Poli Sci Professor Advances Career-Connected Learning in Germany

By Robin A. Harper, Ph.D.

Professor Robin Harper of York College, CUNY’s the Behavioral Sciences – Political Science, recently delivered an invited lecture at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences in Germany as part of a 13-lecture series on the theme of “knowledge justice” (i.e., the injustices of lacking or being denied information).

The lecture, delivered in German -- a language Dr. Harper learned in her late 20s -- was entitled “Erfahrungsbasiertes Lernen von sozial benachteiligten Studierenden als Mechanismus für soziale Gerechtigkeit: Ein Forschungsbericht aus New York” (“Experiential learning among marginalized students as a mechanism for social justice: A research report from New York”). Professor Harper’s presentation examined how exposing the “hidden curriculum” can enhance students’ likelihood of career success.

The findings highlighted in the talk emerged from lessons learned through York College’s experiential learning opportunity, POL 393/394 (“the internship class”), formally known as the Seminar-Internship in New York City Government and Community Development. In her lecture, Professor Harper discussed how the hidden curriculum affects nontraditional, often marginalized students, many of whom have a strong work ethic but lack access to critical information needed to achieve their career goals.

The course aims to demystify and expose the hidden curriculum. The lecture explored its nature and structure, as well as its impact on students’ thinking and career trajectories.

The internship class provides students with a supported public service internship experience, with placements that may include elected officials’ offices, judges’ chambers, law offices, city or state agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Students also gain exposure to professional careers, develop key skills, engage in reflective writing, and complete an academic component -- all designed to prepare them for professional success.

The course is required for Political Science majors and open to all students regardless of their majors. One of its notable successes is that many students secure public service positions through their internships or build networks that help launch their careers. The class was conceived at York College and later expanded and enriched through a generous Mellon Foundation–CUNY BRESI grant awarded to Professor Harper, which provided stipends for student interns. Professor Harper continues to seek funding to ensure future students can also be compensated for their internships.

The abstract for the talk is provided below:

Public universities in the United States aim to enable students from socioeconomically disadvantaged urban areas to move into the middle class. These students often come from minority groups, working-class families, low-income backgrounds, and other nontraditional populations. Their path is neither straightforward nor easy -- not due to a lack of motivation, but rather a lack of awareness of the “hidden curriculum” required for success in professional career paths.

Many of these students work part-time or full-time, often holding multiple jobs, and may have significant family responsibilities, including caring for children, elderly relatives, or other dependents. To reduce structural barriers, opportunities such as internships, service learning, and experiential learning are essential.

In this presentation, Professor Harper shared insights from York College’s supported experiential learning program, part of the City University of New York, one of the largest urban public university systems in the United States, serving approximately 275,000 students across 26 campuses. The findings were based on students’ reflections on their internships, as well as the academic seminar and professional development components of the course.

The course is designed to help students use the 15-week internship experience to envision career paths and develop the skills necessary for success. Professor Harper also discussed best practices for instructors designing and teaching similar internship-based courses.

Professor Harper plans to develop this work into a peer-reviewed article for a German pedagogy journal, focusing on innovations in teaching and learning that promote career-connected learning, particularly for nontraditional and immigrant students in urban higher education settings. This student population, which has long been represented within CUNY, is a more recent development in Germany, which has contributed to the interest in her work.

She also anticipates publishing a related article in an English-language Political Science journal. This marks her second invited lecture in German at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences; in a previous visit, she presented on developments in U.S. naturalization policy, a central focus of her research.

For more information about the course or Professor Harper’s research, please contact her at rharper@york.cuny.edu.