Analyzing Ranking Strategies to Characterize Competition for Co-Operative Work Placements
Shivangi Chopra, Lukasz Golab
Jul 02, 2021 14:10 UTC+2
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Session PS2
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Gather Town
Keywords: co-operative education, work-integrated learning, ranking
Abstract:
Co-operative education is a form of work-integrated learning that includes academic study and paid work experience. This provides new learning opportunities for students and a talent pipeline for employers, but also requires participation in a competitive job market. We study competition through a unique dataset from a large North American co-operative program, in which students and employers rank each other after a round of interviews, then a matching algorithm assigns students to jobs based on the ranks, and finally students and employers evaluate each other at the end of the workterm. Our results reveal insights about competition and its impact on decision-making and satisfaction. An analysis of common ranking patterns suggests that small employers appear to be more strongly affected by competition and consider more options in their rankings, whereas large employers often do not provide any backup options and only identify their top choice. Additionally, competition appears to affect satisfaction since employers give higher workterm evaluations when matched with their top choice.