Spreading the word: how to increase interest in a career development course for university students
Faculty Advisor
Date
2020
Keywords
marketing strategies
Abstract (summary)
The purpose of this research is to identify ways in which MacEwan’s CDEL Navigating MyCareer Journey program can better reach students and increase enrollment and completion rates. This paper addresses these goals by looking at ways to improve the programs current marketing strategies and the features that effect its overall appeal. First, we researched fifteen scholarly articles regarding career development and student learning preferences. Next, we conducted three in-depth interviews with MacEwan students; one currently enrolled in the program and two not enrolled. After our analysis, we formulated a questionnaire aimed at solving the programs main areas of concern. A total of 126 respondents from the target group completed the survey.
The research indicates that CDEL should focus its marketing efforts on posters, friends, MyMacEwan website, and Blackboard. It also showed that CDEL should focus on creating awareness through friends, parents, online forums, and professors. Our research indicates that networking skills, career/life opportunities, and developing a career mindset are the most important topics to students and that CDEL should focus on those. Our research also identified that making a comprehensive, for-credit course might be the best way to increase their completion rate. We recommend that CDEL develop these key features of the program and modify the course to make it warrant credits.
Publication Information
Cartwright, K., Hesthammer, K., & Stener, D. (2020). Spreading the Word: How to Increase Interest in a Career Development Course for University Students. MacEwan University Student EJournal (MUSe), 4(1). https://doi.org/10.31542/muse.v4i1.1262
Notes
Item Type
Student Article
Language
English
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)
