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The purpose of this paper is to report on research findings from a teaching and learning intervention that explored whether undergraduate university students can be taught to articulate their employability skills effectively to prospective employers and to retain this ability post-course.

The study included 3,400 students in 44 courses at a large Canadian university. Stage 1 involved a course-level teaching and learning intervention with the experimental student group, which received employability skills articulation instruction. Stage 2 involved an online survey administered six months post-course to the experimental group and the control group. Both groups responded to two randomly generated questions using the Situation/Task, Actions, Result (STAR) format, a format that employers commonly rely on to assess job candidates’ employability skills. The researchers compared the survey responses from the experimental and control groups.

Survey results demonstrate that previous exposure to the STAR format was the only significant factor affecting students’ skills articulation ability. Year of study and program (co-operative or non-co-operative) did not influence articulation.

The findings suggest that universities should integrate institution-wide, course-level employability skills articulation assignments for students in all years of study and programs (co-op and non-co-op).

This research is novel because its study design combines practical, instructional design with empirical research of significant scope (institution-wide) and participant size (3,400 students), contributing quantitative evidence to the employability skills articulation discussion. By surveying students six months post-course, the study captures whether articulation instruction can be recalled, an ability of particular relevance for career preparedness.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the relative effects of participation in cooperative education (co-op) and engagement in reflection upon previous work experiences on undergraduate students’ vocational self-concept (VSC) at graduation.

A cross-sectional survey of graduating students (n=1,483) from a Canadian university was used. Regression models and a mediation analysis were used to test the influence of co-op on VSC through the mechanism of reflection.

Results suggest that both co-op and reflection on previous work experiences have direct effects on VSC, and that reflection partially mediates the relationship between degree type and VSC.

This supports the role of work-integrated learning and self-reflection as critical determinants of students’ work-related learning outcomes, and co-op as a potential container in which reflection may occur.

Students should be given opportunity to reflect on their work-related experiences in order to strengthen their VSC. Institutions may integrate practices related to reflection in order for their students to reap the benefits of deeper learning.

This study represents an inaugural view of the potential links between self-reflection and the development of students’ VSC across both co-op and non-co-op degree types.

Co-citation frequency, defined as the number of documents co-citing two articles, is considered as a quantitative, and thus, an efficient proxy of subject relatedness or prestige of the co-cited articles. Despite its quantitative nature, it is found effective in retrieving and evaluating documents, signifying its linkage with the related documents' contents. To better understand the dynamism of the citation network, the present study aims to investigate various content features giving rise to the measure.

The present study examined the interaction of different co-citation features in explaining the co-citation frequency. The features include the co-cited works' similarities in their full-texts, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms, co-citation proximity, opinions and co-citances. A test collection is built using the CITREC dataset. The data were analyzed using natural language processing (NLP) and opinion mining techniques. A linear model was developed to regress the objective and subjective content-based co-citation measures against the natural log of the co-citation frequency.

The dimensions of co-citation similarity, either subjective or objective, play significant roles in predicting co-citation frequency. The model can predict about half of the co-citation variance. The interaction of co-opinionatedness and non-co-opinionatedness is the strongest factor in the model.

It is the first study in revealing that both the objective and subjective similarities could significantly predict the co-citation frequency. The findings re-confirm the citation analysis assumption claiming the connection between the cognitive layers of cited documents and citation measures in general and the co-citation frequency in particular.

The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2020-0126.

Based on in‐depth primary research with a key strategic manager within Co‐op Switzerland, a store visit, and secondary data this case outlines the core factors influencing the devised marketing strategy, both at a micro and macro level. The company marketing policy is then presented alongside the issues affecting how this policy was implemented. Final consideration is given to the role of the own brand developed to fit the company philosophy of being ecological, innovative and consumer focused.

The Mondragon cooperatives are the most thoroughly studied and well-known example of worker cooperatives in the world. Yet while there has been much discussion and wide recognition of the empirical growth of the Mondragon co-ops, there is substantial confusion about the lessons we can draw from this case in thinking about workplace democracy more broadly.

