Internship Satisfaction and Educational Performance

This paper presents evidence on the impact of internship satisfaction on educational performance, in particular GPA.  I conduct a survey to collect data on undergraduate students of different class years and majors.  The survey asks students questions on several measures of satisfaction including colleagues, work environment, work load, substance of work, and pay.  I collect data on students’ GPA before and after their internship, as well demographic information in order to control for these variables.  Using the data I collect from the survey, I run cross-sectional regressions of GPA gap on satisfaction variables and control variables.  The dependent variable being tested is the GPA gap from prior to the internships and after.    My prediction prior to testing is that internship satisfaction is positively correlated to the GPA gap after accounting for the control variables mentioned above.  This study could be potentially valuable to Union College and other colleges and universities if the results show this prediction to be correct.  If good experiences with internships lead to higher educational success, the school can use these results to advocate for internships and work harder to place students in good internships.