Professional Wisdom: What a College Student's Brain and Career Need

Higher education has a long history of transferring knowledge—facts and theories—into students’ minds. However, it has less of a history of providing students with direct experiences, such as internships, that lead to felt knowledge of the field and relevant skills. It is this combination of academic and felt knowledge that fosters the growth students need, which we refer to as “professional wisdom.”

This growth state is supported by basic neuroscience. Humans possess a crowning achievement ...