The normative and empirical literature on Mondragon is carefully analyzed to draw out the main implications from this case study for the broader issue of workplace democracy.

I contend that Mondragon teaches us two main lessons. First, that workplace democracy can indeed operate in a way that is economically sustainable and socially superior to conventional firms. Second, Mondragon sheds light on the question of whether co-ops are doomed to degenerate.

This paper advances our understanding and conceptualization of workplace democracy.

This paper provides practitioners with an up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of the world’s most successful cooperative network.

This paper provides insight into the practical feasibility and normative desirability of alternative organizations of workplaces in the form of worker cooperatives.

This paper will be of particular interest to scholars and activists interested in democratic alternatives to conventional hierarchical firms by illustrating the strengths and weaknesses of the Mondragon cooperatives and drawing out the lessons that this specific yet influential example has for issues of workplace democracy more broadly.

This is a report on an enquiry, the results of which throw considerable light on the different views consumers hold of co‐operative and other grocery stores.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between peer support and sense of belonging on the mental health and overall well-being, with a specific focus on comparing the perceptions of students in a work-integrated learning (WIL) program to those in a traditional non-WIL program.

Semi-structured group interviews were conducted with 25 participants, selected from a university with a WIL program. Interview data captured perceptions of peer support, sense of belonging, and how these influenced mental health, overall well-being, and confidence in making school-to-work transitions. Analysis followed the grounded theory approach of Glaser.

The analysis revealed that peer support and sense of belonging were essential protective factors for university student’s mental health and well-being, particularly during off-campus work terms or when transitioning to the labor market after graduation. Data suggested that participating in a WIL program can exacerbate students’ perceived barriers to accessing peer support resources and, in turn, lead to poor mental health.

The findings provide evidence for the importance of peer support and sense of belonging on mental health and help-seeking behaviors. Findings are important for the development of health programs, initiatives, and policies, particularly in light of the increase in mental illness amongst university students during their studies and as they prepare for the competitive labor market after graduation.

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.

Workers live two overlapping lives, at work and outside work. The spillover of favourable workplace experiences into non-work domains of life means that the workplace can be a means by which organisational members who experience network poverty arising from adverse social factors can overcome social exclusion. Social acceptance and interaction data from 105 adults with mild to moderate learning disabilities working in eight social enterprises in the UK and Ireland is examined to establish the link between organisation culture and workplace social integration. In this study organisation cultures in which user/worker-involvement in management and control decision-making is emphasised seem to engender a positive influence on the social interaction experiences of members with learning disabilities in work and non-work domains of life, having regard to difference in demographic factors, employment characteristics, country of residence, and level of disability. The study accentuates the importance of workplace democracy in enhancing the quality of life of working adults with learning disabilities, who might otherwise be disenfranchised in numerous areas of life.

The purpose of this paper is to explore – on an international level – the relationship between work-integrated learning (WIL) and several psychological attributes (i.e. hope, procrastination, self-concept, self-efficacy, motivation, and study skills) believed to be important for a successful transition to the labor market.

A between-subjects design was used with participants in one of two groups: WIL and non-WIL. The design provided data on the effects of the independent variable (WIL) on a number of dependent variables (attributes) across four countries. Data were collected via an online survey and analyzed using a series of ANOVAs and MANOVAs.

WIL and non-WIL students in the four countries shared several attributes – however – significant differences also emerged. WIL compared to non-WIL students compared reported stronger math and problem solving self-concepts, yet weaker effort regulation and perceived critical thinking skills. WIL students were more extrinsically motivated than their non-WIL peers in three of the four countries. Female students in WIL reported being the most anxious compared to other students.

Self-reports to measure psychological attributes and the small sample sizes at some of the institutions are limitations.

The positive relationship between participation in WIL and several aspects of positive self-concept are provided. In addition, data are provided indicating that overall there are more similarities than differences between WIL and non-WIL students on a number of psychological outcomes. Data also suggests that females who participate in WIL may be at risk for anxiety problems.