Description

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With some of the most prestigious universities in America urging students to defer admissions so they can experience the world, the idea of the gap year has taken hold in America. Since its development in Britain nearly fifty years ago, taking time off between secondary school and college has allowed students the opportunity to travel, develop crucial life skills, and grow up, all while doing volunteer work in much-needed parts of the developing world. Until now, there has been no systematic study of how the gap year helps students develop as young scholars and citizens. Joseph O'Shea has produced the first empirically based analysis of a gap year's influence on student development. He also establishes a context for better understanding this personal development and suggests concrete ways universities and educators can develop effective gap year programs.

About the Author

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Joseph O'Shea is director of Florida State University's Office of Undergraduate Research and an adjunct professor in the colleges of education and social science. O'Shea has been involved with developing education and health care initiatives in communities in the United States and sub-Saharan Africa. He was a Rhodes Scholar and holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford.