News media coverage tells the compelling story of Purposeful Work at 乐播传媒 College
Updated June 4, 2019
Attracted by its innovative approach to helping students find work that delivers deep personal meaning and the promise of professional success, news media outlets are telling the compelling story of the Purposeful Work program at 乐播传媒 College.
April 10, 2019: Media outlets report 乐播传媒-Gallup study’s “purpose gap” among college graduates
National media outlets quickly picked up on the April 10 announcement of a 乐播传媒-Gallup study exploring the role that purpose plays in the working lives of college graduates.
One of the first stories, by听Quartz reporter Jenny Anderson, explained why 乐播传媒 commissioned the study: to听test the founding premise of the college’s Purposeful Work program, specifically, “that happiness and fulfillment” among college graduates “comes in large part from finding meaningful work.”
乐播传媒 College President Clayton Spencer speaks with New York Times assistant managing editor Carolyn Ryan 鈥�86 at the announcement of the results of a 乐播传媒-Gallup survey examining the role of purpose in college graduates鈥� working lives. (Photo by Cheriss May)
Specifically, the Gallup study sought to “find out how important meaning was to their work, whether they had found it, and what undergraduate experiences helped most in shaping that meaning.”
As Anderson notes, the study shows that 乐播传媒 is onto something big: “A whopping 80 percent of college graduates said that it is very important or extremely important to derive a sense of purpose from their work. Less than half had succeeded in finding it. The report…dubs this the ‘purpose gap.'”
Read the stories:
- 鈥�,鈥� Quartz, April 10, 2019
- 鈥�,鈥� Sun Journal, April 10, 2019
- 鈥溾�� Forbes, April 10, 2019
- 鈥�,鈥� Inside Higher Ed, April 11, 2019
Jan. 17, 2019: Washington Post interviews Clayton Spencer about Purposeful Work innovations
Joining a select group of nine U.S. education leaders for an edition of Washington Post Live on Jan. 17, 2019, President Clayton Spencer explained that 乐播传媒’ Purposeful Work initiative meets a major 鈥� though not always fulfilled 鈥� responsibility of a liberal arts college: helping students find jobs that feel meaningful.
鈥溊植ゴ� is a classic liberal arts college, but we also recognize and embrace the fact that college has always been about preparing students for life and work,鈥� Spencer said.
Here, President Spencer explains how Purposeful Work helps 乐播传媒 students align their interests with work that brings them meaning in life:
Sept. 20, 2018: Christian Science Monitor reports how colleges appeal to students with 鈥榩urposeful work鈥�
A in responding to the challenges facing liberal arts colleges.
乐播传媒’ response, Purposeful Work, focuses on helping students explore career aspirations in ways that feel personally meaningful and also lead to career success.
At 乐播传媒, Purposeful Work includes significant investment in internships.听 James Lee ’19, a biochemistry major from Brooklyn, N.Y.,听 has twice received summer funding through Purposeful Work to further his work interests, specifically to find work that will feel meaningful to him.
The story noted that Lee’s Purposeful Work experience, including summer funding, has successfully helped him discover what he’s interested in: the business and industry sides of the medical field, rather than research.
“When I work in industry, I can see where the research is being applied,鈥� he says. 鈥淪ometimes when you鈥檙e working in a lab, it鈥檚 very easy to lose track of what the bigger picture is. But when you鈥檙e working on the front lines, all of the research that you鈥檙e doing is applicable.鈥�听
Sept. 2, 2018:听听The Chronicle of Higher Education reports how colleges help students find purpose in their work听
A on Sept. 2, 2018, concludes that Purposeful Work helps students “clarify the connections between classroom and career” while preparing them “for lives of meaningful work.”
Purposeful Work stands apart for how it “blends the philosophical and the pragmatic.”
Purposeful Work is particularly valuable because it helps to “increase graduates鈥� confidence that they can succeed in an increasingly technical work force, and to dispel parents鈥� and policy makers鈥� doubts about the returns on an expensive liberal-arts degree.”
While many colleges are launching similar programs, Purposeful Work stands apart for how it “blends the philosophical and the pragmatic, offering students both concrete skills and an overarching theory of work: namely, that it ought to have both personal meaning and societal relevance.”
April 29, 2018: Quartz reports how 乐播传媒 has designed a liberal arts education fit for the future of work
A , looks at the link between work and happiness, and how Purposeful Work helps students build the latter by finding the former.
With happiness and well-being a challenge to come by in today’s society, Quartz notes, it’s no wonder that many colleges are doubling down on how best to prepare students to find post-graduation happiness.
乐播传媒 teaches students “how to figure out the work they want to do” in their work lives 鈥� a “key factor in creating happiness.”
The brilliance of what’s happening at 乐播传媒 under President Clayton Spencer, explains reporter Jenny Anderson, is that it focuses on work.
鈥淚f you get love and work right,鈥� Spencer tells Anderson, paraphrasing Sigmund Freud, 鈥測ou鈥檝e sort of figured it all out.鈥�
In other words, writes Anderson, 乐播传媒 isn’t just trying to “teach kids how to be happy.” Instead, through Purposeful Work, 乐播传媒 teaches students “how to figure out the work they want to do” in their work lives 鈥� a “key factor in creating happiness.”
Jan. 17, 2018: 12 Lessons on Purposeful Work from Maine Calling
Maine Public’s to share ideas and insights into the college’s Purposeful Work program.
President Clayton Spencer, Lecturer in Psychology Rebecca Fraser-Thill, and Reed Mszar ’18 talked about how 乐播传媒’ Purposeful Work program helps students find what gives them purpose. From their discussion, here are 12 insights about how a sense of purpose in your work helps create well-being in life.
A sense of purpose in one’s work is a powerful force for life satisfaction.
For one, a sense of purpose and well-being in one’s work is a powerful force for life satisfaction. 鈥淲hen people have that purpose or career well-being, that predicts all the others,鈥� Fraser-Thill said.
“If we鈥檙e liking what we do every day and we鈥檙e doing things we鈥檙e good at, we鈥檙e more likely to be healthy and have great relationships and feel part of our community and have money.鈥�
June 4, 2018: WGBH-FM reports on new focus on purposeful work at 乐播传媒
Boston public radio station , a signature 乐播传媒 program that helps students discover work that aligns with their interests and values.
鈥淲e recognize that liberal arts students can do anything.”
The story quoted Peter Bysshe ’93, a Brooklyn-based brand consultant who teaches Practitioner-Taught Courses.
Offered during Short Term as part of the Purposeful Work program, the courses allow students to explore more practical and applied areas of study outside the traditional core liberal arts curriculum.
鈥淲e recognize that liberal arts students can do anything,” he said. “We have them do real things so they can feel what it’s like, so it’s not just rhetoric anymore.”
Dec. 11, 2017:听MaineBiz reports how听乐播传媒 prepares students for work that fits their skills and interests
for “helping students discover how ‘work’ 鈥� the activity that will fill most of their adult hours 鈥� goes far beyond simply collecting a paycheck.”
The story explained how the program weaves questions about work, identity, and purpose into the college’s curriculum and co-curricular programs.
“There is a very natural interest in the program” among donors, said President Spencer.
Funded internships in Maine and worldwide are a strong part of program’s fabric. The story pointed to support from the Portland-based Libra Foundation, whose $250,000 grant to the 乐播传媒 Campaign will fund more than a dozen annual internships in Maine alone in the coming years.
The program is “looking at the bridge between college and the rest of each student’s life. So there is a very natural interest in the program” among donors, said President Spencer.
