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Report created by the Office for Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning November 2018
THE SENIOR EXIT SURVEY ANALYTICAL REPORT-2018
1
The Senior Exit Survey Analytical Report-2018
November 15, 2018
2
Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 3
The Data Entry Process ............................................................................................................................. 3
Statistical Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 4
Findings ......................................................................................................................................................... 5
Part A: Descriptive Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 5
Status Following Graduation ................................................................................................................. 5
Employment Status ............................................................................................................................... 6
College of Charleston Experiential Learning ....................................................................................... 13
Continuing Education .......................................................................................................................... 16
Academic Experiences ........................................................................................................................ 20
Demographics ..................................................................................................................................... 23
Part B: Sub-group Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 24
Sub-group analysis by school .............................................................................................................. 24
Sub-group analysis by transfer student status ....................................................................................... 37
Part C: Statistical Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 42
The association between salary and internship ................................................................................. 42
The associations between gender and major-job match ................................................................... 43
The associations between gender and salary ..................................................................................... 43
The associations between school and salary ...................................................................................... 44
The senior distributions by gender and school ................................................................................... 45
The association between gender and satisfaction with the curriculum in their majors .................... 46
The association between gender and satisfaction with overall academic experiences ..................... 46
The association between transfer student status and satisfaction with curriculum in their majors . 47
The association between transfer student status and satisfaction with satisfaction with their overall co-curricular activities experience ...................................................................................................... 48
The association between transfer student status and satisfaction with their overall College of Charleston experience ........................................................................................................................ 48
References .................................................................................................................................................. 50
3
Introduction
The College of Charleston Senior Exit Survey (SES) is administered annually to candidates for
graduation in all undergraduate programs in two formats: paper and Qualtrics, an online survey
distribution tool. The primary purpose of the survey is to obtain information about seniors’
satisfaction with a range of academic experiences and to better understand their career outcomes,
including continuing education and job placements. The SES survey has six main questions, each
with subparts, which cover status following graduation, employment, continuing education,
College of Charleston experiential learning, academic experience, and demographics. The paper
survey is administered by the Office for Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning(OIEP)
at the graduation rehearsal, which occurs two days prior to the graduation ceremony in May. In
addition, an online survey through Qualtrics is administered in the School of Business and for all
Biology Majors. The data from the online survey and paper survey are then merged into one
dataset to provide data for the entire graduating class. Graduates are invited to take the survey
online two weeks before graduation. iPads are utilized at graduation rehearsal to capture any
non-responders. In addition, the academic year is used in the report for the survey to define
graduation year. For instance, the Class of 2018 is defined as the cohort who graduate in 2017-
2018 academic year at the College of Charleston. Of 1,854 graduates who participated in the
graduation rehearsal and the online survey, 1,393 completed the survey, which yields a response
rate of 75.13%.
Methodology The Data Entry Process The data from the paper survey were entered into an Excel spreadsheet using a data entry screen
developed by OIEP. To ensure the data accuracy and to decrease human error as much as
4
possible, five strategies have been applied during and after the data entry process. 1) Data
ownership. The data entered by any team members at OIEP were marked in different colors for
possible data checking. 2) Random data checking during the data entry process. We randomly
checked 5 surveys for every 100 paper surveys, yielding a 5% data checking rate. 3) Final
random data checking. We increased the percentage of data checking from 5% to at least 10%
after all data were inputted into Excel. As of today, our team has checked 260 surveys randomly
yielding, roughly, a 19% data checking rate. 4) Record archiving and ID creation. A SESID has
been created for all survey respondents and the paper surveys will be safely stored at OIEP for at
least five years for further data checking. 5) Supervisor check. Divya Bhati, Associate Vice
President of the OIEP, has conducted the random data checking after the data entry was done.
Statistical Methodology
For the data analysis, basic descriptive analysis, sub-group analysis, and further statistical
analysis have been conducted to analyze the dataset that encompasses the paper and the online
survey. The descriptive analysis is utilized to understand the frequency and distribution of the
data, primarily presenting the total number of variables of interest as well as percentages. The
goal of sub-group analysis is to understand whether academic experiences, continuing education,
and job placements of seniors that took the 2017-2018 SES differ significantly by school and
transfer student status. The rationale of conducting subgroup analysis by school is that seven
schools1 at the College of Charleston represent different fields of study and previous higher
education research2 has found that field of study is closely associated with graduates’ monetary
and non-monetary career outcomes. Conducting subgroup analysis by transfer student status is
1 School of Professional studies only has seven students, so it was excluded from most analysis in this report and the results of these seven students will be available by request. 2 References were not included here for the brevity of the report.
5
completed for two reasons. First, prior literature3 has emphasized the importance of paying
attention to the academic experiences of transfer students and the career outcomes of transfer
students. In addition, the formation of the Transfer Resource Center at the College of Charleston
shows that the College of Charleston is committed to improving the academic experiences of
transfer students. A comprehensive sub-group analysis by transfer student status has been
conducted in order to provide the Transfer Resource Center with the data needed so they have a
better understanding of the academic experiences and career outcomes of transfer students who
graduate from the College of Charleston. In terms of statistical analysis, the Chi-square test is
used to further examine if there are statistically significant differences between key variables
presented in the survey, including status following graduation, employment, continuing
education, College of Charleston experiential learning, academic experience, and demographics.
Statistical analysis is presented with detailed explanations and interpretations.
Findings
Part A: Descriptive Analysis Status Following Graduation Table 1. Frequency distribution of employment status following graduation of seniors in the 2017-2018 academic year
Status following Graduation n Total Percentage
Seeking employment 548 1,393 39.34%
Employed full time 438 1,393 31.44%
Continuing education 321 1,393 23.04%
3 References were not included here for the brevity of the report.
6
Employed part time 214 1,393 15.36%
Seeking admission to graduate school 198 1,393 14.21%
Temporary or contract work 47 1,393 3.37%
Volunteer or national service 32 1,393 2.30%
Note: the total of the percentages is larger than 100% and the total number of n is larger than 1393 because seniors selected more than one choice in this question.
As shown in Table 1, of 1,393 seniors surveyed, 39.34% of them are still seeking employment,
31.44% of them are employed full time, and 15.36% of them are employed part time. In terms of
continuing education, 23.04% of seniors surveyed have continued their education and 14.21% of
them are still seeking admission to graduate school. Please note that these seven percentages are
not mutually exclusive, meaning that students could select both “employed full time” and
“seeking employment”, which is likely to indicate that seniors are still looking for better career
opportunities even though they are already employed full time.
Employment Status Table 2. Frequency distribution of employment categories for seniors in 2017-2018 academic year
Category n Total Percentage
Education (Early childhood, K-12, and higher education) 109 858 12.70%
Food and beverage 93 858 10.84%
Science, technology, engineering, and/or math 88 858 10.26%
Healthcare services including clinical 82 858 9.56%
Arts, design, and/or music 72 858 8.39%
Communication, media, and /or marketing 67 858 7.81%
7
Accounting, business, finance, and/or management 58 858 6.76%
Civil service or government 58 858 6.76%
Hospitality and/or tourism 54 858 6.29%
Non-profit, community and social service 49 858 5.71%
Administrative 27 858 3.15%
Law and legal 27 858 3.15%
Entrepreneurship 19 858 2.21%
Real estate 18 858 2.10%
Consulting or project management 13 858 1.51%
Logistics, operations and/or supply chain 12 858 1.40%
Military service 12 858 1.40%
Note: 858 is the total number of seniors who responded to this question.
