The Stanford University Center on Adolescence conducted a study of purpose as a possible outcome of a college education. Sampled from a broad range of U. S. colleges and universities, the project examined both the curricular and extra-curricular experiences that students had during their undergraduate years. The research determined how those experiences relate to students’ development of purpose. A particular focus of the study was on the development of students who have experienced various versions of a liberal arts education.
Students who participated in this study completed questionnaires about their goals, activities, and experiences in college; and a subset of these students participated in in-depth interviews about their purposes in life. We have defined purpose as a long-term, forward-looking intention to accomplish aims that are meaningful to the self and of consequence to the world beyond the self. Research on purpose has shown that it is associated with academic and vocational success, motivation, resilience, achievement, and psychological and physical well-being throughout the lifespan.
Click here for a "School's In" podcast interview about purpose and this study.
Sponsored by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation