The Professional Development Goals of Criminal Justice Students

Professional development helps university students build the skills and experiences needed to identify career pathways and transition to work. We analyzed the content of 80 de-identified self-reflective essays in which first year criminal justice students were asked to identify professional development activities that would help them achieve their criminal justice career goals and their rationale for these activities. We identified being real, being ready, and being relatable as three higher order themes. Together, these themes reflected students’ desire to connect learning with real-world practice, to develop the skills and dispositions required for professional work, and to cultivate interpersonal and cultural competence specific to their future career roles. These themes align with theories of professional identity formation and employability development. We conclude that, since criminal justice employers seek the knowledge and skills that professional development activities provide, educators should provide guidance to students using a real, ready, and relatable framework.