Table 2 illustrates employment fields where seniors are employed following graduation. As
shown in Table 2, seniors surveyed are spread across seventeen categories of employment.
Education, including early childhood education, K-12 education, as well as higher education, has
the largest portion of seniors surveyed (12.7%); followed by the food and beverage industry
(10.84%); and then STEM-related fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)
(10.26%). The fourth and fifth employment fields for seniors are healthcare services and arts,
design, and/or music, consisting of 9.56% and 8.39% of seniors surveyed, respectively.
8
Table 3. Top 15 job titles held by seniors in 2017-2018 academic year
Position Title n Top 15
K-12 teacher 47 1
Service associate/manager 21 2
Sales associate/manager 15 3
Business analyst 8 4 Accounting coordinator/manager 8 4
Marketing associate/manager 7 6
Account associate/ manager 7 6
Financial consultant 6 8
Software engineer 5 9
Administrative associate 5 9
Events coordinator 5 9
Line therapist 3 12
Paralegal 2 13
Business co-owner 2 13
Implementation consultant 2 13 Note: ranking the categories with equal values follows the practice in college ranking from US News and World Report.
Consistent with the findings in table 2, Table 3 shows that the top 10 full-time job titles reported
by seniors in the 2017-2018 SES survey are K-12 teacher, service associate/manager, sales
associate/manager, business analyst, accounting coordinator/manager, marketing
9
associate/manager, financial consultant, software engineer, and administrative associate. This
table also shows that with K-12 teacher, service associates/manager and sales associate/manager
have over 10 seniors, the rest of the distributions in seniors’ reported job titles all include less
than 10 seniors, which indicates that seniors from the College are largely spreading throughout a
variety of employment fields and take on different roles in the job market.
Table 4. Top 15 employers where seniors are working full time
Employer Name n Top 15
Medical University of South Carolina 7 1
College of Charleston 6 2
Berkeley County Schools 4 3
SPAWAR 3 4
Boomtown 3 4
Marriott International 3 4
Kiawah Island Golf Resort 3 4
Enterprise 2 8
Cornerstone Wealth Advisory 2 8
Jet program 2 8
Army 2 8
Cvent 2 8
Carolina Coast Behavioral Services 2 8
Greystar 2 8
10
Charleston County Schools 2 8
Note: ranking the categories with equal values follows the practice in college ranking from US News and World Report.
Table 4 lists the top 15 employers where seniors are currently holding full-time employment. Of
those employers, seven seniors are working at the Medical University of South Carolina, six are
working at the College of Charleston and four are working at Berkeley County Schools. Table 4
also suggests that instead of working at the same employer in large numbers, surveyed seniors
reported that they are employed in different organizations in a spreading manner and there are no
more than eight seniors working for the same employer.
Figure 1: Percentage distribution of self-reported salary
Figure 1 details how the salaries of seniors surveyed were distributed in percentage. Overall, the
percentage distribution is not normally distributed but skewed to the right, which means most
14.37%
18.35%
27.22%
18.96%
9.17%
5.81% 6.12%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Below $20,000 $20,000-$29,000 $29,001-$39,000 $39,001-$49,000 $49,001-$59,000 $59,001-$69,000 $69,001 andabove
Distribution of Seniors' Salary
11
seniors fall into the first four lower-salary categories with a small portion of them having salaries
in the upper three categories. Specifically, 27.22% of seniors reported that their salaries range
from $29,001 to $39,000, 18.96% of them have salaries between $39,001 and $49,000, and
18.35% have salaries between $20,000 and $29,000. In other words, 21.1% of seniors have
salaries that are over $49,001 and 78.9% of seniors surveyed have salaries that are lower than
$49,001.
Figure 2. Percentage distribution of how college majors have prepared seniors for their jobs
Figure 2 demonstrates how seniors surveyed rated how their academic majors have prepared
them for the jobs they are currently holding. Generally, the results suggest that seniors surveyed
from the College of Charleston have rated their preparedness by their college majors for their
careers post-graduation very positively. 36.27% of seniors rated that their college majors have
very much prepared them for the jobs they have and 16.91% rated that their college majors have
6.62%
14.71%
25.49%
36.27%
16.91%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Not at all Somewhat Moderately Very Completely
Percentage of How Majors Have Preapred Seniors for Jobs
12
completely prepared them for their current jobs, as opposed to 6.62% of seniors who rated that
their majors have not prepared them for jobs at all.
Figure 3. Percentage distribution of major-job match4
Figure 3 details the percentage distribution of self-reported major and job match rated by seniors
when asked “in relation to your major, how you would describe your job?” As suggested in
Figure 3, the distribution is generally bell-shaped and normally distributed, which suggests that
the majority of seniors reported their jobs are appropriate for their level (61.69%). In addition,
13.18% stated that their jobs are somewhat above their level, whereas 16.92% rated their jobs as
somewhat beneath their level.
4 Major-job match in this report is generally defined as the perception of how seniors’ jobs have matched their academic majors.
6.47%
16.92%
61.69%
13.18%
1.74%0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Definitely beneath mylevel
Somewhat beneath mylevel
Appropriate for my level Somewhat above mylevel
Definitely above mylevel
Percentage of Major-Job Match
13
Table 5. Descriptive analysis of Figure 2 and Figure 3
Item Mean Standard Deviation n
To what extent did your college major prepare you for the above job? 3.42 1.12 408
In relation to your major, how would you describe your job? 2.86 0.78 402
Table 5 suggests that the average score of how seniors’ college majors have prepared them for
their jobs is 3.42, which indicates that on average, seniors rated the extent to which their
academic majors have prepared them for their jobs as between “moderately” and “very much”.
In addition, the average score of the major and job match is 2.86, which means that on average,
seniors rated their major-job match as “appropriate for my level.”
College of Charleston Experiential Learning Table 6: Frequency distribution of experiential learning
Experiential Learning Opportunities n Total # of respondents Percentage
Internship 813 1,393 58.36%
Volunteer/Community Service 548 1,393 39.34%
Undergraduate Research 291 1,393 20.89%
Student Teaching 143 1,393 10.27%
Co-op 11 1,393 0.79%
Note: since students have selected more than one choice in this question, the total of n is larger than the total respondents, 1393 and the total percentage is larger than 100%.
14
Table 7: Frequency distribution of internships
Category n Total Percentage
Completed at least one internship 813 1,393 58.36%
Internship for credit(s) 512 1,393 36.76%
Paid internship 386 1,393 27.71%
Employment offer 268 1,393 19.24%
Meeting a degree requirement 464 1,393 33.31%
Note: the total of the percentages is larger than 100% and the total number of n is larger than 1393 because seniors selected more than one choice in this question.
Table 8: Frequency distribution of utilizing Career Center services
Career Center n Total Percentage
No 656 1,393 47.09%
Yes 659 1,393 47.31%
Not sure 44 1,393 3.16%
Note: 2.44% of seniors (n=34) did not respond to this question.
