How students can create meaning in academic life

10-04-23 Work Meaning: How students can create meaning in their academic

lives

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"How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?" - Vincent Van Gogh

How students can create meaning in their academic lives

Evelien Spoler

S0200565&

Rico van Leeuwen

S1237926

10-04-23 2

BEFORE WE START…

Work Meaning: How students can create meaning in their

academic lives

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”

- F. Nietzsche

Why...

... are you here today?

... are you doing the things you are doing in your life?

10-04-23Work Meaning: How students can create meaning in their

academic lives

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CONTENT

The Meaning of Work

Overview on Work Meaning

Students and Work Meaning

Resilience

How to get back on track by being more positive

Job Crafting

How to create meaning in your CS master study

Research opportunities

What can YOU study?

Implications

Discussion


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WORK MEANING – WHAT IS IT?

No widely agreed definition in literature

Meaning is the output of having made sense of something, or what it signifies, as in an individual interpreting what her work means, or the role her work plays, in the context of her life (Pratt & Ashforth, 2003)

The essence of meaning is connection, and is linked to positive outcomes for both the individual and the organization (Baumeister & Vohs, 2002)

Meaning is a tool used by individuals for imposing stability on life

(Baumeister & Vohs, 2002)

THE IMPORTANCE OF WORK MEANING


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There has been a shift from a materialistic to a post-materialistic era and a rejection of individualistic cultural values, as people are seeking a greater sense of meaning and purpose in their extending working lives. (Guevara & Ord, 1996).

Employees expect work to fulfill an increasingly larger set of psychological, social, and economic needs (Casey, 1995)

Work meaning has benefits such as less depression, more work motivation, less absenteeism, improvement in work behavior, more engagement, increased job satisfaction, and increased empowerment (cited in Rosso et al, 2000)

HOW TO CREATE WORK MEANING


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There are different theoretical mechanisms of creating work meaning (Rosso et al., 2010):

Authenticity

Self-efficacy

Self-esteem

Purpose

Belongingness

Transcendence

Cultural and interpersonal sensemaking

This presentation focuses on practical mechanisms, namely:

Resilience

Job crafting

GAPS IN WORK MEANING


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Two gaps in work meaning literature can be identified and will be addressed in this research:

Literature is very theoretical, there are not many practical guidelines to be found to give

meaning to your work

There is no literature to be found about study meaning, therefore, we will make assumptions on

study meaning from what is already known about work meaning


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STUDENTS & WORK MEANING

How can you, as a student, create meaning in your academic life?


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RESILIENCE & STUDY CRAFTING

Resilience: negative incidents in your study neutral state of mind about your study

Study crafting: neutral state of mind about your study positive study meaning

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Job crafting

Resilience

Neutral state of mind about your study

RESILIENCE


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The process of, capacity for, or outcome of successful adaptation despite challenging or

threatening circumstances (Martin & Andrew, 2002; Howard & Johnson, 2000)

The heightened likelihood of success in school and other life accomplishments despite

environmental adversities brought about by early traits, conditions, and experiences (Wang,

Haertal, & Walberg, 1994, p. 46)

Academically resilient students are those “who sustain high levels of achievement motivation

and performance despite the presence of stressful events and conditions that place them at

risk of doing poorly in school and ultimately dropping out of school” (Alva, 1991, p.19).

Students' ability to deal effectively with academic setbacks, stress, and study pressure (Martin

& Andrew, 2002)

Academic gains can be lost if students are not resilient to setback, study pressure, and

stress in the school setting (Martin & Andrew, 2002)

PREDICTORS & OUTCOMES OF RESILIENCE


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Predictors:

Self Efficacy

Control

Planning

Low anxiety

Persistence

Academic resilience predicts three educational

and psychological “outcomes”: Enjoyment of school Class participation General self-esteemMartin & Marsh, 2006

BECOMING MORE RESILIENT (1)


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At meta-level you, as a student can enhance motivation and become more resilient by improving your:

Approach to schoolwork

Belief about yourself

Attitude towards learning, achievement, and school

Study skills

Reasons for learning

Martin & Marsh, 2006

BECOMING MORE RESILIENT (2)


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Having and maintaining good relationships with family and friends;

Avoid seeing crises or stressful events as unbearable problems;

Accept circumstances that cannot be changed;

Develop realistic goals and move towards them (planning);

Take decisive, conscious actions in adverse situations;

Look for opportunities of self-discovery after a struggle with loss;

Develop self-confidence (stepping outside comfort zone);

Keep a long-term perspective and consider the stressful event in a broader

context;

Maintain a hopeful outlook, expecting good things and visualizing what is wished;

Take care of one's mind and body, exercising regularly, paying attention to one's

own needs and feelings.

