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Student Research Guide Spr2024 - Reina Uzunov: Home

This is a research guide on the types of gap years and how those gap years effect the students who take them.

Introduction to the Topic

Table of the amount of gap years taken by medical students during their schooling

A gap year is an alternative option to immediately enrolling in higher education directly after graduation. Rather than directly pursuing a higher education, something that students have expressed concern with, it is worthwhile to examine what this alternate option can offer. Traditionally, in the U.S. a gap year is known as a year taken off in between graduating high school and enrolling in college. During this time, students can opt for many possibilities including, volunteering, working for a year, or traveling. Each of these options has both benefits and drawbacks, however, the choice to take this year varies on the effectiveness it has on the students participating in them. Gap years have grown in popularity over the past few years, and the reason for this could be due to the beneficial development of student’s professional and educational status caused by participating in the opportunities offered in a gap year. 

Image: Guang, S. A., Eltorai, A. E. M., Durand, W. M., & Daniels, A. H. (2020). Medical student 
burnout: Impact of the gap year in burnout prevention. Work (Reading, Mass.), 66(3), 611–616. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-203203 

 

Keywords for searching the topic

Important/Useful Keywords:

  • Transition Year (Directs you to information on the gap year program in Ireland's educational program).
  • "Gap year" AND "high school graduates"
  • volunteering AND "high school graduates"
  • "gap years" AND "volunteer work"
  • "gap year effects

These are good key words to start with. Once you find sources I would recommend looking at the subjects listed in those sources and use those as key words also.

Best Databases/Search Engines

Gap year program video

Video: Counseling and Test Preparation Ethiopia. (2021, March 11). Ctp podcast 

episode 2: Gap year [Video]. Columbia University. https://youtu.be/gtt9-0Gpgis?si=zi6gvdinE_ZwZROU

This video should start at 8:14. You can listen to the whole thing if you'd like, however, this is where the discussion of their experience during a gap year begins.

Start Your Research Here

Background Resources:

Torpey, E. (July 2020). Gap year: Planning for time off. [Article]. U.S. Bureau of Labor 
Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2020/article/gap-year-update.htm

  • Though an old article, this one explores more in-depth the opportunities that a traditional gap year can provide students who take them. It takes a pro/con approach, exploring the different options that one can take and what may or may not be beneficial for the student. It then advises on how to plan a gap year. Even though it doesn’t provide much information 
     

Gap year. (April, 2018). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gap_year 

  • This is a basic Wikipedia article, it explores the traditional gap year as the majority of the page, and then moves on to smaller explanations of the different types of gap years in other countries. As a background source of information, it’s helpful to look at if you’re looking for short explanations on the entire concept of a gap year. Because it’s Wikipedia, this source doesn’t provide me with usable, citable, information, but it acts as a foundation for further research to be done.
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