Working to Create Work-Ready Graduates: Successful Transition to the Labor Market and the Role of Co-op

This paper investigates whether work-integrated learning (specifically co-op programs) results in higher incomes or other benefits after graduation. Analysis employs linear estimation models of the National Graduate Survey (2013) data and a subset of quasi-experimental data to determine the returns to participation in co-op for different fields of study at both the college and university level, differential effects based on individual characteristics, and the effects associated with non-monetary success in the labor market. Estimates suggest that co-op programs have significant benefits for participants in the form of easing transition to the labor market and higher incomes after graduation and that they may play a role in overcoming wage gaps associated with bias toward individual characteristics (race, gender, immigration status)

Work Integrated Learning—Does it Provide a Labour Market Advantage? Evidence from the 2018 National Graduates Survey

Co-ops, internships, and other activities that integrate students’ academic studies within a workplace setting—described here as “work-integrated learning” (WIL)—have become an increasingly popular strategy to bolster the employability of post-secondary graduates. Indeed, in 2020 the federal government invested $200 million into the Student Work Placement Program to support the creation of roughly 20,000 new placement for post-secondary students—and that’s only the most prominent WIL initiative they invested in. Despite the enthusiasm, there is not currently enough reliable, up-to-date labour market data available to support the benefits of WIL. This RIES report addresses this lacunae, using the 2018 National Graduates Survey (NGS), to produce additional, robust evidence on the increased labour market returns for post-secondary graduates who had WIL as part of their curriculum. Fortunately for policymakers, our analyses appear to show tangible benefits to WIL in Canada, as observed through a range of metrics. However, these benefits are not evenly distributed. We discuss these trends and their implications for future research and policy.Government of Canada’s Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program Canadian Research Data Centre Network from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Foundation for Innovation and Statistics Canada