American Psychology Association, 2008

POSITIVE EMOTIONS


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Build resilience... AND...

Significantly better performance

Higher intelligence

Higher energy

More creative

Less burnout ... (Ong, Bergeman, Bisconti, & Wallace, 2006;Lyubomirsky, 2005).

BUILDING POSITIVE EMOTIONS


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2 minutes per day, for 21 days in a row:

3 gratitudes per day (Emmons & McCullough, 2003)

Journaling / writing about what went well that day (Seligman et al, 2005; Slatcher &

Pennebakker, 2006)

Exercise (Babyak et al, 2000)

Identifying top five strengths, and use one of these for other purposes (Seligman et al, 2005)

Meditation (Dweek, 2007)

Random acts of kindness (Lyubomirsky, 2005)

JOB CRAFTING


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What is job crafting?

Why should you craft your job?

How can you craft your study and make it more meaningful?

Things to consider when crafting your study

WHAT IS JOB CRAFTING?

Very young research field “[…] the physical and cognitive changes individuals make in the task or relational

boundaries of their work. Thus, job crafting is an action, and those who undertake it are job crafters.” (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001, p. 179)

Small changes, not completely rebuilding your job, to make your job suit you better

Job crafting can be used to make your work more meaningful Even in the most restricted and routine jobs, employees can exert some influence

on what is the essence of the work (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001)

Motivations to craft a job most often will result from situations in which employees feel that their needs are not being met in their job as it is currently designed

(Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001)


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WHY SHOULD WE CRAFT OUR JOBS?

Advantages of job crafting:

More engagement with your work (Bakker et al., 2012)

Give you the opportunity to take initiative, take control and express creativity (Chiao et al., 2011)

Increase efficiency in your work (Chiao et al., 2011)

Increased commitment to your work (Ghitulescu, 2006)

Increase the passion within your job (Brickson, 2011)

Being able to pursue unanswered occupational callings (Berg et al., 2010)

“Job crafting could be a net positive for the organization.” (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001, p. 195)


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HOW CAN YOU CREATE MEANING IN YOUR STUDY?

Four types of study crafting:

Cognitive crafting: changing task-related boundaries and mindsets

Task crafting: changing the content of work

Relationship crafting: changing the quality and amount of interaction with others at work


Contextual crafting: actively changing your work place/ environment/time

(Van Vuuren & Dorenbosch, 2011)

Four techniques of study crafting:

Add

Change/adjust

Repel

Solve


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Cognitive crafting (changing task-related boundaries & cognitions)

Add

Perception of your study as a meaningful whole that positively impacts others (Berg et al.,

2010)

Gain more knowledge about the topics you are interested in (Wellman & Spreitzer, 2011)

Find the connection between your study work and other domains and disciplines (Wellman &

Spreitzer, 2011)

Apply the things you have learned to things you do in practice (e.g. this presentation!)

(Wellman & Spreitzer, 2011)

Extend your knowledge by teaching other students (Wellman & Spreitzer, 2011)

Identify your personal talents and strenghts, so that you can strive for a meaningful study or

career (Wellman & Spreitzel, 2011)

Change/adjust

More positively interpret the study tasks you do (Van Vuuren & Dorenbosch, 2011)


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Repel

Try to not think about the ugly tasks you have to do (Van Vuuren & Dorenbosch, 2011)

Solve

Accept the ugly tasks you have to do; change your study expectations (Van Vuuren &

Dorenbosch, 2011)


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Task crafting (changing the content of the study work)


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Add

Start new projects (Tims et al., 2012)

Search for challenges, e.g.: follow extra courses, do a board year, study new and interesting

research topics, follow courses at another faculty etcetera (Wellman & Spreitzer, 2011)

