As the academic year commences at the University of Michigan, the campus is once again filled with the energy of thousands of students embarking on their undergraduate journeys. Among them are two freshmen whose arrival marks a generational milestone for James DeVaney, the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Innovation at the university. Having navigated the same campus as an undergraduate years ago, DeVaney finds himself reflecting on a fundamental shift in the higher education landscape: the world his nephews are entering is vastly more complex, volatile, and demanding than the one he encountered decades prior.
The transition from the classroom to the workforce has long been viewed as a final hurdle to be cleared in the senior year. However, as the pace of technological and economic change accelerates, educators and institutional leaders are beginning to recognize that career readiness can no longer be a post-script to a degree. Instead, it must be an integrated, developmental journey that begins on day one.
In a recent analysis of the modern educational landscape, DeVaney argues that universities owe their students more than just a collection of courses and a list of extracurricular opportunities. They owe them a structured experience that enables them to make increasingly informed decisions, exercise agency, and learn from the consequences of their choices long before they receive a diploma.
The Limits of the "One-and-Done" Internship
For decades, the internship has been the gold standard of career preparation. These experiences provide students with a glimpse into professional life, help them build networks, and bolster their confidence. Yet, relying on a single internship as the primary bridge between college and career is increasingly seen as an insufficient strategy for both students and the broader labor market.
Data from the Strada Education Foundation’s 2025 State Opportunity Index highlights a significant gap in access. Only 43 percent of seniors at four-year institutions reported having participated in at least one paid work-based learning experience. This disparity is often driven by factors beyond a student’s control, including geographic location, financial flexibility, and "social capital"—the existing professional networks that often dictate who gets a foot in the door.
Furthermore, the demand for these positions far outstrips the supply. According to a 2026 analysis titled "Lost in Translation: Navigating the Work-Integrated Learning Landscape" by the Business-Higher Education Forum, approximately 8.2 million students sought internships or similar professional experiences in 2023. However, nearly 4.6 million of those students were unable to access the opportunities they desired.
Even for those fortunate enough to secure a high-quality internship, a single experience is rarely enough to prepare a student for a career that may span forty years and multiple industry disruptions. DeVaney suggests that the goal should not be simply to check a box with one summer job, but to place that experience within a much richer "continuum" of career-connected learning.
Creating a Continuum of Career-Connected Learning
If the goal of higher education is to prepare students for a lifetime of contribution, then the opportunities to connect learning with work must be frequent and progressively more challenging. This continuum moves beyond the traditional job placement and into the very fabric of the undergraduate experience.
This broader ecosystem includes a variety of touchpoints: faculty-led research, digital simulations, client-based projects, campus employment, entrepreneurial ventures, and interdisciplinary competitions. By integrating these elements, universities can help students see that their academic work does not exist in a vacuum.
When a student sees disciplinary knowledge applied to a real-world problem, the nature of their classroom experience changes. A concept that seemed abstract in a textbook suddenly acquires context. The "productive struggle" of mastering a difficult subject gains a sense of purpose. The student is no longer just studying for an exam; they are beginning to understand how they might eventually contribute to their field.
This shift requires faculty to play an active role in making the "unseen" visible. By demonstrating how a specific concept informs a public debate, an organizational decision, or a creative work, educators can help students map their academic interests onto potential career paths early in their journey.
From Visibility to Agency
As students move through this developmental continuum, the level of responsibility they carry should increase. In the early years, the focus may be on visibility—simply seeing how professionals work. As they progress, however, the emphasis must shift toward agency.
Agency in this context means giving students the room to make consequential choices. This involves moving away from "canned" assignments with pre-determined answers and toward authentic problems characterized by ambiguity. Advanced students should be tasked with identifying which information is relevant, determining which sources can be trusted, and weighing competing priorities in a high-stakes environment.
By the time a student reaches their senior year, they should have encountered dozens of opportunities to test their assumptions. They should have had the chance to investigate different sectors, interview professionals, and—perhaps most importantly—the freedom to change direction. When a student realizes that a particular path is not right for them after a simulated project or a community-based challenge, it is a success, not a failure. It represents a more informed choice made while the stakes are still relatively low.
The Power of the Reflective Defense
The final stage of this developmental model is what DeVaney calls the "reflective defense." In the professional world, arriving at the "right" answer is rarely sufficient. Success often depends on one’s ability to explain the reasoning behind a decision, acknowledge the trade-offs involved, and adapt when circumstances change.
A reflective defense asks students to look back at their work-integrated learning and explain what they decided, why they decided it, and what they would do differently with the benefit of hindsight. This could take the form of an oral examination, a public presentation, or a portfolio review.
The purpose of this exercise is not to prove that every decision made during their four years was perfect. Rather, it is to demonstrate a capacity for growth and evidence-based reasoning. This is particularly vital in a labor market that is increasingly prioritizing "durable skills" such as critical thinking, adaptability, and communication.
As noted in recent reporting from Inside Higher Ed, employers are often skeptical of broad claims regarding these soft skills. However, when a student can pair those claims with concrete evidence of their application in real-world settings—and then articulately defend their logic—the value of their degree becomes undeniable. The reflective defense transforms a list of experiences into a coherent narrative of professional readiness.
A New Mandate for the Modern University
The traditional model of higher education often treats the university and the workplace as two separate worlds, with a bridge built only at the very end of the journey. The evolving perspective shared by leaders like DeVaney suggests that this bridge must be replaced by a constant, integrated path.
The advice for students entering this new environment is clear: do not wait to be declared "career-ready" by an institution. Readiness is not a status conferred upon graduation; it is a capability built through repeated exposure to the world’s complexities. Students are encouraged to seek out experiences that test their knowledge, to save evidence of their work, and to build relationships with mentors early and often.
For the university, the challenge is to design an environment where this journey is possible for every student, regardless of their background or social capital. This means removing institutional barriers, making career-connected learning a central part of the curriculum, and fostering a culture where reflection is as valued as the work itself.
As the world continues to change between the first day of classes and graduation, the objective of a university education must remain steady: to ensure that students are not just equipped with a static set of skills, but are increasingly capable of determining what to do next in an uncertain future. This is the promise of a developmental journey, and it is what the next generation of students—including DeVaney’s nephews—will need to thrive in the years ahead.
