Career Plans and Experiences of June 1961, College Graduates

The study consists of 2 datasets with4 waves in the first and five in the second. College students receiving a degree at the end of the June, 1961 term from an eligible institution of higher learning were interviewed about their future cateer plans (Wave I or Dataset 1). For the next three years (1962-1964) the same respondents were reinterviewed to compare experiences with previous plans (Waves II-IV). The second dataset includes the same four waves as the first with a fifth wave conducted in 1968 to study the attitudes of the respondents after they had been out of college for 7 years. Wave I probed areas of career desire versus areas the respondent would actually be involved in. The differences in their views from freshman year to senior year were questioned. Other issues investigated were financial desires for the future, peer group influence, and college activities. Waves II through IV asked what the respondent was doing at that time in relation to what he/she wanted or anticipated. Additional areas such as career satisfaction and present goals were ascertained. Wave V (appearing only in Dataset II) was directed to the effect of college on the respondents' life. Again the respondent's present activities were compared with his or her past goals. Personal information was obtained on every wave.  Stata files were created separately.