Analyzing Student and Employer Satisfaction with Cooperative Education through Multiple Data Sources

This paper reports on the analysis of three years research of undergraduate cooperative work term postings and employer and employee evaluations. The objective of the analysis was to determine the factors affecting student and employer success and satisfaction with the work-integrated learning experience. It was found that students performed better and found co-op placements with an increasing emphasis on leadership in their senior years; however, students rated their first employer the highest. Furthermore, senior students were more successful than junior students in work placements abroad, and extended work terms at the same employer did not increase student satisfaction.