NetVUE Conference - Indianapolis
March 14, 2009
Don Thompson, Cindy Miller-Perrin,
Tabatha Jones, & Darryl Tippens
Pepperdine University
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 Team
 Don Thompson
 Cindy Miller-Perrin
 Tabatha Jones
 Darryl Tippens
 Voyage Project
 Best Practices
 Evidence of student & faculty vocational development
 Quantitative longitudinal survey findings
 Qualitative autobiographical data
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
Grant Activity
 Planning grant 2001-2002
 Major grant 2002-2006
 Sustaining grant 2006-2008
 Initiatives
 Curricular and co-curricular components
 Student leadership and ministry initiatives
 Faculty development
 Our Best Practices
 Social Action Grant Programs for Students
 Faith, Learning & Vocation Workshops for Faculty
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Student Vocational Development


Background
 A response to a growing call to social justice
 A model of experienced-based learning that engages undergraduate students in the theological exploration of calling through volunteer activities that, in part, facilitate deep learning (Chickering, Dalton, &
Stamm, 2006)

Chickering, A.W., Dalton, J.C., & Stamm, L. (2006). Encouraging authenticity
& spirituality in higher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
 A pool of “seed money” available to facilitate student-led, social action grants from 2002-2008
 A dynamic educational partnership between communities, students, faculty, and staff (e.g., Center for Faith and Learning, Review
Committee, Student Affairs, and faculty/staff advisors)


Process
 Theological Framework: To encourage students to ask the question of vocation: "What is God's call for my life, and how do I discern that call?
How can I understand my career as ministry? And how can I use my natural gifts and talents to serve other human beings, especially the poor and dispossessed?”
 Objective: To address and/or seek to alleviate poverty and hunger, promote peace and justice, and expose students to social and physical need in the world
 Review: Competitive application process through review of written proposals
 Award: Up to $3,000
 Support: Faculty or staff advisory support (e.g., risk management planning)

Action-Reflection: Written summary report and campus impact plan
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Spiritual Life Coordinators provide and environmentally safe home
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Back-to-School in Iraq
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International Medical Missions
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Tsunami Relief
SRI LANKA 2005
July 3 - 31 st
Intercultural Affairs Office
Tsunami Relief Student Team
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The Eve Project
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Project Serve Spring Break Trips

Sabrina’s Story San Carlos Apache Reservation
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“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
Frederick Buechner
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The Development of Vocation in
Pepperdine University Undergraduates
 The college years are a critical time for the development of faith, identity, and one’s sense of vocation.
 The development of vocation is related to:


Faith
Identity
 Additional variables examined:
 International Experience
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Research Methods and Participants



Longitudinal Design
 Undergraduates surveyed at baseline and every spring semester of college career
Response Rates from initial sample of 300
 Baseline – 38%




First-Year – 68%
Sophomore – 64%
Junior – 83%
Senior – 70%
Overall Demographics


60% female; 40% male
70% White; 7% Latino; 5% Asian; 3% Black; 15% Other
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Subscales
Strength of Belief
(alpha = .81)
Faith Behavior
(alpha = .88)
Application of Faith
(alpha = .90)
Faith Maturity
(alpha = .91)
Spiritual
Transcendence
(alpha = .89)
Sample Items
• I believe in God.
• 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.
• My faith shapes how I think and act each and every day.
• I believe death is a doorway to another plane of existence
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45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
B as el in e
Strength of Belief, Faith Behavior, and
Application of Faith
Fi rs t Ye ar
So ph om or e
Ju ni or
Se ni or
Belief Strength*
Behavior*
Application
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3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
5
4.5
4
Faith
Religion
1
0.5
0
B as el in e
Fi rs t-
Y ear
Sop hom or e
Ju ni or
Se ni or
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 Measures identity along four dimensions:


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.”
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5
0
25
20
15
10
35
30
Baseline First-Year Sophomore Junior Senior
Diffusion
Foreclosure*
Moratorium*
Achievement*
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Subscales Sample Items
Discernment
(alpha = .83)
Action Through
Service
(alpha = .70)
• I have a good sense of my purpose in life.
• I know of the many ways that I can use my gifts and talents within the context of my professional career.
•
I have a good sense of God’s purpose for my life.
• I am motivated to choose a career that will enable me to provide some type of service to others.
• I feel a deep sense of responsibility for reducing pain and suffering in the world.
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4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Ba se lin e
Fi rs t Ye ar
So ph om or e
Ju ni or
Se ni or
Know Ways to Use
Gifts and Talents
Sense of God's
Purpose for Life

4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
B as el in e ar
Fi rs t Ye
So ph om or e
Ju ni or
Se ni or
Feel Deep
Responsibility to
Reduce
Pain/Suffering in
World

5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Career Choice
Financial
Service

International Program Experience
Contribution to Vocational Development
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Strength of Belief Scores for First-Year and
Senior Time Periods
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35.5
35
34.5
34
33.5
33
32.5
32
IP
No IP
First-Year Senior Year
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Faith Application Scores for First-Year and
Senior Time Periods
24
23.5
23
22.5
22
21.5
21
IP
No IP
First-Year Senior Year
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Vocation Discernment Scores for First-Year and Senior Time Periods
24
23.5
23
22.5
22
21.5
21
20.5
IP
No IP
First-Year Senior Year
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Vocation Service Scores for First-Year and
Senior Time Periods
22.5
22
21.5
21
20.5
20
19.5
19
18.5
IP
No IP
First-Year Senior Year
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Faith Maturity
Diffusion & Moratorium
Identity Scores
Identity
Achievement
International Program
Experience
Vocational Maturity
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• Faculty Workshop Initiative
• Vocational Development Research
Evidence
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 Workshops focus on readings and discussions of vocation literature
 Builds community among faculty members as they engage with common readings and share experiences of their vocational journeys
 Faculty become students of vocation, learning new ways to serve as a vocational mentor to both their faculty colleagues and to students.
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Write a self-reflective essay focusing on your vocational journey up to this point in your life, drawing from:
 A description of the major “turning points” along your vocational journey
 Discussion of particular moments of crisis or confusion as well as moments of joy and clarity along your journey
 Attention to particular individuals who have contributed either positively or negatively to your vocational development
 Discussion of experiences that have either affirmed your sense of calling or that have shaken your sense of calling
 Discussion of any distractions, tensions, or barriers along the way that you believe have hindered your pursuit of your vocational calling
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74% Reported a turning point
Change of location (15%)
Health issues (5%)
Job opportunities (30%)
Marriage (20%)
Personal loss or failure (55%)
Spiritual awakening (14%)
Starting a family (36%)
Watershed experiences (67%)
World events (9%)

