Are you looking to boost engagement among your students before, during and after their co-op work terms? Do you want to help them to make the choices that you know will improve their experiences of the co-op program? This resource is designed to help co-op practitioners’ facilitate an enriched co-op student experience.
Project Information
University of Victoria
British Columbia Institute of Technology
Simon Fraser University
Status: In-Progress
Project Dates: April 1, 2022 —
ACE-WIL Research Committee
604-785-3581
ajsator@sfu.ca
Project Contributors:
Cait Cameron, Letitia Henville, Andrea Sator, Earl Anderson, Sarah McQuillan
A co-op practitioner’s nudge theory toolkit
Are you looking to boost engagement among your students before, during and after their co-op work terms? Do you want to help them to make the choices that you know will improve their experiences of the co-op program?
This resource is designed to help co-op practitioners’ facilitate an enriched co-op student experience and reduce the impact of common challenges encountered during the job search process and beyond.
The toolkit was motivated by the fact that nudging has demonstrated positive results by successfully increasing the uptake of post-secondary work placements (Fowlie et al., 2020). Inspired by how behavioural insights (BI) influence actions and outcomes without awareness of the exposure to the stimulus, most nudges apply priming and other related cognitive biases and heuristics, to make it easier for students to make good choices.
Methods
This nudge theory toolkit was produced by the ACE-WIL BC & Yukon Research Committee in 2022–23. Co-op practitioners helped identify common challenges in the co-op cycle.
The research committee’s outreach process included:
– a practitioner survey,
– a roundtable at the CEWIL Canada annual conference in 2022,
– an environmental scan of nudge theory in the WIL context,
– a literature review of nudge theory in the WIL context, and
– an external feedback round on the proposed toolkit involving one-to-one meetings with the Research Committee and select co-op practitioners.
We applied a behavioural insights lens to the common challenges that co-op practitioners identified to produce the following nudges — i.e. practical interventions designed for co-op practitioners to apply given their context and their specific challenge. Each nudge is based on an assumed underlying cognitive bias using the Decision Lab as a guide.
The following interventions are designed to increase students’ engagement in the co-op program by supporting their decision-making before, during, and after their work term. By implementing and testing these proposed interventions, co-op practitioners target specific behavioural barriers and heuristic fallacies, which stem from lack of confidence, uncertainty, and other common traits.
To learn more about the BI framework, see: https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/management/east-framework
Disclaimer: As of May 2023, the interventions listed below are untested. To support our evaluation of these proposed nudges, please contact Andrea Sator: ajsator [at] sfu [dot] ca
Setting higher standards for themselves
Bias in the co-op context
The Pygmalion effect, often observed in school and work settings, suggests students perform better when more is expected of them.
Proposed nudge
Encourage students to find an accountability mentor during their job application process—one who sets high expectations for them on tasks such as following through with applying for jobs. The accountability mentor could be a friend, a family member, or a university of WIL staff member.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
✔ During a co-op work term
Applying for more jobs (1)
Bias in the co-op context
The planning fallacy may cause students to underestimate the demands of a task, like how much time it takes to apply to jobs.
Proposed nudge
Advise students to set personal deadlines by which they expect to have applied for x number of jobs.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
Applying to more jobs (2)
Bias in the co-op context
Regret aversion suggests students may take the necessary precautions to seek emotional assurance because the thought of not landing a job would result in regret and/or fear of missing out.
Proposed nudge
Use regret aversion as a motivator using a strength-based approach to entice students to apply for co-op jobs, using language such as: “Remember to be confident during your job search and consider applying for as many jobs as you can so you don’t miss out on some great opportunities.”
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
Feeling less overwhelmed
Bias in the co-op context
Choice overload may account for students postponing applying to jobs because they feel overloaded by the number of jobs available.
Proposed nudge
Bypass this bias by providing students with a ‘browsing option’ in which jobs are presented in such a way that they do not have to take time to research and compare alternatives. This could be in the format of a weekly overview of new jobs added.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
Improving their understanding of own qualifications
Bias in the co-op context
Cognitive dissonance arises when there’s a disconnect between what a person perceives and what they believe about themselves. Students may not be convinced that they possess the skills necessary to apply for a job that they are in fact qualified for.
Proposed nudge
Help students overcome this bias teaching them about it, perhaps by including information about cognitive dissonance and other gaps between perception and reality. Consider including this information in a ‘did you know’ module as a part of new co-op students’ onboarding or early training. Sometimes drawing attention to false underlying beliefs is enough to move past them.
