A Major Decision: Students' Perceptions of Their Print Journalism Education and Career Preparation

This study examines print journalism majors' perceptions of their journalism education and career preparation. This paper investigates why the undergraduates who participated in the study selected print journalism as their college major, what career they plan to pursue after graduation and how prepared they feel they are to employ various skills utilized by print journalists. It will discuss if these reasons have changed since related studies asked similar questions and if their career plans now include online outlets given the ubiquitous presence of the Internet and exposure to online or Web-based journalism courses. The respondents indicated they selected the major for civic-minded reasons, contrary to the fears of many industry professionals. Exposure to journalism in high school is still an important initial factor in the study's respondents considering majoring in journalism. More than 40% of respondents reported they planned to work for daily newspapers, while less than 3% said they would seek work at online publications. Overwhelmingly, respondents said they felt prepared to employ their listening, written and oral communication skills at their first post-graduation jobs, but did not feel prepared in utilize technology-related skills.