 All of my science courses seemed like work; all the literature courses seemed like play. On Thanksgiving holiday, I had to work through some heavy-duty equilibrium problems for my quantitative analysis chemistry course, and I was to read Thornton Wilder’s Our Town for my American literature course. The power of the play overwhelmed me. I didn’t know it then, but I was feeling the difference between what Thomas De
Quincey called the literature of knowledge and the literature of power.
And I began to think, 'Something is wrong here. Why am I competent in but so unmoved by my major, and why do plays and stories and novels and poems move me so?’
 I took the CBEST test, passed, and became eligible to be a substitute teacher. On my first day as a substitute, I was assigned to cover seventh grade math. The moment I walked into the classroom I knew I was going to be a teacher. I felt as though some missing piece of my self had fallen into place. I guess it was more like some false piece of my self had fallen away. Everything seemed different. Life seemed to have meaning. The world seemed to need what I had to offer, and I had found my way.

50% Discussed a mentor
Close friends (42%)
Family members (56%)
Teachers (60%)
Thought provoking writing (12%)

 In college, I came to know an incredible professor, who, by the time I met him, had already been teaching more than twenty years. When he came to my college in the late 1960s, he was the theatre department. As I worked with him in classes, on stage, and as a work-study student, I came to understand more clearly the meaning of vocation. He exuded passion for his field, and he gave of himself unselfishly. When he wasn’t directing a play, he was pulling costumes for someone else’s production, running the box office, or designing sets. And when he wasn’t doing any of those things, he was telling me how his life in academic theatre had given him the opportunity to take his family all over the world, the skills to work on dramatic productions at his church, and the drive to produce and direct children’s theatre productions in Davidson at Christmas and during the summers. In short, he provided me a vocational model.
 In graduate school I found a female mentor, something I hadn’t had before within higher education. She was a relatively young professor and I was her first doctoral student. I was encouraged by her because of her availability, professionalism, and effectiveness, both as teacher and scholar. She is a Catholic and is in a stable marital relationship, something that was not very common among the other professors in that department. In sum, I respected her both personally and professionally. After I graduated, she forwarded a couple publishing opportunities my way and continues to reflect pride in my accomplishments. I must say though, that she had some reservations about my accepting a position at a Christian/teaching college. She was initially concerned about my ability to be productive as a scholar within this context.
She has been very pleased with my productivity here and I am happy about that.

43% Reported a barrier
Cultural biases of race (6%)
Cultural biases of gender roles (35%)
Financial concerns (25%)
Lack of faith (22%)
Personal conflict (27%)
Pride (14%)

 During this time I discovered my passion for youth ministry – but my sex within the church kept me from this pursuit. While it may be best that I didn’t end up a youth minister, realizing that I was limited because of my sex was deeply disconcerting and left me a bit confused as to where God was leading me. In fact, I recall thinking that God only called men to positions of ministry and so I resigned myself to that reality. It was a tremendous time of growth and realization and challenge – but also confusion as I was given messages that I should get my MRS degree while there (I married off 13 roommates), racism is socially acceptable, and my role as a woman is to be a good wife.
 While I was in graduate school, my daughter was born. I continued to work on my dissertation while trying to be home with her as much as possible. Two and a half years later, I finished my degree and became pregnant with our son.
When people asked me what I was going to do once I finished my doctoral work, I often replied,“Stay at home with my children and cross-stitch.” That was what godly women of my generation were expected to do. It is lonely, for example, in my church where I am one of a very few young working mothers.
Certainly I am one of an ever fewer number of young moms there who has
CHOSEN to work. So, I seek to balance my professional service with my service to my family and my neighbor. It is a balance that is taking all of the emotional energy I can muster.

Essay Results – Gender Differences
 Within the male group, 70% of the essays mentioned a turning point, 57% identified a mentoring example, and 30% discussed barriers to vocational activity.
 For the female group, 78% mentioned a turning point experience,
39% included a discussion of their mentor, and 61% wrote about some kind of barrier.
 Men place greater emphasis than women on the role of their mentor, whereas women perceive barriers significantly more often than men in their vocational journey.
 Female faculty members tend to have greater difficulty with the process of living out their vocation, whereas male faculty members are more often struggling with identifying which vocational goal to pursue at the outset.

Faculty Vocation Development
Research Results




Faculty report broad conceptions of vocation that include many life areas
Faculty report perceiving barriers to their vocational development, particularly personal and sociocultural barriers
Female faculty report greater perceptions of demographic, interpersonal, and sociocultural barriers than male faculty
Both turning points and mentors emerged as critical in contributing to the development of faculty members’ sense of vocation

 don.thompson@pepperdine.edu
 cindy.perrin@pepperdine.edu
 tabatha.jones@pepperdine.edu
 darryl.tippens@pepperdine.edu
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