What Will I Become?
Exploring My Life Purpose
Christian Mission Heritage Series
September 14, 2010
Presenters
Don Thompson
Professor of Great Books & Mathematics
Cindy Miller-Perrin
Professor of Psychology
Nicole Wallace
Seaver Alumna
Fuller Theological Seminary Graduate Student
Lilly Endowment Sponsored Research
at Pepperdine
 Student Development Survey
 Goal: To understand how students define vocation and develop their own
personal sense of vocation
 2002 – Present
 Surveyed Students from Seaver College at 5 different time periods


Baseline – summer before beginning at Pepperdine
Each spring throughout undergraduate career
Cell-Phone Text
Message Poll
What is Vocation?
Defining Vocational Calling
 The secular definition views vocation as work or
career
 Vocation is God’s calling for one’s life – the reason
God made you
 Vocation is the intersection of faith development
and identity development
 Vocation is “the place where your deep gladness
and the world’s deep hunger meet”
The Critical College Years
 College years are “critical years” in vocational development
 College students consider issues associated with personal
identity, faith beliefs, and career options
 Faith, identity, and vocational development are not uniform
across the college years
Who are you as a class?
 Total applications/admitted/enrolled: 7949, 2435, 656
 GPA 3.64
 SAT Verbal 607
 SAT Math 623
 SAT Writing 626
Academic Majors
Business
Communication
Fine Arts
Humanities/Teacher Education
International Studies & Languages
Natural Science
Religion
Social Science
Undeclared
Ego-Identity Status Survey
 Students receive scores on four identity scales:
 Diffusion: no exploration or commitment
 “I haven’t really considered politics. It just doesn’t excite me much.”
 Foreclosure: no exploration, but commitment
 “My parents decided a long time ago what I should go into for employment
and I’m following through with their plans.”
 Moratorium: exploration without commitment
 “Religion is confusing to me right now. I keep changing my views on what is
right and wrong for me.”
 Achievement: exploration and commitment
 “It took me a while to figure it out, but now I really know what I want for a
career.”
Identity Development
35
30
25
Diffusion
Foreclosure
Moratorium
Achievement
20
15
10
Baseline
First-Year
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
My faith/religion is NOT very
important to me.
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
Faith
2.5
Religion
2
1.5
1
0.5
Se
ni
or
Ju
ni
or
Fi
rs
t-Y
ea
r
So
ph
om
or
e
Ba
se
lin
e
0
Faith Attitudes and Behaviors
Subscales
Sample Items
Strength of Belief
•I
(alpha = .81)
Faith Behavior
(alpha = .88)
Application of Faith
(alpha = .90)
view myself as a religious person.
•I have doubts about whether my
religious beliefs are true.
•How
often do you attend religious
services?
•How often have you read a
devotional, religious, or spiritual book
in the last year?
•I
depend on my faith in God for
decision-making and direction.
•I try hard to carry my religious beliefs
into all other dealings in my life.
Strength of Belief, Faith Behavior, and
Application of Faith
 Strength of Belief
Belief Strength
Behavior
Senior
Junior
Sophomore
First Year
Application
Baseline
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
varied significantly
over time
 Faith Behavior varied
significantly over
time
 Application of Faith
did not vary
significantly over
time
I am motivated to choose a career that
will provide/fulfill…
Financial
Personal
Senior
Junior
Sophomor
First-Year
Service
Baseline
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Vocational Barriers
Subscales
Barriers to life purpose
fulfillment
Personal
Barriers
•Fear
(alpha = .84)
•Lack
Interpersonal
Barriers
•A
(alpha = .86)
Social and
Cultural Barriers
(alpha = .90)
•Emotional
Problems
•Self-doubt
of motivation
parent
•A friend
•A boy/girl friend
•A teacher or professor
•Lack
of financial resources
•Feeling pressure or a desire to get married
•Feeling that my opportunities are limited by the
gender stereotypes of society
Barriers to Life Purpose
26
 Total Personal Barriers
25
scores varied over time,
marginally
24
23
22
Senior
Junior
Sophomore
First Year
20
Baseline
21
Personal
Nicole Wallace’s Story
Seattle, Washington
Psychology Major
Class of 2009
Clinical Ph.D. student - Fuller
Theological Seminary Student
Conclusions
 College students experience significant developmental
variation over time
 Strength of faith belief
 Faith behavior
 Identity development
 Foreclosure, Moratorium, Achievement
 Personal Barriers
Lessons & Opportunities
for First-Year Students





Faith matters – Stay spiritually nourished, seek
wisdom
Know Thyself – look for ways to challenge your
assumptions
Barriers are real – live through and with them
Sophomore year - expect a watershed
Purpose - bigger and broader than your career
Contact Information
Don Thompson:
thompson@pepperdine.edu