Faculty Publications

Tuning Them In Versus Turning Them On: How Do We Interest Students In Working With Older Adults?

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Aging, Career options, Gerontology

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Gerontology and Geriatrics Education

Volume

32

Issue

2

First Page

122

Last Page

134

Abstract

As a nation, we face a shortage of individuals to serve our aging population. Therefore, the recruitment of undergraduate students into gerontology programs is an important, although challenging task. The purpose of this study was to determine if students who do not choose to major in gerontology do so because they simply are unaware of the opportunities or because they are uninterested. College students who were not gerontology majors (N = 226) were surveyed to determine whether they were aware of a gerontology major at their university, whether they could define gerontology, and their reasons for not pursuing gerontology. Results suggest that a lack of awareness, rather than a lack of interest, may be responsible for the challenges of recruiting college students into the field of gerontology. This implies that the most efficient path to bolstering our gerontology workforce may be to make students aware of the diverse and rewarding career opportunities in the field of aging. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Department

School of Applied Human Sciences

Original Publication Date

4-1-2011

DOI of published version

10.1080/02701960.2011.572037

Link to Full Text

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