclosure Student

Abstract

Foreclosure students have prematurely committed themselves to academic majors and future careers, but present themselves to academic advisors as very decided. From a developmental theory perspective, foreclosures represent an immature identity status and include students whose failure to explore their personal and vocational identities and achieve a mature identity threatens their academic success. While this category may be new to academic advisors, foreclosures have been the object of extensive psychological and educational research. We review the literature summarizing the identity development and the personality characteristics of foreclosures, and we also review the available evidence concerning the academic performance of these students. We conclude with some recommendations for successfully identifying and advising these students.

Easy does it: an innovative view on developing career identity and self-direction

“…Foreclosed young individuals rarely cause troubles. At first sight, it is not possible to distinguish them from young people who have reached an achieved identity after sufficient exploration (Shaffer and Zalewski, 2011). Their foreclosed commitments are likely to be socially supported and implemented.…”

Advising Alternatives: A Case Study

“…For example, students are more adaptable if they possess an internal locus of control, independence, and optimism (Foster, 2017;Gadassi, Gati, & Wagman-Rolnick, 2013). Students in career foreclosure (Marcia, 1966) exhibit greater uncertainty about their abilities, less concern about the future, and more wishful thinking or avoidant behaviors, all of which may increase their risk for negative reactions (Boyd, Hunt, Kandell, & Lucas, 2003;Kunnen, 2010;Shaffer & Zalewski, 2011;Taber & Blankemeyer, 2015).…”

Academic advising.

“…According to Erikson (1959), the term foreclosure refers to a strategy of defending against the necessary anxiety associated with having an identity crisis by settling for a socially approved identity without actually engaging in a search for a suitable and sustainable identity compatible with the individual's personality traits, attitudes, and values. In the context of higher education, foreclosure students prematurely commit themselves to academic majors and future careers but present themselves to academic advisors as mature, very decided students (Shaffer & Zalewski, 2011c). Although the empirical literature has suggested that most foreclosure students are eventually identified by their lack of success and persistence in their chosen fields, academically talented and high-achieving foreclosure students exist who maintain good grades and continue to make expected academic progress toward completion of their degree programs (Shaffer & Zalewski, 2011c).…”

“…In the context of higher education, foreclosure students prematurely commit themselves to academic majors and future careers but present themselves to academic advisors as mature, very decided students (Shaffer & Zalewski, 2011c). Although the empirical literature has suggested that most foreclosure students are eventually identified by their lack of success and persistence in their chosen fields, academically talented and high-achieving foreclosure students exist who maintain good grades and continue to make expected academic progress toward completion of their degree programs (Shaffer & Zalewski, 2011c). John was an example of one of the students in this latter category.…”

“…Although each advisor must be familiar enough with the informational component to give out reliable information and each advisor should have a firm grounding in both the literature on student development and the mission of the institution, every advisor needs to continually work to upgrade the skill set he or she brings to the advising process to bring about the best possible outcome from the interpersonal dynamics of the advising session. I have also chosen to illustrate the conceptual component of advising by describing the use of developmental theory to recognize a case in which a student's choice of major appears straightforward and appropriate on the surface but turns out to be more problematic than the student recognizes: the case of a foreclosure student (Shaffer & Zalewski, 2011c). The case illustrates an approach to career intervention for honors students-one population often neglected by the advising literature.…”