Educational orientation, NEO PI-R personality traits, and plans for graduate school

College Student Journal, Dec, 2003 by James A. Scepansky, Christopher A. Bjornsen

Openness to experience, which has been previously linked to divergent thinking and creativity (McCrae, 1987), is a trait that would benefit many graduate students, given the demands of an evolving world which emphasizes diversity in the examination, understanding and improvement of the human condition. In contrast, according to McCrae (1987), "closed individuals [emphasis added] are not necessarily defensive, but they are more comfortable with the familiar and have little incentive to try the new" (p. 1259). Although it is true that graduate students must work within the system, they are also exposed to a variety of positions and ways of doing things, and must remain receptive to numerous points of view. When paired with high levels of achievement striving and competence, Openness is a trait that would greatly benefit graduate students.

One limitation to the current study is that we only examined "intentions" for graduate training and did not examine whether students actually apply for and attend graduate school or whether they succeed in obtaining an advanced degree. Future research focused on personality traits and attitudes of students who actually apply for and gain acceptance to graduate programs may, in fact, provide evidence of differences between these students and the larger population of students who aspire to graduate training. Students should be tracked longitudinally to determine whether engagement at the undergraduate level predicts success in graduate school. This line of research would benefit from a continued examination of personality traits as well. For instance, researchers have already adapted the NEO for use in predicting possible career directions (e.g., NEO Job Profiler; Costa, McCrae & Kay, 1995). Costa et al. (1995) created the NEO Job Profiler as a means of "quantifying the match between a person and a specific position" (p. 132). According to Costa et al. (1995), "at present the NEO Job Profiler is likely to be of more use to I/O psychologists than to career counselors, but with the accumulation of job profiles, it should be possible to offer a 'cookbook' that lists occupations suitable for individuals with specified personality profiles" (p. 132). In a similar vein, it may be possible to use undergraduate students' personality profiles to assess whether they are suited for graduate training in specific disciplines. For instance, Conscientiousness and the facets Order, Competence, and Dutifulness might best predict success in mathematics, engineering or experimental psychology programs. However, success in clinical psychology, social work, or counseling programs might be more strongly connected to scores on Altruism and Tender-Mindedness (facets of Agreeableness) as well as the Openness facet Feelings. This type of research would require a direct comparison of personality profiles for students who enter graduate school and then either earn their degree or withdraw from their respective programs.

Overall, we believe these results offer educators valuable information that can be used in mentoring students who plan to pursue a graduate degree. Students in the current sample who stated an interest in graduate training were more motivated to participate in class discussions, were more motivated to learn than achieve a certain grade, were more open to new ideas, and had higher levels of achievement-striving and competence. We consider all of these traits to be characteristic of students who are engaged in learning. Faculty and student affairs personnel can continually encourage students of all academic ranks that working to develop such traits can only enhance one's chances of academic and professional success.