<p>Have the motivations and mindsets of students changed over the years? Obviously the various motivations and mindsets are all represented, but have some gotten more common and some gotten less common? For example:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Career oriented. University studies are primarily a way to get a better job and career. Probably the most common with business majors and well represented among engineering majors.</p></li>
<li><p>Academic idealists. Typically takes courses and chooses major based on whatever may be interesting, with little regard for job and career implications at the bachelor’s degree level. Some are primarily aiming at getting into a PhD program in their major.</p></li>
<li><p>Pre-med / pre-law or bust. Often chooses a common major like biology for pre-med, or political science or English for pre-law, betting their entire undergraduate education on getting into medical or law school. May choose courses based on GPA gamesmanship (i.e. loading up on “easy A” courses whose descriptions are not so obvious to medical and law school admissions committees, while avoiding “hard” courses even if they may be interesting or useful). May have no “plan B” if they do not get into medical or law school.</p></li>
<li><p>Academically lazy or party animal. Often tries to spend as little time studying at possible, loading up on “easy” courses and often fills in the bottom of the curve that pre-med and pre-law (and most other) students sit on top of. But some are smart enough to do well in courses or majors often considered “hard” despite not studying very much.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Of course, the distribution of student motivations and mindsets may vary between different schools as well.</p>
<p>Some of the recent studies and books like [Academically</a> Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa<a href=“based%20on%20%5Burl=http://highered.ssrc.org/]this%20study[/url]”>/url</a> and [url=<a href=“http://www.thefiveyearparty.com/][i]The”>http://www.thefiveyearparty.com/]The</a> Five Year Party by Craig Brandon](<a href=“http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo10327226.html][i]Academically”>Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, Arum, Roksa) suggest that the last group is far too numerous in higher education, and that there are far too many “easy” courses (even at many of the top universities) catering to that group and the pre-med / pre-law students choosing courses for GPA gamesmanship purposes.</p>