This paper contributes to research about organizational effects on the socialization of undergraduates and the formation of engineers' values by examining the effects of exposure to academic and industrial work, in the form of cooperative employment and undergraduate research, on the educational experiences, job values, and life objectives of engineering students. Using data from a questionnaire survey conducted in the spring of 1990, we found that both programs strongly influenced participants' skills, job values, and life objectives, even when social background, academic performance, reasons for attending college, parental socialization, and other collegiate and noncollegiate variables were controlled. Cooperative employment more strongly influenced students' skills and had a greater effect on their career decisions, but research experience had a surprisingly powerful influence on values and life objectives, particularly the value placed on receiving peer recognition and influencing the political structure.
Research in Higher Education publishes empirical studies that enhance our understanding of an educational institution or allow comparison among institutions. It focuses on post-secondary education, including two-year and four-year colleges, universities, and graduate and professional schools. Papers in the journal assist faculty and administrators in making more informed decisions about current or future operations and in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of an institution. Among the topics covered in the journal are administration and faculty; curriculum and instruction; student characteristics; alumni assessment; recruitment and admissions; prediction and student academic performance; campus climate; and retention, attrition, and transfer. The journal also publishes brief methodological notes.
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Research in Higher Education