Dreams worth pursuing: how college students develop and articulate their purpose in life

160 Pages·2016·1.63 MB·English

University of Iowa
Iowa Research Online
Theses and Dissertations
Spring 2013
Dreams worth pursuing: how college students
develop and articulate their purpose in life
Michael Edward Schluckebier
University of Iowa
Copyright 2013 Michael Schluckebier
This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/2625
Recommended Citation
Schluckebier, Michael Edward. "Dreams worth pursuing: how college students develop and articulate their purpose in life." PhD
(Doctor of Philosophy) thesis, University of Iowa, 2013.
https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.q5gontba
Follow this and additional works at:https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd
Part of theStudent Counseling and Personnel Services Commons
DREAMS WORTH PURSUING:
HOW COLLEGE STUDENTS DEVELOP AND ARTICULATE
THEIR PURPOSE IN LIFE

by
Michael Edward Schluckebier

An Abstract
Of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree
in Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Student Development
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa

May 2013
Thesis Supervisor: Associate Professor Debora L. Liddell
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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences undergraduate students
cite as helping them develop and articulate their purpose in life. Purpose in life, as a
construct, is associated with many positive attributes associated with life in general, and
the college experience specifically; however, it is also closely related to other concepts
such as meaning, spirituality, and vocation. For the purposes of this study, purpose in life
was defined as a set of goals or actions, informed by a belief system or set of values, that
provides a sense of direction to an individual’s life. This study sought to answer the
question: What are the experiences of traditional-aged undergraduate students at a large,
Midwestern, public university who have an articulated purpose in life? In this way,
experiences were defined as a necessary, but not sufficient, building block in developing
purpose in life.
An orientational qualitative approach was used to answer the question.
Participants were identified using maximum variance and theory-based purposeful
sampling. Senior students close to graduation were recruited to participate using the
Student Developmental Task & Lifestyle Assessment (SDTLA; Winston, Miller, &
Cooper, 1999), an online assessment that operationalized Chickering and Reisser’s
(1993) sixth developmental vector, developing purpose. Twelve students with high scores
on that assessment were selected to continue in the study. Face-to-face interviews
focused on the experiences and relationships that helped them develop and articulate their
purpose in life.
The results were organized into three major themes: 1) support systems upon
which students relied in developing purpose in life; 2) exemplars who they sought to
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emulate when living their purpose in life; and 3) the critical importance of experiential
learning in developing purpose in life. A discussion of the findings asserted that
developing purpose in life is a continual skill-building process, rather than definable end
goal or product. Existing theories were connected to developing purpose in life to provide
educators ideas for helping affect the lives of students. Research implications were
discussed with a call to study how individuals’ multiple aspects of identity influence
developing purpose in life. Overall, this study contributes to the literature, adding breadth
in specifically targeting undergraduate students and their shared experiences developing
purpose in life and depth in its confirmation of Chickering and Reisser’s twenty-year-old
revised theory.

Abstract Approved:
Thesis Supervisor

Title and Department

Date
DREAMS WORTH PURSUING:
HOW COLLEGE STUDENTS DEVELOP AND ARTICULATE
THEIR PURPOSE IN LIFE

by
Michael Edward Schluckebier

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree
in Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Student Development
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa

May 2013
Thesis Supervisor: Associate Professor Debora L. Liddell
Copyright by
MICHAEL EDWARD SCHLUCKEBIER
2013
All Rights Reserved
Graduate College
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

PH.D. THESIS

This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of
Michael Edward Schluckebier
has been approved by the examining committee for the
Thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in
Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Student Development at the May 2013
graduation.

Thesis Committee:
Debora L. Liddell, Thesis Supervisor

Tarrell Awe Agahe Portman

Sherry K. Watt

Saba R. Ali

Andrew K. Beckett
To Lindsey

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There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.

Bertrand Russell, In Praise of Idleness
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to Lindsey who has been nothing short of the perfect partner over the
last ten years, but especially these last six. Thank you to Deb whose support has been
consistent and encouraging throughout my doctoral program, but also throughout my
assistantship, my professional development, and my parenting. Thank you to my
committee who challenged me at both the proposal meeting and thesis defense in ways
that continue to energize me about this topic and the branches that will emerge as a result.
Thank you to my family who made a real effort to understand what this process was
about and why I did it. And thank you to Jef Mallett whose comic Frazz served as the
catalyst for this study, introducing me to Bertrand Russell and the virtue of idleness.

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