Quote and Overview
"Almost a decade ago, faculty at Stanford and Harvard coined the term 'failure deprived' to describe what they were observing: the idea that, even as they were ever more outstanding on paper, students seemed unable to cope with simple struggles."
“On Campus, Failure Is on the Syllabus” by Jessica Bennett examines the culture of failure on college campuses, looking at how students respond to seemingly small challenges like bad test grades or housing issues. The article, published in The New York Times in 2017, questions what role colleges should play in fostering student resilience. Samantha Proffitt provides the introduction to this text.
Jessica Bennett
Jessica Bennett is a gender editor at the New York Times. She works to bring awareness of women, gender, and society across various media platforms. She began her career as a senior staff writer at Newsweek and she later became a contributing writer and columnist for The Times's style section. She has written about topics ranging from campus life issues, to female pot entrepreneurs, to sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement. Bennett is also the author of Feminist Fight Club: A Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace published by HarperCollins.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you agree that our society has made us believe that failure is not natural?
2. Can parents and teachers help solve this problem of students feeling defeated after failure?
3. How does social media play into the idea of perfection?
4. The article mentions that a recent study shows that 64% of college students will get a B-minus or lower. As a new college student, how can you "prepare" for failure?
In-Class Activities
1. Have students research coping mechanisms for dealing with failure in college and present findings as a poster presentation.
2. In partners or small groups, have students share a past experience with failure and analyze how it helped shape them for the future.
