Using Internship And Employment Data To Expand Measures Of Effectiveness For A Business Career Course

This study explores the short- and long-term effects of a college level business career course. College career courses have been widely assessed for their effectiveness and positive impact on students. Researchers have investigated the impact career courses have on persistence to graduation, GPA, self-efficacy, confidence in career decision states, as well as the number of semesters taken to graduate. However, little analytic attention has been paid to the effect career courses might have on students’ ability to secure an internship or a job at graduation. This retrospective causal-comparative study examines four years of archival employment data for business college graduates from 2015 to 2019, N=2,635. Logistic regression analyses were performed in order to determine if the completion of a career course was a predictor of internship attainment at Junior year and if a career course was a predictor of employment at graduation. Annual rates of employment at graduation are also reported as the business career course was phased into the curriculum. Suggestions for future research and practice in career services delivery are included. In conclusion, the positive, recursive impact employment data may provide to the design of career courses is also discussed.