Date of Award

6-2017

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Managerial Economics

First Advisor

Harlan Holt

Language

English

Keywords

work-life balance, job satisfaction, regression analysis

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of internship satisfaction on educational performance, in particular GPA, and subsequent educational impacts, including changing a major and adding a minor post-internship. I conduct a survey to collect data on undergraduate students of different class years and majors. The survey asks students questions on their demographic background, their internship experience, and their GPA by year. I collect data on several measures of satisfaction including colleagues, work environment, work load, substance of work, and pay. Using the data I collect from the survey, I run cross-sectional regressions of demeaned GPA gap on satisfaction variables and control variables. The dependent variable being tested is the change in deviation from the mean before and after the internship. I also run logistic regressions to determine whether additional internship satisfaction leads to a change of major. Additionally, I run matched-pair regressions on GPA post internship of one student, compared to the GPA of a student in the corresponding term that did not have an internship. Each pair is matched by gender, class year, major, and freshman GPA. Regression results suggest there is no concrete evidence that internship satisfaction affects change in grade point average, a change in major post internship, or an added minor post-internship. There is little evidence to suggest a connection between internship satisfaction and GPA difference between matched pairs.

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