Elizabeth Boggs, Director, Career & Professional Development
Zonovia Proctor, Assistant Director of Academic Advising, Academic Success
Tim Stiles, Executive Director, Career & Professional Development
The T-Shaped Learner
Adapted from Spohrer, Gardner, Gross (2015)
The T-Shaped Professional
Adapted from Spohrer, Gardner, Gross (2015)
The Me in the T
Adapted from Spohrer, Gardner, Gross (2015)
Purpose
• Born from dreams and aspirations
• Discovering what and why you want to
learn
• Applying learning to systems and
challenges in the world
• Evolving over time, guided by your
values, interests, and personality
Adapted from Spohrer, Gardner, Gross (2015)
Dreams &
Aspirations
I Know What and
Why I Want to
Learn
Values,
Interests,
Personality
Awareness
I Recognize
Strengths and
Weaknesses of
Self and Others
I Am Knowledgeable
about Contexts, Cultures
& Opportunities
Diverse Inputs
Enhance Insight
and Impact
• Self-evaluating and reflecting on strengths
and weaknesses and how others
complement these
• Journey of exploring and experiencing a
variety of careers, cultures, and places to
work set in the context of complicated, global
systems
• Self-understanding and exposure to diverse
opportunities and environments leads to
finding purposeful “fit”
Adapted from Spohrer, Gardner, Gross (2015)
Confidence
• Gaining knowledge and skills bolsters ability
to take calculated risks
• Tempered by a mindset that accepts success
or failure as leading to growth and future
achievement
• Developing an ongoing narrative that shapes
personal brand and spawns rich stories to tell
contacts, employers and graduate schools
Adapted from Spohrer, Gardner, Gross (2015)
I Can Take
Calculated
Risks
Success or
Failure Leads
to Growth
I Tell My
Story in a
Meaningful
Way
What do you want to learn? = Purpose
How do you want to learn? = Awareness
What will you do with what you have
learned? = Confidence