As suggested in Table 6, of 1,393 respondents, 58.36% of them have completed at least one
internship at the College of Charleston. The percentage of respondents who have participated in
volunteer/community service, undergraduate research, student teaching, and Co-op are 39.34%,
20.89%, 10.27% and 0.79%, respectively. According to the Class of 2017 Student Survey
conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)5, 61% of graduating
seniors took part in an internship or co-op experience during their college careers. The
corresponding figure for the College of Charleston is 59.15%, which suggests that the College of
5 See https://www.naceweb.org/store/2017/the-class-of-2017-student-survey-report/
15
Charleston has approached the national level in terms of assisting graduating seniors to prepare
for future careers through internships and co-op experiences. Another notable characteristic of
college experiences for seniors reflected in this survey is that more than one in five seniors
reported they had undergraduate research experience at the College. Prior research on effects of
undergraduate research experiences has indicated that undergraduate research experiences,
coupled with the interactions between students and faculty, have been found to have a largely
positive effect on students’ academic performance, graduate school attendance, and as career
outcomes (Bauer & Bennett,2003; Lopatto, 2007; Russell, Hancock & McCullough, 2007).
As suggested in Table 7, of seniors who have completed at least one internship, 36.76% reported
that at least one of the internships was for academic credit, 27.71% of them reported that at least
one of the internships was paid, 19.24% of them received an employment offer at the conclusion
of at least one of the internships, and 33.31% of them reported that at least one of the internships
met a degree requirement.
As shown in Table 8, in terms of utilizing services from the Career Center, 47.09% of seniors
surveyed did not utilize Career Center services and 47.31% did utilize the services. Certainly, to
what extent these experiential learning experiences, including internship, undergraduate research,
community service, student teaching, as well as co-ops, have affected seniors’ academic
performance and career outcomes at the College of Charleston remains to be answered in future
studies.
16
Continuing Education Table 9: Frequency distribution of type of degrees pursuing
Continuing Education n Total # of respondents Percentage
Master’s degree 157 1,393 11.27%
Medical degree 30 1,393 2.15%
Ph.D. or other doctoral degrees 29 1,393 2.08%
Additional/second bachelor’s degree 26 1,393 1.87%
Law degree 22 1,393 1.58%
Certificates 15 1,393 1.08%
Other 15 1,393 1.08%
Note: the percentage is calculated by the total number of seniors in each category, n, divided by the total number of respondents-1393.
As suggested in Table 9, 11.27% of seniors in the Class of 2018 who responded to the survey are
attending graduate school or pursing a master’s degree, and 2.08% of seniors surveyed are
pursuing a doctoral degree. 3.73% of respondents are attending professional graduate schools or
pursuing law degrees (1.58%) and medical degrees (2.15%), respectively.
17
Figure 4 percentage of degree types among seniors who pursue continued education
Note: This percentage is calculated by the total number of seniors in each degree category
divided by the total number of respondents for this question-294. Others include associate’s
degree, nursing degree, other degrees in a community college, and so on.
Figure 4 provides the percentages of degree types of the seniors who have decided to continue
their education. Of 294 seniors who reported pursuing continuing education, 53.40% of them are
pursuing a master’s degree, 10.20% are pursuing a medical degree, 9.86% are pursuing a
doctoral degree, and 7.48% are pursuing a law degree.
Master’s degree, 53.40%
Medical degree, 10.20%
Ph.D. or other doctoral degrees, 9.86%
Additional/second bachelor’s degree,
8.84%
Law degree, 7.48%
Certificates, 5.10% Other, 5.10%
Percentage of Contiuning Educaiton Degrees
Master’s degree Medical degree
Ph.D. or other doctoral degrees Additional/second bachelor’s degree
Law degree Certificates
Other
18
Table 10: Top 15 academic disciplines where seniors are pursuing graduate degrees
Programs of Study n Top 15
Business 39 1
Math and Sciences 19 2
Medicine 15 3 JD and other Law school degrees 12 4
Nursing 11 5
Chemistry 7 6
Psychology 6 7
History 5 8
Public Health 4 9
Social Work 4 9
Physical Therapy 3 11
School Counseling 3 11
Computer Science 3 11
Political Science 3 11
Data Science 3 11 Note: ranking the categories with equal values follows the practice in college ranking from US News and World Report.
Table 11: Top 15 institutions where seniors are pursuing graduate degrees
Institutions n Top 15
College of Charleston 42 1 Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) 23 2
The Citadel 6 3
19
University of South Carolina 6 3
Emory University 4 5
University of Georgia 4 5
Clemson University 4 5
Trident Tech 3 8
Charleston School of Law 3 8
Elon University 2 10
University of Florida 2 10
University of Alabama 2 10
New York University 2 10
Charleston Southern University 2 10
Georgia Tech 2 10 Note: ranking the categories with equal values follows the practice in college ranking from US News and World Report.
Table 10 lists the top 15 academic disciplines where seniors are pursuing their graduate degrees.
The top 5 disciplines with more than 10 seniors are business, math and science, medicine, law,
and nursing. Table 11 lists the top 15 institutions where seniors are pursuing their new degrees.
Forty-two seniors remain at the College of Charleston for advanced degrees and twenty-three
seniors attend MUSC for their medical degrees. Of the other top 13 institutions, only the Medical
University of South Carolina has more than seven seniors, the remaining have less than 7.
20
Academic Experiences Table 12: The total number of seniors surveyed by school
School n Total Percentage
School of Humanities and Social Sciences 379 1,393 27.21%
School of Business 313 1,393 22.47%
School of Education, Health, and Human Performance 256 1,393 18.38%
School of Sciences and Mathematics 236 1,393 16.94%
School of the Arts 138 1,393 9.91%
School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs 42 1,393 3.02%
School of Professional Studies 7 1,393 0.50%
Note: 1.57% of seniors (n=22) did not respond to this question.
Table 12 illustrates the distribution of the total number and the percentage of seniors surveyed in
the Senior Exit Survey in 2017-2018 academic year. In total, 1,393 seniors were surveyed. The
largest group is from School of Humanities and Social Sciences, consisting of 27.21% of senior
surveyed, followed by School of Business (22.47%) and School of Education, Health, and
Human Performance (18.38%). School of Sciences and Mathematics had 236 seniors surveyed,
taking up 16.94%. 13.43% of seniors surveyed are from School of the Arts (9.91%), School of
Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs (3.02%), and School of Professional Studies (0.5%). Of
1,393 seniors, 22 are missing data.
21
Table 13: Satisfactions with academic experiences
Item Very
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very
Satisfied n The curriculum in your major 0.44% 2.73% 8.18% 51.73% 36.92% 1357 The instruction in your major 0.52% 2.58% 9.72% 46.17% 41.01% 1358 The curriculum in your minor 1.01% 2.70% 8.95% 38.51% 48.83% 592 The instruction in your minor 1.39% 1.92% 9.06% 37.63% 50.00% 574 The curriculum in your general education program 0.96% 7.97% 27.23% 47.16% 16.68% 1355 The instruction in your general education program 0.96% 4.64% 24.10% 52.76% 17.54% 1357 Your overall academic experience 0.81% 1.54% 9.63% 52.28% 35.74% 1360 Preparation for further education 1.33% 3.48% 19.35% 48.26% 27.58% 1349 Preparation for professional employment 1.63% 5.33% 22.65% 44.93% 25.46% 1351 Your overall co-curricular activities experience 1.04% 2.37% 23.07% 44.58% 28.94% 1348 Your overall College of Charleston experience 0.96% 1.33% 7.90% 40.51% 49.30% 1355
Table 13 details the percentage distributions of how satisfied seniors surveyed have been with
their academic experiences at the College of Charleston. Of 1,357 respondents, 88.65% of them
have been satisfied or very satisfied with the curriculum in their majors and 87.18% of them
have been satisfied or very satisfied with the instruction in their majors out of 1,358 respondents.
