College graduates had double the odds of being engaged at work and three times the odds of thriving in Gallup’s five elements of well-being if they had had “emotional support”—professors who “made me excited about learning,” “cared about me as a person,” or “encouraged my hopes and dreams.” Graduates who had done a long-term project that took a semester or more, who had held an internship, or who were extremely involved in extracurricular activities or organizations had twice the odds of being engaged at work and an edge in thriving in well-being. The bad news… is that colleges have failed on most of those measures.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has an article on the difference that being a “caring” professor can make for students, even after they graduate (or not — the study the article is based on does not determine that professorial caring causes student thriving, or whether thriving students are more likely to generate caring relationships with professors). Relatedly, Slate has an article on “deskside manner.”