Just a Paycheck? Assessing Student Benefits of Work on Faculty Research Projects

Leah Greden Mathews

No 49446, 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: The benefits that students gain from designing and implementing their own independent undergraduate research projects is often presented as a valuable step in their academic career, and a stepping stone to graduate school success. However, it is not clear what benefits students receive when working as undergraduate research assistants on faculty research projects where they, the students, have little or no input into the project or its design. This paper reports on a survey of undergraduate students who participated as wage laborers on two separate faculty-directed research projects. The results of the study suggest that students gain valuable knowledge and skills that serve as constructive preparation for work, personal lives and graduate school careers; in addition, their participation in research enhances their overall undergraduate experience.

Keywords: Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28
Date: 2009
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-lab and nep-sog
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea09:49446

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.49446

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