In terms of the curriculum and instruction in their minors, the corresponding figures are 87.34%
out of 592 respondents and 87.63% out of 574, respectively. In general, the majority of seniors
surveyed are satisfied with the curriculum and instruction in both their majors and minors.
22
In addition, seniors who rated the curriculum and instruction in their general education
programs as “satisfied” or “very satisfied” are between 63.84% and 70.3%. 88.02% of seniors
reported that they are either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their overall academic
experiences at the College of Charleston. Percentages of seniors who reported that they have
been either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with how their academic experiences have prepared
them for future education and future employment are 75.84% and 70.39%, respectively. 73.52%
of seniors have been either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their overall co-curricular
experiences at the College of Charleston. More importantly, 89.81% of seniors have been either
“satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their overall College of Charleston experiences.
Table 14: Studying aboard experiences
Study Aboard n Total Percentage
Yes 426 1,393 30.58%
No 919 1,393 65.97% Note: 3.45% of seniors (n=48) did not respond to this question.
Table 15: Top 10 countries where seniors have selected for studying abroad
Study Abroad County n Top 10
Italy 62 1
Spain 50 2
England 32 3
France 25 4
Ireland 14 5
23
Australia 13 6
Germany 13 6
Cambodia & Vietnam 12 8
Cuba 12 8
Costa Rica 11 10 Note: ranking the categories with equal values follows the practice in college ranking from US News and World Report.
As shown in Table 14 and Table 15, 30.58% of seniors surveyed have studied abroad, and the
top 10 countries that have attracted the most seniors from the College are Italy, Spain, England,
France, Ireland, Australia, Germany, Cambodia & Vietnam, Cuba, and Costa Rica.
Demographics Table 16. Demographic characteristics of seniors surveyed
Demographics n Total Percentage
In-state students 848 1,393 60.88%
Out-of-state students 494 1,393 35.46%
Transfer students 320 1,393 22.97%
Non-transfer students 975 1,393 69.99%
Male 396 1,393 28.43%
Female 962 1,393 69.06%
Other 2 1,393 0.14%
Note: 3.66% of seniors (n=51) did not respond to the in-state/out-of-state question; 7.04% of seniors (n=98) did not respond to the transfer/non-transfer question; 2.37% of seniors (n=33) did not respond to the gender question.
24
As shown in Table 16, in-state students consist of 60.88% of seniors surveyed and around 70%
of them are non-transfer students. Of 1,393 survey takers, female seniors outnumber their male
counterparts by 566 in total and by 40.63% in percentage. The distribution of seniors surveyed
by gender, transfer/non-transfer student status and in-state/out-of-state status suggests that the
Senior Exit Survey in 2017-2018 academic year is characterized by disproportionately higher
percentages of female, in-state and non-transfer seniors; therefore, this demographic
characteristic should be taken into consideration when interpreting the results of this survey.
Part B: Sub-group Analysis Sub-group analysis by school Table 17. Employment status by school
School/Status following graduation
Employed Full time
Employed Part time
Continuing Education
Seeking employment n
School of Business 99
(31.63%) 2
(0.64%) 43
(13.74%) 149
(47.6%) 313 School of Sciences and Mathematics
60 (25.42%)
22 (9.32%)
75 (31.78%)
87 (36.86%) 236
School of Education, Health, and Human Performance
85 (33.2%)
45 (17.58%)
80 (31.25%)
96 (37.5%) 256
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
135 (35.62%)
94 (24.80%)
86 (22.69%)
133 (35.09%) 379
School of the Arts 35
(25.36%) 41
(29.71%) 23
(16.67%) 66
(47.83%) 138 School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs
14 (33.33%)
6 (14.29%)
8 (19.05%)
12 (28.57%) 42
Note: seniors selected more than one choice in these four employment categories, so the total percentage might not be 100%. In addition, the percentage is calculated by the total number in every category divided by the total number of seniors from each school. Furthermore, the total of these four categories does not equal n in each school because there are other categories in this question and seniors selected more than one choice.
Table 17 illustrates four employment statuses of seniors surveyed by school with the total and
the percentages presented. 35.62% of seniors from the School of Humanities and Social
25
Sciences, 33.33% of seniors from School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs, 33.2%
from School of Education, Health, and Human Performance, and 31.63% from School of
Business are employed full time. The corresponding figures for School of Sciences and
Mathematics and School of Arts are 25.42% and 25.36%, respectively. In terms of part-time
employment, School of Arts has the highest percentage of seniors, which is 29.71%. Of seniors
who continue their education, School of Sciences and Mathematics has the highest percentage,
31.78%. School of Arts and School of Business have the highest percentage of seniors who are
seeking employment, 47.83% and 47.6%, respectively.
Table 18. How academic majors have prepared seniors for their jobs by school
School\Category Not at all Somewhat Moderately Very Completely n School of Business
4 (3.57%)
17 (15.18%)
32 (28.57%)
49 (43.75%)
10 (8.93%)
112
School of Sciences and Mathematics
9 (9.18%)
10 (10.2%)
26 (26.53%)
31 (31.63%)
22 (22.45%)
98
School of Education, Health, and Human Performance
11 (6.4%)
19 (11.05%)
30 (17.44%)
76 (44.19%)
36 (20.93%)
172
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
29 (11.69%)
43 (17.34%)
64 (25.81%)
80 (32.26%)
32 (12.9%)
248
School of the Arts
11 (11.34%)
14 (14.43%)
29 (29.9%)
29 (29.9%)
14 (14.43%)
97
School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs
7 (25%)
4 (14.29%)
5 (17.86%)
8 (28.57%)
4 (14.29%)
28
Note: the percentage is calculated by the total number in every category divided by the total number of seniors who responded to this question from each school.
As suggested in Table 18, seniors from School of Education, Health, and Human Performance
rate the preparedness of their majors for their careers the highest, which is that 65.11% of them
26
reported that their academic majors have either very much or completely prepared them for jobs.
School of Sciences and Mathematics and School of Business both have over 50% of seniors who
rated that their academic majors have either very much or completely prepared them for jobs.
The percentage of seniors from School of the Arts, School of Languages, Cultures, and World
Affairs, and School of Humanities and Social Sciences who reported that their academic majors
have either very much or completely prepared them for jobs ranges from 42.86% to 45.16%.
Table 19. Major-job match by school
School\Category
Definitely beneath my level
Somewhat beneath my level
Appropriate for my level
Somewhat above my
level
Definitely above my
level n
School of Business
5 (4.5%)
12 (10.81%)
76 (68.47%)
14 (12.61%)
4 (3.6%) 111
School of Sciences and Mathematics
12 (12.9%)
20 (21.51%)
46 (49.46%)
14 (15.05%)
1 (1.08%) 93
School of Education, Health, and Human Performance
14 (8.81%)
27 (16.98%)
104 (65.41%)
9 (5.66%)
5 (3.14%) 159
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
43 (19.91%)
54 (25%)
97 (44.91%)
20 (9.26%)
2 (0.93%) 216
School of the Arts
7 (7.69%)
16 (17.58%)
52 (57.14%)
15 (16.48%)
1 (1.11%) 91
School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs
4 (14.81%)
5 (18.52%)
18 (66.67%) - - 27
Note: the percentage is calculated by the total number in every category divided by the total number of seniors who responded to this question from each school.
