Recommendations for Research

Research on the topics listed below would be of particular interest to the National Student Employment Association. This list is not exhaustive, however, and researchers should feel free to submit proposals addressing other issues related to student work and the student work experience.

Category A: Information about the Individual in Work Situations

1. To determine the effect of work on academic achievement.
2. To determine optimum work and academic course loads for college students.
3. To know more about how student work contributes to the maturity and motivation of college age students.
4. To determine the kinds of counseling that working students should have and when they need it.
5. To determine how much students can earn and how it compares with their individual needs.
6. To determine the effects of student work experience upon vocational interests, both before and after graduation.
7. To determine the effects of work upon the student's value system.
8. To determine better ways and means to evaluate work skills, abilities, and attitudes.
9. To determine how the student evaluates work experience when a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, and after graduation.

Category B: Student Work as an Institutional Operational Program

1. To determine how best to use part-time student workers and full-time employees in an overall employment operation.
2. To determine the effect of part-time work experience upon the student's full-time employment after graduation.
3. To determine which institutional jobs should be set aside for the students.
4. To determine the range of responsibility that can be assumed by students.
5. To determine if part-time student help, from an accounting point of view, constitutes an institutional asset or liability.
6. To develop training programs for student workers.
7. To develop training programs for supervision of student workers.
8. To determine the relationship of student work to other forms of financial aid.
9. To determine the training and experience which will best equip administrative personnel to direct organized programs of student employment.

Category C: Student Work from the Employer's Perspective

1. To determine the impact of students' part-time work experience on their marketability for future full-time employment.
2. To determine what value or weight employers place on undergraduate work experience in making hiring decisions for recent graduates.
3. To examine the difference in employers' perceptions between on-campus and off-campus work experience.
4. To identify the factors that contribute to student retention in the workplace.