Change/adjust

Ensure that your study, subjects and research is driven by questions that are meaningful

personally, practically and theoretically (Wellman & Spreitzer, 2011)

Altering the scope or nature of tasks, take on additional tasks (Berg et al., 2010)

Repel

Repel “ugly” tasks for nice tasks (Van Vuuren & Dorenbosch, 2011)

Solve

Improve your task skills and be able to solve ugly tasks by means of training (Van Vuuren &

Dorenbosch, 2011)

Relationship crafting (changing the quality & amount of interaction with others encountered at work)


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Add

Connect with fellow students, teachers (Wellman & Spreitzer, 2011)

Search for beneficial connections, such as researchers, teachers, people working in

organizations (Wellman & Spreitzer, 2011)

Search for a coach (Tims et al., 2012)

Change/adjust

Change current relationships with fellow students (Wellman & Spreitzer, 2011)

Ask others for feedback (Tims et al., 2012)

Repel

Avoid difficult students or teachers (Van Vuuren & Dorenbosch, 2011)

Solve

Learn how to solve interpersonal conflicts and improve interpersonal skills (Van Vuuren &

Dorenbosch, 2011)

Contextual crafting (changing the study place/environment/time)Add

Add nice elements to your study environment

Change/adjust

Re-furnish your physical study environment

Change the work environment/place: e.g. study in the middle of other students and academic books & magazines in the

library

Change the means with which you perform your tasks: e.g. try to search for interesting academic books instead of on-line

articles

Change the time at which you study

Repel

Take away disturbing factors in your study environment

Solve

Relieve discomforts in your study environment: e.g. a broken chair

Based on Van Vuuren & Dorenbosch, 2011


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THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN STUDY CRAFTING

Start small! (Wellman & Spreitzer, 2011). You might have already started the process of study crafting in the beginning of this presentation…

Students may have little autonomy to craft their studies, because of formal study designs (Based on Wellman & Spreitzer, 2011)

Crafting your study can be like a double-edged sword: universities desire students to be creative and receptive to changes, however it is unlikely that they desire that collective changes in studies or tasks can be enacted without their knowledge (Based on Lyons, 2008). Also: feelings of regret and stress (Berg et al., 2010)


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SUMMARY

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Study crafting through:

- Cognitive crafting- Task crafting- Relational crafting- Contextual crafting

Dealing with a setback through:

- Focus on ‘yourself’- Work on positive emotions- Take decisive action

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

The impact that study crafting actually can have on students (assumptions from this presentation have

not been tested yet)

Job crafting at different career stages (Wellman & Spreitzer, 2011)

The conditions under which job crafting can be fully positive or negative

(Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001; Petrou et al., 2012)

Focus on the dynamic process of job crafting as it unfolds over time


Job crafting as a part of organizational change (Petrou et al., 2012)

Job crafting in different organizational contexts (Berg et al., 2010)

Job crafting as a collective undertaking (Berg et al., 2010)

Researchers and practitioners have focused on the energy and drive of students and not so much on

their ability to deal with pressure and setback.

Surprisingly, academic resilience has not received a great deal of attention in the research literature (Martin & Andrew, 2002)


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IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNICATION PROFESSIONALS

As a student: being able to adjust your study to fulfill your unique skills, motives and

preferences (Tims et al., 2012) and give more meaning to your study.

As a manager: the importance of creating a work climate that encourages job crafting to

create more job satisfaction, commitment and performance

Job crafting could be a net positive for the organization, but is also a double edged sword

that should be considered

Development of students’ resilience

o Who is responsible? Teacher or student, or both?

o Is an individual always able to deal with setback?

o How resilient can you be? Is there a maximum?


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“Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor, in short for a sort of life rather than a Monday to Friday sort of dying.” (Terkel, 1972)

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! Are there any questions?

DISCUSSION POINTS

Work Meaning: How students can create meaning in their

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Teachers must give more attention to (improving/creating) the study meaning of students

Teachers are responsible for students’ study meaning (by means of study-crafting and building resilience)

CS education must focus more on the practice of building positive emotions

The double-edged sword of jobcrafting: management should be involved in job crafting practices

The organization should create a work climate that facilitates job crafting

How students can create meaning in academic life

Career

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