As suggested in Table 19, School of the Arts has the highest percentage of seniors who reported
their jobs are either somewhat or definitely above their level, which is 17.59%; on the other
27
hand, School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs does not have any seniors who reported
in these two categories. For those who reported their jobs are appropriate for their level, School
of Business has the highest proportion of seniors, which is 68.47%, followed by School of
Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs (66.67%) and School of Education, Health, and Human
Performance (65.41%).
Table 20. Types of graduate degrees pursued by seniors by school
School\Category
Law and medical degree
Master's degree
Doctoral degree Other n
School of Business 5 (10.87%)
31 (67.39%) - 10
(21.74%) 46
School of Sciences and Mathematics 17 (17.89%)
47 (49.47%)
24 (25.26%)
7 (7.38%) 95
School of Education, Health, and Human Performance
20 (16.66%)
68 (56.67%)
8 (6.67%)
24 (20%) 120
School of Humanities and Social Sciences 33 (22.6%)
85 (58.22%)
13 (8.9%)
15 (10.28%) 146
School of the Arts 2 (6.06%)
29 (87.88%) - 2
(6.05%) 33
School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs
3 (16.67%)
13 (72.22%) - 2
(11.11%) 18
Note: other includes additional bachelor’s degree, certificates, associate degree and so on. The percentage is calculated by the total number in every category divided by the total number of seniors who responded to this question from each school.
Table 20 illustrates the distribution of seniors who pursue graduate level degrees by school.
School of Humanities and Social Sciences has 22.6% of seniors who are pursuing either a law
degree or a medical degree, which is the highest among the schools. School of the Arts has the
highest proportion of seniors who are pursuing a master’s degree, which is 87.89%. School of
Sciences and Mathematics produces the highest proportion of seniors who are pursuing a
doctoral degree, which is 25.26%.
28
Table 21. Experiential learning experiences by school
School\Category Internship Volunteer service
Undergraduate Research
Student Teaching Total
School of Business
226 121 22 6 313
(72.20%) (38.66%) (7.03%) (1.92%)
School of Sciences and Mathematics
88 103 125 28 236
(37.29%) (43.64%) (52.97%) (11.86%)
School of Education, Health, and Human Performance
163 111 23 74 256
(63.67%) (43.36%) (8.98%) (28.91%)
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
210 135 84 22 379
(55.41%) (35.62%) (22.16%) (5.80%)
School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs
25 20 15 6 42
(59.52%) (47.62%) (35.71%) (14.29%)
School of the Arts
91 53 18 5 138
(65.94%) (38.41%) (13.04%) (3.62%)
Note: seniors selected more than one choice in the experiential learning question, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The total of these four categories does not equal the total number of seniors in each school because there are other categories available in the experiential learning question and seniors selected more than one choice.
Table 21 details the distribution of experiential learning experiences by school. School of
Business (72.2%), School of the Arts (65.94%), and School of Education, Health, and Human
Performance (63.67%) are the top three schools that have the highest percentage of seniors who
had completed at least one internship. School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs has the
highest percentage of seniors who participated in volunteer and community services, which is
29
47.62%. In terms of undergraduate research, over half of the seniors in School of Sciences and
Mathematics had undergraduate research experiences, which is the highest among the six schools
surveyed. School of Education, Health, and Human Performance has the highest percentage of
seniors who had student teaching experiences, which is 28.91%.
Table 22. Satisfaction with academic experiences by major and minor and by school
All Schools Very
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very
Satisfied Total The curriculum in your major
6 (0.44%)
37 (2.73%)
111 (8.18%)
702 (51.73%)
501 (36.92%) 1357
the instruction in your major
7 (0.52%)
35 (2.58%)
132 (9.72%)
627 (46.17%)
557 (41.01%) 1358
The curriculum in your minor
6 (1.01%)
16 (2.7%)
53 (8.95%)
228 (38.51%)
289 (48.83%) 592
the instruction in your minor
8 (1.39%)
11 (1.92%)
52 (9.06%)
216 (37.63%)
287 (50%) 574
School of Business The curriculum in your major
4 (1.33%)
9 (2.99%)
34 (11.30%)
152 (50.50%)
102 (33.88%) 301
the instruction in your major
5 (1.66%)
12 (3.97%)
41 (13.58%)
147 (48.68%)
97 (32.11%) 302
The curriculum in your minor
4 (2.58%)
6 (3.87%)
10 (6.45%)
63 (40.65%)
72 (46.45%) 155
the instruction in your minor
5 (3.36%)
4 (2.68%)
16 (10.74%)
51 (34.23%)
73 (48.99%) 149
School of Science and Mathematics The curriculum in your major
0 (0%)
7 (3.06%)
17 (7.42%)
126 (55.02%)
79 (34.50%) 229
the instruction in your major
0 (0%)
5 (2.18%)
22 (9.61%)
103 (44.98%)
99 (43.23%) 229
The curriculum in your minor
0 (0%)
1 (0.96%)
10 (9.62%)
36 (34.62%)
57 (54.8%) 104
the instruction in your minor
0 (0%)
2 (2%)
8 (8%)
36 (36%)
54 (54%) 100
30
School of Education, Health, and Human Performances The curriculum in your major
1 (0.39%)
5 (1.95%)
18 (7.03%)
131 (51.17%)
101 (39.46%) 256
the instruction in your major
1 (0.39%)
6 (2.35%)
22 (8.63%)
115 (45.10%)
111 (43.53%) 255
The curriculum in your minor
0 (0%)
2 (3.45%)
6 (10.35%)
25 (43.10%)
25 (43.10%) 58
the instruction in your minor
0 (0%)
1 (1.69%)
7 (11.86%)
24 (40.68%)
27 (45.77%) 59
School of Humanities and Social Sciences The curriculum in your major
1 (0.26%)
8 (2.12%)
25 (6.62%)
196 (51.85%)
148 (39.15%) 378
the instruction in your major
0 (0%)
5 (1.32%)
28 (7.41%)
176 (46.56%)
169 (44.71%) 378
The curriculum in your minor
1 (0.55%)
5 (2.73%)
17 (9.29%)
70 (38.25%)
90 (49.18%) 183
the instruction in your minor
1 (0.57%)
2 (1.14%)
17 (9.71%)
70 (40%)
85 (48.58%) 175
School of Arts
The curriculum in your major
0 (0%)
6 (4.41%)
13 (9.56%)
76 (55.88%)
41 (30.15%) 136
the instruction in your major
0 (0%)
6 (4.38%)
11 (8.03%)
68 (49.64%)
52 (37.95%) 137
The curriculum in your minor
0 (0%)
1 (1.61%)
6 (9.68%)
24 (38.71%)
31 (50%) 62
the instruction in your minor
1 (1.59%)
1 (1.59%)
1 (1.59%)
29 (46.03%)
31 (49.2%) 63
School of languages, Cultures, and World Affairs The curriculum in your major
0 (0%)
2 (4.88%)
2 (4.88%)
14 (34.14%)
23 (56.10%) 41
the instruction in your major
1 (2.38%)
1 (2.38%)
4 (9.52%)
13 (30.95%)
23 (54.77%) 42
The curriculum in your minor
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
2 (8.33%)
10 (41.67%)
12 (50%) 24
the instruction in your minor
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
2 (9.09%)
5 (22.73%)
15 (68.18%) 22
31
Table 22 presents how satisfied seniors have been with their academic experiences at the College
by major and minor and by school. The top three schools with the highest percentages of seniors
who reported that they have been either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the curriculum in
their majors are School of Humanities and Social Sciences (91%), School of Education, Health,
and Human Performance (90.63%), and School of School of Languages, Cultures, and World
Affairs (90.24%).
