Conference and seminar sessions in Work placements
← More broad
Support and skills development: Key factors shaping the quality of work placement experience
Presentation at DEE 2025,Bridging the Gap: Enhancing Employability at Undergraduate level through Experiential Learning and Work Experience Acquisition
Panel at DEE 2025,The development of highly successful Year in Industry (YINI) programme within the University of Liverpool Management School (ULMS)
Presentation at Northern Economics Network seminars,Pay dynamics of work placements: The case of economics graduates
Presentation at DEE 2023,The value of virtual internships as authentic assessment in developing the future generation of economists
Presentation at DEE 2021,Work placement and graduate employment: new insights
Presentation at DEE 2021,Determinants of student salaries in professional training year
Presentation at DEE 2019,The increasing cost of the UK higher education degree imposes pressure on the finances of many undergraduate students. The industrial placement year embedded in undergraduate degrees can lighten students’ financial burden and better prepare them for an increasingly competitive graduate labour market. Against this background, we collected data on three cohorts of placement students from the School of Economics, University of Surrey, including demographic characteristics, academic performance, programme of studies and employability-related characteristics. To identify the main determinants of students' salaries, we applied both OLS and quantile regression models. We find that academic performance, job location and industry are the main determinants of placement salaries. Students' efforts in their first year of their course can increase the returns of their work experience due to the possibility of high placement salaries. We also find a positive ‘London effect’ and that placement salaries in the economic and finance sector are higher, whilst in the technology sector tend to be lower than in other sectors. The associations between placement salaries and the three previous factors are particularly strong at the top salaries. Moreover, although students' accomplishments (e.g. awards or high scores achieved in aptitude tests) are not relevant at the mean or median of salaries, they are crucial for top salaries. Furthermore, students' previous job experience and demographic characteristics (e.g. age, nationality, and ethnicity) do not appear to determine placement salaries. Finally, we find no evidence of salary differences due to gender.
Student Academic Performance and Professional Training Year
Presentation at DEE 2017,We study the relationship between students' academic performance and work experience during their undergraduate studies. The literature on Higher Education has largely focused on whether a "sandwich" placement year affects the students' final year academic performance. In contrast, this paper considers the time frame before the placement year and examines whether the likelihood of securing a placement year and prior academic performance are causally linked. Although this relationship has been overlooked by the literature, the possible effect of first-year academic performance on PTY can bring evidence of placement opportunity being a major motivation for students to improve their academic performance. Particularly, the hypothesis that the average first-year mark may be a significant determinant of this possibility is crucial for the UK HE framework. The undergraduate programmes across the UK do not count the first-year performance towards the degree grade. This allows students that enter HE to familiarise themselves with the new environment and prepare them for the more challenging second and third year. However, first-year modules are the basis upon which forthcoming courses build on and, as we will show, affect the likelihood of securing a placement. Hence, it is important to identify the relevant factors for professional development at an initial stage to enhance the student learning experience.
