Assessing the Impact of Engineering Undergraduate Work Experience: Factoring in Pre‐work Academic Performance

Schuurman, Mieke; Pangborn, Robert N.; McClintic, Rick D.

doi:10.1002/j.2168-9830.2008.tb00968.x

Cited by 35 publications

(37 citation statements)

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“…One study finds that co-op completers earn a higher salary after graduation, while those who started but did not finish the program earn the same amount as their non-participant peers 5 . These effects hold even when taking gender, major, and prior GPA into account 8 .…”

Section: Career Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…While studies have examined the academic and employment outcomes of co-op participation 5,7 , few researchers have accounted for prior academic variables in their analyses 8 . This study aims to narrow the gap between co-op outcomes and prior experiences.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While researchers have examined career outcomes and benefits [5][6][7] ; few have taken prior experience into account 8 . We aim to provide a comprehensive quantitative study of the association between co-op participation, student demographic and academic performance variables that are associated with graduation outcomes, guided by the following research questions:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Academic Outcomes of Cooperative Education Participation

Ramirez¹,

Main²,

Ohland³

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

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Outcomes and benefits of cooperative education (co-op) participation have been well documented; however, they have focused primarily on grade point averages (GPA) and career outcomes. Previous work on predictors of participation shows no significant differences by gender in the aggregate, but there are significant differences by ethnicity and major. One reason students may not participate in co-op is the perception of increased time to graduation; however, other benefits may outweigh the perceived limitations. This research furthers the literature by examining academic outcomes not previously considered, such as persistence in engineering and time to graduation. The work aims to answer the following questions: 1) what are the academic outcomes of co-op participation, and 2) focusing on diversity, which underrepresented groups and disciplines benefit academically from co-op participation?This study uses a longitudinal database of engineering students across six institutions, including co-op participants and non-participants. The sample includes undergraduate students from Aerospace, Chemical, Computer, Civil, Electrical, Industrial & Systems, and Mechanical Engineering majors. Regression modeling is used to calculate the relationships between co-op and outcome variables, including whether or not a student graduated from a particular institution, persistence in engineering, and time to graduation. Results show that co-op students are more likely to graduate in engineering with higher GPAs than their non-participant counterparts, although they will take longer to graduate. The implications of this study can be used by administrators and educators to understand differences in how co-op affects diverse student populations, especially those from underrepresented groups. The research will also inform co-op program policy making.

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Section: Career Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Academic Outcomes of Cooperative Education Participation

Ramirez¹,

Main²,

Ohland³

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In another study, Schuurman, Pangborn, and McClintic examined how undergraduate work experience affected engineering students' academic achievement and career development. 30 A total of 1,479 senior engineering students participated in the survey. The results revealed that the students with more working experiences had a higher starting salary after graduation and were more likely to get a job offer prior to graduation.…”

Section: Living Learning Community (Llc)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesis of Engineering Undergraduate Students’ Out-of-Class Involvement

Yu¹,

Simmons²

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

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As engineering educators prepare more high-quality engineers for the global workforce, more emphasis has been placed on developing students' professional skills, increasing student persistence, and improving diversity in the engineering workforce. Out of class activities have been considered as a unique way to improve these outcomes. Some empirical studies have been conducted to examine the effectiveness of out of class involvement in promoting engineering students' development. However, many of these studies focused on a single out of class activity or a single outcome and did not focused on engineering students. In order to better understand the role of out of class activity in engineering education and to accurately identify future research areas, the present study synthesized the findings on two domains: what factors are related to engineering students' participation in out of class activities and what are the outcomes of student participation. The results indicate that female and minority students are more likely to engage in out of class activities. Some institutional characteristics influence student participation. In general, out of class activities support engineering students' cognitive development, affective development, persistence in engineering, and career preparation. Different types of out of class activities are associated with different outcomes. These findings suggest that educators should encourage and support students to participate in out of class activities and point to the need for additional research.

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“…(institutional identity), (2) coops and internships (self-identification through exposure to the norms and values held by professional engineers), and (3) communities of practice (recognition by other in-group members as a professional in the field) 12,13 . Co-ops and internships contribute to students' desire to become an engineer 14 , retention and work self-efficacy 15 , and higher starting salaries and the potential for a job offer by graduation 16 . However, "lack-of-belonging" has been found to be a predictor of switching out of engineering to a nontechnical major 17 , alienating disadvantaged students 18 and even high achieving students 19 from the engineering community.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%