The top three schools with the highest percentages of seniors who reported that they have been
either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the instruction in their majors are School of
Humanities and Social Sciences (91.27%), School of Education, Health, and Human
Performance (88.63%), and School of Science and Mathematics (88.21%).
In terms of satisfaction with the curriculum in their minors, School of Languages, Cultures, and
World Affairs has the highest proportion of seniors who rated the satisfaction with the
curriculum in their minors as “satisfied” or “very satisfied” (91.67%), followed by School of
Science and Mathematics (89.4%) and School of the Arts (88.71%).
For satisfaction with the instruction in their minors, School of the Arts has the highest proportion
of seniors who rated the satisfaction with the instruction in their minors as “satisfied” or “very
satisfied” (95.23%), followed by School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs (90.91%),
and School of Science and Mathematics (90%).
32
Table 23. Satisfaction with overall academic experiences by school
All Schools Very
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very
Satisfied Total The curriculum in general education
13 (0.96%)
108 (7.97%)
369 (27.23%)
639 (47.16%)
226 (16.68%) 1,355
The instruction in general education
13 (0.96%)
63 (4.64%)
327 (24.1%)
716 (52.76%)
238 (17.54%) 1,357
Your overall academic experience
11 (0.81%)
21 (1.54%)
131 (9.63%)
711 (52.28%)
486 (35.74%) 1,360
Preparation for further education
18 (1.33%)
47 (3.48%)
261 (19.35%)
651 (48.26%)
372 (27.58%) 1,349
Preparation for professional employment
22 (1.63%)
72 (5.33%)
306 (22.65%)
607 (44.93%)
344 (25.46%) 1,351
Your overall co-curricular activities
14 (1.04%)
32 (2.37%)
311 (23.07%)
601 (44.58%)
390 (28.94%) 1,348
Your overall College of Charleston experience
13 (0.96%)
18 (1.33%)
107 (7.9%)
549 (40.51%)
668 (49.3%) 1,355
School of Business
The curriculum in general education
5 (1.66%)
31 (10.26%)
99 (32.78%)
140 (46.36%)
27 (8.94%) 302
The instruction in general education
5 (1.65%)
21 (6.93%)
94 (31.02%)
156 (51.49%)
27 (8.91%) 303
Your overall academic experience
6 (1.98%)
6 (1.98%)
42 (13.86%)
177 (58.42%)
72 (23.76%) 303
Preparation for further education
7 (2.31%)
13 (4.29%)
83 (27.39%)
153 (50.50%)
47 (15.51%) 303
Preparation for professional employment
10 (3.30%)
22 (7.26%)
78 (25.74%)
135 (44.55%)
58 (19.15%) 303
Your overall co-curricular activities
9 (2.98%)
7 (2.32%)
83 (27.48%)
134 (44.37%)
69 (22.85%) 302
Your overall College of Charleston experience
7 (2.33%)
4 (1.33%)
26 (8.64%)
132 (43.85%)
132 (43.85%) 301
School of Science and Mathematics The curriculum in general education
0 (0%)
20 (8.66%)
67 (29%)
107 (46.32%)
37 (16.02%) 231
33
The instruction in general education
0 (0%)
10 (4.33%)
48 (20.78%)
139 (60.17%)
34 (14.72%) 231
Your overall academic experience
1 (0.43%)
1 (0.43%)
22 (9.52%)
121 (52.38%)
86 (37.24%) 231
Preparation for further education
1 (0.44%)
6 (2.62%)
40 (17.47%)
113 (49.34%)
69 (30.13%) 229
Preparation for professional employment
1 (0.43%)
16 (6.96%)
54 (23.48%)
99 (43.04%)
60 (26.09%) 230
Your overall co-curricular activities
1 (0.43%)
7 (3.03%)
49 (21.21%)
111 (48.05%)
63 (27.28%) 231
Your overall College of Charleston experience
1 (0.43%)
2 (0.87%)
14 (6.09%)
108 (46.96%)
105 (45.65%) 230
School of Education, Health, and Human Performance The curriculum in general education
5 (1.96%)
16 (6.27%)
62 (24.31%)
118 (46.27%)
54 (21.19%) 255
The instruction in general education
4 (1.57%)
9 (3.53%)
55 (21.57%)
132 (51.76%)
55 (21.57%) 255
Your overall academic experience
3 (1.17%)
3 (1.17%)
23 (8.98%)
125 (48.83%)
102 (39.85%) 256
Preparation for further education
2 (0.78%)
3 (1.18%)
34 (13.33%)
123 (48.24%)
93 (36.47%) 255
Preparation for professional employment
4 (1.56%)
8 (3.13%)
38 (14.84%)
117 (45.70%)
89 (34.77%) 256
Your overall co-curricular activities
2 (0.78%)
3 (1.18%)
42 (16.47%)
118 (46.28%)
90 (35.29%) 255
Your overall College of Charleston experience
3 (1.18%)
2 (0.78%)
13 (5.10%)
101 (39.61%)
136 (53.33%) 255
School of Humanities and Social Sciences The curriculum in general education
2 (0.53%)
32 (8.56%)
90 (24.06%)
177 (47.33%)
73 (19.52%) 374
The instruction in general education
1 (0.27%)
15 (4.01%)
88 (23.53%)
192 (51.34%)
78 (20.85%) 374
Your overall academic experience
1 (0.27%)
8 (2.13%)
27 (7.18%)
184 (48.94%)
156 (41.48%) 376
34
Preparation for further education
4 (1.08%)
12 (3.25%)
71 (19.24%)
172 (46.61%)
110 (29.82%) 369
Preparation for professional employment
3 (0.81%)
15 (4.05%)
93 (25.14%)
175 (47.30%)
84 (22.70%) 370
Your overall co-curricular activities
0 (0%)
11 (3%)
86 (23.43%)
153 (41.69%)
117 (31.88%) 367
Your overall College of Charleston experience
2 (0.53%)
7 (1.87%)
36 (9.63%)
129 (34.49%)
200 (53.48%) 374
School of Arts
The curriculum in general education
1 (0.73%)
6 (4.38%)
38 (27.74%)
66 (48.18%)
26 (18.97%) 137
The instruction in general education
2 (1.46%)
5 (3.65%)
31 (22.63%)
68 (49.64%)
31 (22.62%) 137
Your overall academic experience
0 (0%)
3 (2.19%)
14 (10.22%)
72 (52.55%)
48 (35.04%) 137
Preparation for further education
1 (0.74%)
12 (8.82%)
24 (17.65%)
63 (46.32%)
36 (26.47%) 136
Preparation for professional employment
2 (1.46%)
9 (6.57%)
28 (20.44%)
63 (45.99%)
35 (25.54%) 137
Your overall co-curricular activities
2 (1.46%)
2 (1.46%)
33 (24.09%)
64 (46.72%)
36 (26.27%) 137
Your overall College of Charleston experience
0 (0%)
3 (2.17%)
15 (10.87%)
55 (39.86%)
65 (47.10%) 138
School of Languages, Cultures and World Affairs The curriculum in general education
0 (0%)
1 (2.5%)
8 (20%)
23 (57.50%)
8 (20%) 40
The instruction in general education
0 (0%)
1 (2.44%)
4 (9.76%)
24 (58.54%)
12 (29.26%) 41
Your overall academic experience
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
1 (2.44%)
21 (51.22%)
19 (46.34%) 41
Preparation for further education
2 (4.88%)
1 (2.44%)
7 (17.07%)
17 (41.46%)
14 (34.15%) 41
Preparation for professional employment
2 (5%)
1 (2.5%)
12 (30%)
10 (25%)
15 (37.50%) 40
35
Your overall co-curricular activities
0 (0%)
2 (4.88%)
13 (31.71%)
12 (29.27%)
14 (34.14%) 41
Your overall College of Charleston experience
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
1 (2.44%)
15 (36.59%)
25 (60.97%) 41
Table 23 details how satisfied seniors have been with their overall academic experiences at the
College of Charleston by school. School of Languages, Cultures and World Affairs has the
highest percentage of seniors who have been either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the
curriculum in general education, which is 77.50%, followed by School of Education, Health, and
Human Performance (67.46%) and School of the Arts (67.15%).
