Australian study suggests gap years can motivate students
Australian research, published in the Journal of Educational Psychology and reported in Education Week News, has suggested that taking time off for a gap year may help students to become more motivated to complete a degree when they return.
University of Sydney researcher Andrew J. Martin’s findings are based on studies of the academic motivation and performance of more than 2,800 Australian high school and college students.
His research suggests that former ‘gappers’ show higher motivation in college, expressed in the form of “adaptive behaviour”, such as planning, task management and persistence.
Because of this a gap years can benefit those who have struggled academically. Martin claims that “participation in a gap year may be one means of addressing the motivational difficulties that might have been present at school”.
These results have been studied with interest in the US, where the popularity of gap years is growing to rival that of European countries. In 2003-2004 just 7.6% of high school graduates delayed their entry to college by taking a year out, and just 29% of these travelled or pursued interests outside of work. However, in recent years many more students have been opted for the gap year option.
Martin’s research has offered encouragement to American parents, counsellors and teachers who have become increasingly concerned over students being pressured into college when they are either not mature enough or burned out from academic study.
Holly Bull, president of the Princeton, N.J.-based Center for Interim Programs, has identified the benefits of taking time out in relation to students choosing the right course and sticking to it: “Taking gap time can really save a lot of the floundering around that students do”.
Elite educational institutes such as Princeton, Harvard, and Yale have also recognised the benefits of gap year experiences and actively encourage deferments for gap years.
A study into American gap year alumni, carried out by Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson, co-authors of The Gap Year Advantage, found trends that echoed the findings of the Australian study.
Students’ main reasons for taking time out were burnout and a desire to “find out more about themselves”. More interestingly, 9 out of 10 of those surveyed returned to attend college, with 60% claiming that their gap year either inspired or confirmed their choice of career or college course.
To find out more about how you can make the most of your gap year with meaningful travel and volunteer opportunities, visit the GapGuru website.