How Often Do They Change Their Minds and Does Work-Integrated Learning Play a Role? An Examination of "Major Changers" and Career Certainty in Higher Education

This project examined the role of cooperative education (co-op) in changing majors and career certainty in Canadian university students. Career certainty scores were collected using an online questionnaire from students in both cooperative education and non-cooperative education. The frequency with which students changed their major and their reasons for doing so were also collected. Results revealed that while non-co-op students changed their major significantly more often than their non-co-op peers, they did not differ in terms of career certainty. The two primary reasons cited by non-co-op students for changing majors were interest and impact on career. It is recommended that future research expand on this study to determine if the practical experience gained from co-op provides students with the real world practice they need to connect their classroom learning to their chosen career. Implications for the findings are discussed.