As far as satisfaction with the instruction in general education is concerned, the three highest
percentages of seniors who reported that they have been either “satisfied” or “very satisfied”
with the instruction in general education come from School of Languages, Cultures and World
Affairs (87.8%), School of Science and Mathematics (74.89%) and School of Education, Health,
and Human Performance (73.33%).
Your overall academic experience: School of Languages, Cultures and World Affairs has the
highest percentage of seniors who reported that they have been either “satisfied” or “very
satisfied” with their overall academic experiences, which is 97.56%, followed by School of
Humanities and Social Sciences (90.42%), and School of Science and Mathematics (89.62%).
Preparation for further education: the top three schools with the highest percentage of seniors
who reported that they have been either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the preparation for
further education are School of Education, Health, and Human Performance (84.71%), School of
Science and Mathematics (79.47%), and School of Humanities and Social Sciences (76.43%).
36
Preparation for professional employment: the top three schools with the highest percentage of
seniors who reported that they have been either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the
preparation for professional employment are School of Education, Health, and Human
Performance (80.47%), School of the Arts (71.53%), and School of Humanities and Social
Sciences (70%).
Your overall co-curricular activities: School of Education, Health, and Human Performance has
the highest percentage of seniors who reported that they have been either “satisfied” or “very
satisfied” with the overall co-curricular activities, which is 81.57%, followed by School of
Science and Mathematics (75.33%), and School of Humanities and Social Sciences (73.57%).
Your overall College of Charleston experience: 97.56% of seniors from the School of
Languages, Cultures and World Affairs reported that they have been either “satisfied” or “very
satisfied” with their College of Charleston experience, followed by 92.94% from School of
Education, Health, and Human Performance, and 92.61% from School of Sciences and
Mathematics.
Table 24. Studying abroad by school
School\Category Study
aboard Not study
aboard Total
School of Business 116
(38.28%) 187
(61.72%) 303
School of Sciences and Mathematics 58
(25.11%) 173
(74.89%) 231 School of Education, Health, and Human Performance
46 (18.25%)
206 (81.75%) 252
School of Humanities and Social Sciences 127
(34.32%) 243
(65.68%) 370 School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs
36 (85.71%)
6 (14.29%) 42
37
School of the Arts 39
(29.55%) 93
(70.45%) 132
Table 24 presents the frequency distribution of seniors’ studying abroad experiences by school.
School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs has the highest proportion of seniors who
have studied abroad, which is 85.71%, followed by School of Business (38.28%) and School of
Humanities and Social Sciences (34.32%).
Sub-group analysis by transfer student status Table 25. Employment status by transfer student status
Employed full time
Employed part time
Continuing education
Seeking employment
Temporary or contract work
Transfer 123 (38.44%)
47 (14.69%)
62 (19.38%)
134 (41.88%)
8 (2.50%)
Non-transfer
275 (28.21%)
147 (15.08%)
238 (24.41%)
379 (38.87%)
36 (3.69%)
Note: the total number of transfer seniors is 320 and the total number of non-transfer seniors is 975. Seniors selected more than one choice in the employment status question, the total of percentages is not 100%.
As shown in Table 25, seniors who are transfer students are more likely to be employed full
time, are less likely to continue their education, and are more likely to seek employment.
Specifically, 38.44% of seniors who are transfer students are employed full time, and the
corresponding figure for non-transfer seniors is 28.21%. 19.38% of transfer seniors have
continued their education, and 24.41% of non-transfer seniors have continued their education.
41.88% of transfer seniors are seeking employment, while the corresponding figure for non-
transfer seniors is 38.87%.
38
Table 26. How college major has prepared seniors for employment by transfer student status
Not at all Somewhat Moderately Very Completely
Transfer 18 (9.05%)
41 (20.60%)
54 (27.14%)
60 (30.15%)
26 (13.06%)
Non-transfer
47 (9.40%)
63 (12.60%)
117 (23.40%)
188 (37.60%)
85 (17%)
Note: 199 transfer seniors and 500 non-transfer seniors responded to this question.
When asked to what extent your college major have prepared you for employment, transfer
seniors are less likely than their non-transfer counterparts to believe that their college majors
have prepared them well for their employment. Specifically, 43.21% of transfer seniors have
rated that their college majors have prepared them for employment either very much or
completely, but the corresponding figure for non-transfer senior is up to 54.6%.
Table 27. Major-job match by transfer student status
Definitely
beneath my level
Somewhat beneath Appropriate Somewhat
above
Definitely above my
level
Transfer 24 (13.04%)
38 (20.65%)
98 (53.26%)
17 (9.24%)
7 (3.81%)
Non-transfer 52 (11.30%)
83 (18.04%)
266 (57.83%)
53 (11.52%)
6 (1.31%)
Note: 184 transfer seniors and 460 non-transfer seniors responded to this question.
Table 27 suggests that transfer seniors are less likely than non-transfer seniors to locate jobs that
match their level. 53.26% of transfer seniors reported that they have located jobs that are
appropriate for their level, but the corresponding figure for non-transfer seniors is up to 57.83%.
39
Table 28. Continuing education by transfer student status
Law and medical Master PhD Other
Transfer 14 (14.43%)
60 (61.86%)
5 (5.15%)
18 (18.56%)
Non-transfer 62 (18.85%)
189 (57.45%)
37 (11.25%)
41 (12.45%)
Note: the total transfer seniors pursing graduate degrees is 97 and the total non-transfer seniors pursuing graduate degree is 329.
As shown in Table 28, non-transfer seniors are more likely to pursue law, medical, and doctoral
degrees, and transfer seniors are more likely to pursue a master’s degree.
