Are Placement Students Better Psychologically Prepared for Life and Work? An International Comparative Study

Conducted by:  Lisa Ward (project lead), Dr Tina McAdie, and Professor Nigel King  

Project leader: Lisa Ward

Co-researchers and affiliations: Led by the University of Waterloo in Canada with research partner universities in Sweden, Australia, the USA and the UK

January 2011 - Ongoing

The main aim of this research project was to determine whether there are significant differences in psychological outcome between students undertaking work placements and students pursuing a more traditional degree programme. More specifically, the project aimed to determine whether students who pursue work placements have significantly higher self-concept, self-efficacy, hope and study skills/motivation; and significantly lower procrastination when compared to their peers pursuing non-placement degrees, in order to establish whether and how work placement adds value to university curricula.
Results indicated that whilst there are some psychological differences between students who had undertaken work placement and those who had not, there were surprisingly no differences in concrete skills such as critical thinking, time and environment management, planning or any reduction in procrastination. However, those who had taken part in a work placement appeared to be more hopeful and more confident in attaining their goals than their non-work placement peers. It was apparent that, of all the measures utilised, the significant differences in psychological profile centred predominantly upon measures which pertain to students’ confidence in themselves and their abilities.
A particularly interesting finding was that any differences found between work placement and non-work placement students appeared to be intensified by the cumulative effect of multiple placement experiences. This is identified as an area which needs further exploration; as if it is the case that multiple experiences in a work environment results in significantly increased confidence, this may lead to a requirement for multiple placements to be part of the work placement programme within degree courses. In addition, an in-depth examination of any changes in individual’s identity through the experience of several placements would be useful in potentially tailoring the work placement experience to students from different schools, or with differing levels of life experience.

Find out more about this project here.