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This study aims to explore the relationship between the number of co-operative (co-op) education work terms that students completed and the importance they attach to employer and job attributes (i.e. work values).

Data were collected from a large cross-sectional survey of co-op students (N = 2,097) from one Canadian university.

Of the 19 work values measured, only six were related to work experience. Whereas work experience was related to several of the least important work values, such as geographic location, it was unrelated to many of the most important work values, such as work–life balance. Further, evidence suggests that changes in work values occur when work experience is first introduced in the curriculum (e.g. first co-op work term), not at subsequent work experiences.

The findings extend the understanding of how work-integrated learning (WIL) prepares students to make decisions about their careers in the future of work and provide insights to address the challenge of scaling WIL. However, the study draws on cross-sectional data from one single Canadian university and does not explore potentially confounding factors including time itself or critical events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

WIL educators may leverage these findings to improve their understanding of how students' work values evolve as they complete WIL experiences. They may also use insights from the study to align students' needs and employers' understandings of those needs.

This study is the first to explore how work values might change throughout a WIL program, particularly among Gen Z students whose work values seem divergent from those of previous generations.