By: Micaela Kelly (she/her)
Work-Learn Institute (WxL) earned the Best Paper Award at the 2024 WACE International Research Symposium.
Students from equity-deserving groups (EDGs) may face barriers in work-integrated learning (WIL). This study aimed to identify these barriers experienced by WIL students on a co-op journey from various EDGs. Analyses revealed that students from EDGs faced both structural and non-structural barriers on their co-op journey. The results of this study highlight the need for solutions and action to address these barriers by all WIL stakeholders.
Join us on a journey to explore how employers can foster inclusion for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (2SLGBTQIA+) co-op students in the workplace.
Between 2020 and 2022, the University of Waterloo rapidly hired and trained over 1000 undergraduate co-operative education (co-op) students as part of the Online Learning Assistant (OLA) Program, to support faculty (i.e., course instructors) in the transition to online teaching. Our research findings suggest that these co-op hires were incredibly beneficial to many faculty, with their efforts ultimately leading to improvements in teaching and learning.
This study explores how students’ gender and work experience are associated with the amount of time they spend working together on tasks with supervisors during their co-operative education (co-op) experiences. We also examine how the time spent working together on tasks with supervisors affects students’ self-reported learning.
Learn how to make your workplace an inclusive and safe space. Discover key findings from the Work-Learn Institute’s latest research on students from equity-deserving groups in co-op programs. Hear first-hand from students about the barriers they face in their work-integrated learning experiences, from applying for jobs to completing work terms.
This research study explored the kinds of friendships co-op students make on work terms and how they are impacted by remote work. We also examined the impacts of these friendships on outcomes that are important to both students and employers.
Are you prepared to supervise the next generation of talent? Supervising emerging talent, like co-op students, can be a unique opportunity. In this session, you’ll hear about the latest research on the research-based 4C model to manage next-gen talent from the University of Wateroo's Work-Learn Institute, the only institute in the world dedicated to research on work-integrated learning.
What does Gen Z value most and how do their values inform how they seek employers and jobs? In this session, you’ll hear about the latest research on next-generation talent from the Work-Learn Institute, the only institute in the world dedicated to research on work-integrated learning.
To examine how co-op programs can create value for students and employers, this study examined whether work-integrated learning (WIL) job seekers are more attracted to jobs that signal a student-oriented opportunity than to those that do not.