Relatedly, when meeting one-on-one with students, you might discuss their eligibility for the role since students may avoid applying to jobs because they don’t want to lose time on something they think they have no chance at. Invite them to recall learning about this bias.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
Fostering social norms of high engagement in co-op
Bias in the co-op context
The bandwagon effect may help students adopt desired behaviours when they see many others doing the same.
Proposed nudge
Develop your own strategy or support students in the development for high quality engagement of the co-op program to make it popular.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
✔ During a co-op work term
✔ After a co-op work term
Reacting positively to job search statistics
Bias in the co-op context
The affect heuristic describes how students may rely on an emotional or knee-jerk reaction which may impede more deliberative, reflective thinking.
Proposed nudge
Consider how to frame statistics as whole numbers (e.g. five out of every ten students looking for work are able to secure a job during their first semester of searching), not as percentages (e.g. 50% of students get a job in their first search term).
Some research has suggested that demarcating the percentage “brought to mind the image of an individual who had low odds of [doing X], while the equivalent frequency, 20 out of 100, brought to mind the image of several people [doing X].”
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
Engaging students in co-op messaging
Bias in the co-op context
The framing effect accounts for how some options may appeal more than others depending on how they are presented. The same information can spark a more positive reaction depending on which elements were highlighted for the student.
Proposed nudge
Contact your school’s marketing department to review how the co-op program is currently being advertised to students. Have conversations about effective comms plan and timing, measure changes in student views, email opens, etc.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
Becoming open to a broad set of opportunities
Bias in the co-op context
Commitment bias (sunken cost fallacy) suggests that students may avoid applying to jobs they previously thought did not align with their professional goals or beliefs. For example, working in an industry that may not have been on their radar could nonetheless be a good learning experience.
Proposed nudge
Help students recognize the potential existence of this bias may help them overcome it and secure employment in a sector that could result in previously unknown benefits.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
Considering transferable skills
Bias in the co-op context
Anchoring bias may surface if students are anchored to the notion that the job market is so competitive that one should not apply unless they have all the skills listed on the job descriptions.
Proposed nudge
Ask students to think about how their transferable skills (both near and far) would translate to a given role and qualify them as a potentially strong candidate.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
Thinking laterally
Bias in the co-op context
Functional fixedness describes mental shortcuts which hinder “thinking outside the box”, being creative. This bias might present itself when a student has a very rigid perspective on the kind of co-op employer they want to work for. For example, they might only seek a job with a prominent company.
Proposed nudge
Help them become aware of the bias. Invite previous students to talk about their positive experiences and/or share work term reports with less known companies.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
Improving their time management
Bias in the co-op context
Bikeshedding describes how students may spend a disproportionate amount of time on menial tasks while leaving important matters unattended.
Proposed nudge
Provide your students with time management exercises or readings. Make sure they understand how much time each task in the day takes so they can appropriately allocate time to apply for jobs.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
✔ During a co-op work term
Focusing on their strengths rather than their weaknesses
Bias in the co-op context
Attentional bias may show up as a student’s lack of confidence in their competencies and attending only to one’s areas for improvement.
Proposed nudge
At the start of the co-op program, intentionally have students focus on a strengths-based approach versus deficit thinking when applying to a job and encourage applications even for roles that may seem like a stretch.
During the preparation and job seeking phase or during the job placement, offer opportunities to students to reflect on their strengths (i.e. during site visits, advising appointments) and have students pay attention to their strengths.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
✔ During a co-op work term
Holding themselves accountable for their choices
Bias in the co-op context
The self-serving bias describes how students may blame external factors for a shortcoming, like missing a job deadline.
Proposed nudge
At the start of the co-op prep course, incorporate a self-reflection assignment or use a SMART goals example.
During the co-op experience, ask students to identify one thing they could have done differently to change the result. Help them accept ownership of a mistake or area for improvement and revise their SMART goals.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
✔ During a co-op work term
Improving their ability to remember key dates like application deadlines
Bias in the co-op context
The serial position effect suggests students are more likely to recall the first and last items in a series, and forget the middle elements, for instance, in an email containing a lot of information.
Proposed nudge
Improve effectiveness of email communication with students.
Use your subject line to highlight your most important piece of information (e.g. the email’s clear call to action).
In your last sentence of the body of the email, remind the student of the email’s second most important piece of information.
When to implement this change:
✔ Before a co-op work term
✔ During a co-op work term
✔ After a co-op work term
