In this special edition of the ‘This is How I Embed Career Readiness” blog series, we highlight our faculty-centered services and collective thoughts on career-focused pedagogy.
Years teaching: Collectively, Starr staff have over 20 years of formal teaching experience.
Courses taught: Undergraduate and graduate courses in business, the arts & sciences, and professional development (e.g., internship courses).
Teaching modality: In-person and asynchronous
What is career-focused pedagogy?
According to the Baruch College Center for Teaching & Learning, pedagogy is:
“the art and science of teaching and learning. It can look like many things, including but not limited to: designing a course, scaffolding assignments, writing a syllabus, communicating with students, planning classroom activities, providing students with a new way to engage with learning, encouraging critical thinking and intellectual discovery, and assessing learning goals.”
Therefore, career-focused pedagogy is engaging in the above behaviors while taking a career readiness perspective (i.e., how will this prepare students for the world of work).
Why should faculty embed career readiness into their courses?
Faculty should embed career readiness into their courses because students see college as a pathway to career success (Eagan et al., 2017). Additionally, multiple reports have shown that students view faculty as their primary source for career-related information (Strada & Gallup, 2018, NACE, 2024).
Lastly, by taking a career-focused pedagogical approach faculty not only meet students’ expectations but also help ensure that graduates represent their respective disciplines well in the workforce.
How do you recommend faculty embed career readiness into their course(s)?
Career-focused pedagogical approaches (e.g., activities, assignments, exercises) vary significantly from course to course. That said, we strongly encourage faculty to include a “Skills Objective” in their syllabi which is then reiterated on each course assignment (see NACE Career Competencies for a list of transferable skills). Course Skills Objectives reinforces the fact that students are already developing valuable workplace skills in the “classroom”.
Intentionally highlighting transferable skills helps students:
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- identify the skills they’ve developed and
- articulate how they developed those skills (e.g., research project, presentation, group project, or writing assignment)
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Research has shown that highlighting transferable skills in a course is associated with (Capeles et al., 2019, Miller & Favelle, 2022):
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- Increased course engagement
- Positive perception of the course and instructor
- Higher course grades
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Additionally, during the spring 2025 semester, we surveyed students (n=40) in two courses where instructors integrated various career-focused pedagogical strategies. When asked specifically about the impact of including a Course Skills Objective had on their skills attainment and career exploration/planning, students reported:
| Perceived skills attainment | Career exploration and planning | |
| Large/Very Large Extent | 62.50% | 62.50% |
| Moderate Extent | 30% | 22.50% |
| Slight Extent | 7.50% | 12.50% |
| Not at all | 0% | 2.50% |
For faculty looking to develop a course-specific Skills Objective, we’ve created a Syllabus/Assignment Skills Objective Guide, available on our Brightspace Site.
What teaching tools and/or resources do you recommend faculty utilize when embedding career readiness into their curriculum?
In addition to discipline-/profession-specific resources, we recommend faculty leverage campus stakeholders who bring expertise and real-world perspectives on student career readiness. Stakeholders at Baruch include, but are not limited to, Alumni Relations, the Office of Experiential and Community Engaged Learning, student clubs and organizations, the Writing Center, and career services.
“Student career readiness is everyone’s responsibility. It just isn’t everyone’s expertise.” – Dr. Ellen A. Stein, Director of the Starr Career Development Center
At Starr, we support undergraduate faculty by:
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- facilitating in-class presentations
- offering one-on curriculum strategy sessions
- providing access to career-related assignments
- organizing faculty-focused workshops
- providing access to discipline-specific post-graduation outcomes data
- providing access to our student resources (e.g., newsletters, career management system)
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Additionally, during the spring 2025 semester, we launched two initiatives to better equip faculty interested in taking a career-focused pedagogical approach.
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- Our award-winning Career-Focused Pedagogy Brightspace site allows faculty to explore various approaches to establishing a career-focused classroom culture, reflect on their current teaching practices, identify opportunities for integrating career readiness, and strategize ways to develop career-focused instructional materials and classroom strategies.
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"The subject matter was just what I needed to enhance the value of my in-class lectures and class discussions." - Paul Jannace, Allen G. Aaronson Department of Marketing & International Business
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- Inspired by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology’s “This is How I Teach” Blog, our “This is How I Embed Career Readiness” blog series gives faculty the opportunity to learn from their peers. Each post highlights diverse approaches, personal insights, and practical tips.
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Information on our faculty-centered resources and services can be found on here.
What advice would you give to a faculty member who is hesitant to take a career-focused pedagogical approach to their teaching?
Embedding career readiness into the curriculum can be as easy (e.g., including a skills objective on your syllabus) or as dynamic as you’d like it to be (e.g., completing revamping existing assignments). Ultimately, when considering a new teaching approach, it’s best to start small and align that approach with what you’re already doing. Additionally, asking for advice from those who have taken career-focused pedagogical approaches can also address any barriers you may be facing (e.g., perceived lack of resources, lack of know-how, lack of time).
Are you interested in sharing your teaching wisdom, strategies, or tips on our “This is How I Embed Career Readiness” Faculty Blog Series? We’d love to hear from you—and so would your peers! To get started, simply complete this form.
Do you want to learn more about career-focused pedagogy? Join on our award-winning Brightspace site. Click here to learn more.