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Steering uncertainty about their careers
Current college students care deeply about what their future will look like, and they’re ambitious and eager to make their dream life a reality. However, their ambition is shadowed by anxiety.
Between the pandemic, political discourse, and the rise of AI, this generation has witnessed how quickly the world can change. Still, they remain hopeful, eager, and steadfast in their goals.
In February 2025, we conducted a national survey asking college students about their hopes, challenges, motivations, and goals.
The research is based on responses from 1,803 students who participated in the survey, representing 67 colleges and universities across 29 states in the continental United States.
While 56% of respondents plan to pursue a traditional career path, others are skeptical about the diminishing guarantee of job security.
Whether you are a student leadership team member, advisor, or professional staff member, there are steps you can take to help keep students in your organization from checking out or dealing with consistent stress.
Establish a schedule to check in with your staff. In addition to your regular team meetings, schedule one-on-one meetings with each team member. Address their current bandwidth, their challenges, any wins or accomplishments they’ve had, and something they’re looking forward to.
This allows you to evaluate their workload, possibly delegate tasks, and, most importantly, build trust and rapport with your team.
If your most ambitious team member has noticeably dropped the ball on specific tasks or projects, it may be a sure sign that they’ve stretched themselves too thin and are overwhelmed.
Have a one-on-one chat with them and discuss how you or other team members can help them get back on track and lighten their workload.
Taking time to recognize and appreciate your staff can go a long way. Recognize their accomplishments loudly. This will not only benefit one individual, but also others.
Although students should not be overly dependent on AI to support their work and professional development, they should learn how to incorporate it into their process to some extent.
Students are already familiar with AI; in fact, 90% of respondents have used AI tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly, primarily for research, coding support, studying, and note-taking.
Here are some other ways students can learn to incorporate AI in their workflow without compromising the integrity of the final product.
If your publication regularly sends out audience surveys or tracks distribution routes, AI can quickly interpret and identify trends, allowing students to use this as a framework for a comprehensive report on their findings.
Utilize AI for automated organization, whether within your CRM system, to track team deadlines, or to assist with your editing process.
To reach a larger audience and make content more accessible, students can utilize AI to translate content into other languages or convert it into various media formats.
Industry adoption of AI is not slowing down. Learning how to incorporate these AI methods into your workflow, however small, can have a significant impact on students' future job searches.
With an increasing number of AI content. You may consider implementing an AI policy in your bylaws that details what your organization will and won’t allow AI to be used for, for example, generated articles, graphics, artwork, video, or audio.
Today’s cohort is juggling a lot when it comes to the current and future state of the industry, and it’s essential as leaders and confidants to help them manage it all.
Whether it’s regularly checking in with team members or encouraging ways to test out new technologies, be there to support students as they navigate the newsroom and their future.
We’re here to help with whatever you need, from navigating our resource hub to unlocking more training and support for your student media organization. Reach out to us via email, or set up a 1:1 coaching session.
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