The Interdependency of Vocational and Liberal Aims in Higher Education

Abstract

It is not educators' role to dissuade students from seeing college as a path to a career. It is our role to help students see the larger purpose in the work they choose.

Liberal and vocational education: the Gordian encounter

“…We propose that the distinction between vocational and liberal education is redundant at all levels and for all purposes, they are not in opposition but are complementary to one another. The impetus for the paper is not to suggest eradicating the notions of vocational and liberal education as discrete models but to blur the edges between the two as Abowitz (2006) suggested. We oppose the idea that one model has more value than the other or that one model is sufficient alone.…”

“…Oakeshott, who wrote extensively on the theory of the university in the mid-20th century, claimed that education is a summons to “listen to the conversation in which human beings forever seek to understand themselves” (1989, p. 95). Contemporary liberal education focuses on the problems, experiences and questions of being human (Abowitz, 2006). Hirst (1965) took a knowledge approach to define liberal education, by explaining that its central task is to study particular forms of knowledge: mathematics, physical science, human science, history, religion, fine arts and philosophy.…”

The Impact of Life Coaching on Undergraduate Students: A Multiyear Analysis of Coaching Outcomes

“…and "Who do I wish to become?" These types of questions can encourage students to place their vocational goals within a broader context of purpose (Abowitz, 2006).…”

Choosing a course of study and career in pharmacy - student attitudes and intentions across three years at a New Zealand School of Pharmacy

“…The choice by students of any undergraduate degree involves many factors, including but not limited to: socioeconomic variables, gender and ethnicity, academic ability and academic self-concept, career ambitions, personality, and prior educational attainment ( Van de Werfhorst, Sullivan, & Cheung, 2003;Reay, Davies, David, & Ball, 2001;Pike, 2006;Porter & Umbach, 2006;Abowitz, 2006). Recent studies in the UK have indicated that there are increasing numbers of women studying pharmacy, with almost twice as many women as men qualifying as pharmacists in 2005 (Hassell & Eden, 2006) leading to pharmacy now being described as a "female-dominated" profession (Hassell, 2003).…”