Maximizing Student Integration through Student Employment: A Study of the First-Year College Student Work Experience

This study adds to the current research on student support systems and integration among first-year college students, using in-depth interviews to assess how student employment acts as a form of social support. Research identifies social support as a necessary component of college integration and retention rates. However, most research focuses on living, learning, and extracurricular spaces, failing to include student employment as a source of integration. This research addresses this deficiency, showing that students place high value on the social job aspects, that they have positive social interactions, and that their jobs contribute to their social and physical integration to college. I offer an explanation for the difference in job satisfaction between food service employees and all other jobs, isolating specific job characteristics that make the food services job less satisfactory. These findings offer insight into how universities can improve student integration through modifications to certain aspects of student employment