Table 29. Academic experience by major and minor by transfer student status
Very
dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied Total
Transfer students The curriculum in your major
4 (1.26%)
11 (3.47%)
37 (11.67%)
143 (45.11%)
122 (38.49%) 317
The instruction in your major
2 (0.63%)
6 (1.89%)
37 (11.67%)
134 (42.27%)
138 (43.53%) 317
The curriculum in your minor
3 (3.03%)
2 (2.02%)
9 (9.09%)
36 (36.36%)
49 (49.49%) 99
The instruction in your minor
3 (3.23%)
3 (3.23%)
6 (6.45%)
30 (32.26%)
51 (54.84%) 93
Non-transfer students The curriculum in your major
2 (0.21%)
24 (2.51%)
68 (7.10%)
509 (53.13%)
355 (37.06%) 958
The instruction in your major
5 (0.52%)
27 (2.81%)
89 (9.27%)
451 (46.98%)
388 (40.42%) 960
The curriculum in your minor
3 (0.65%)
14 (3.04%)
41 (8.91%)
180 (39.13%)
222 (48.27%) 460
The instruction in your minor
5 (1.11%)
7 (1.55%)
43 (9.53%)
178 (39.47%)
218 (48.34%) 451
40
As suggested in Table 29, transfer seniors are less likely than non-transfer seniors to be either
“satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the curriculum in their majors. 83.6% of transfer senior are
either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the curriculum in their majors, while the corresponding
figure for non-transfer seniors is 90.18%. Transfer seniors don’t appear to differ significantly
from the non-transfer seniors in how they rated their satisfaction with the instruction in their
majors, the curriculum in their minors, and instruction in their minors.
Table 30. The overall academic experience by transfer student status
Very
dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very
satisfied Total
Transfer students The curriculum in general education
6 (1.89%)
25 (7.89%)
81 (25.55%)
131 (41.32%)
74 (23.35%) 317
The instruction in general education
6 (1.90%)
10 (3.16%)
70 (22.15%)
159 (50.32%)
71 (22.47%) 316
Your overall academic experience
6 (1.89%)
11 (3.47%)
36 (11.36%)
140 (44.16%)
124 (39.12%) 317
Preparation for further education
6 (1.89%)
17 (5.36%)
64 (20.19%)
135 (42.59%)
95 (29.97%) 317
Preparation for professional employment
7 (2.22%)
17 (5.40%)
75 (23.81%)
125 (39.68%)
91 (28.89%) 315
Your overall co-curricular activities
6 (1.91%)
10 (3.18%)
92 (29.30%)
128 (40.76%)
78 (24.85%) 314
Your overall College of Charleston experience
7 (2.22%)
10 (3.17%)
35 (11.11%)
128 (40.63%)
135 (42.87%) 315
Non-transfer students The curriculum in general education
7 (0.73%)
73 (7.62%)
269 (28.08%)
472 (49.27%)
137 (14.30%) 958
The instruction in general education
7 (0.73%)
48 (4.99%)
240 (24.97%)
514 (53.49%)
152 (15.82%) 961
Your overall academic experience
5 (0.52%)
9 (0.94%)
91 (9.45%)
519 (53.95%)
338 (35.14%) 962
41
Preparation for further education
12 (1.26%)
27 (2.84%)
180 (18.91%)
478 (50.21%)
255 (26.78%) 952
Preparation for professional employment
15 (1.57%)
49 (5.13%)
216 (22.59%)
441 (46.13%)
235 (24.58%) 956
Your overall co-curricular activities
8 (0.84%)
21 (2.20%)
204 (21.36%)
429 (44.92%)
293 (30.68%) 955
Your overall College of Charleston experience
6 (0.63%)
8 (0.83%)
66 (6.88%)
379 (39.52%)
500 (52.14%) 959
As shown in Table 30, transfer senior and non-transfer seniors differ largely in how satisfied they
have been with their overall academic experience. 83.28% of transfer seniors have been either
“satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their overall academic experience, while the corresponding
figure for non-transfer seniors is 89.09%. The second notable difference between these two
groups lies in how satisfied they have been with their co-curricular activities. 65.61% of transfer
seniors have been either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their overall co-curricular activities,
while the corresponding figure for non-transfer seniors is up to 75. 6%. In addition, transfer
seniors are less likely than non-transfer seniors to have a satisfying overall College of Charleston
experience. 91.66% of non-transfer seniors have rated their overall College of Charleston
experience as “satisfied” or “very satisfied”, but the corresponding figure for transfer seniors is
only 83.5%. Furthermore, transfer seniors and non-transfer seniors don’t differ significantly in
the satisfaction with the curriculum in general education, the instruction in general education,
preparation for further education and preparation for professional employment.
42
Part C: Statistical Analysis The association between salary and internship Table 31. The cross-tabulation of salary range and internship
Internship
Salary Range Yes No χ2 P
Less than $20,000 55.32% 44.68%
17.52 0.008**
$20,000 to $ 30,000 45% 55%
$30,001 to $ 40,000 42.70% 57.30%
$40,001 to $ 50,000 59.68% 40.32%
$50,001 to $ 60,000 76.67% 23.33%
$60,001 to $ 70,000 73.68% 26.32%
More than $70,000 65% 35% Note: the total number of seniors who responded to these questions is 327.
A chi-square goodness of fit test was conducted to examine if there are any statistical
associations between those seniors who have completed internships and their salary range. The
Chi-square test indicates that the association between the participation in internships and the
salary range is statistically significant (χ2=17.52, p<0.01). Specifically, it appears that
completing internships has affected graduates’ salaries in a positive way in the upper-level
ranges ($50,001 to $ 60,000, $60,001 to $ 70,000 and More than $70,000). To further illustrate,
of seniors with a salary ranging from $50,001 to $60,000, 76.67% of them have completed at
least one internship as compared to 23.33% who have not.
43
The associations between gender and major-job match Table 32. The cross-tabulation of gender and seniors’ perception of major-job match
Definitely beneath my
level
Somewhat beneath my
level Appropriate for my level
Somewhat above my
level
Definitely above my
level χ2 P Male 10.93% 16.39% 56.28% 12.02% 4.38% 10.22 0.03*
Female 12.75% 19.80% 56.86% 9.61% 0.98% Note: the total number of seniors who responded to these questions is 694
The chi-square test indicates that the association between gender and seniors’ perception of
major-job match is statistically significant (χ2=10.22, p<0.05). Specifically, it seems that male
seniors are more likely than their female counterparts to believe that their jobs are somewhat or
definitely above their level. This difference is notable as 4.37% of male seniors rated their jobs
are definitely above their level, and the corresponding figure for female seniors is only 0.98%. In
addition, 12.02% of male seniors rated their jobs are somewhat above their level, and the
corresponding figure for female seniors is only 9.61%.
The associations between gender and salary Table 33. The cross-tabulation of gender and salary
< $20,000 $20,000 - $ 30,000
$30,001 - $ 40,000
$40,001 - $ 50,000
$50,001 - $ 60,000
$60,001 - $ 70,000
> $70,000 χ2 P
Male 7.14% 13.27% 23.47% 21.43% 11.22% 12.24% 11.23% 33.66 0.001**
Female 17.19% 20.36% 28.96% 18.10% 8.60% 3.17% 3.62% Note: the total number of seniors who responded to these two questions is 321.
Table 33 presents the chi-square test between gender and salary. The chi-square test indicates
that the association between gender and self-reported salary is statistically significant (χ2=33.66,
p<0.01). The finding illustrates a notable difference in salaries between male and female seniors,
with male seniors performing much better in the job market in terms of salary. This difference is
characterized by the distribution that most female seniors have salaries that are falling into
44
ranges of less than $20,000 to $40,000, whereas most male seniors hold salaries that are usually
ranging from $40,000 to more than $70,000.
The associations between school and salary Table 34. The cross-tabulation of school and salary
< $20,000
$20,000 - $ 30,000
$30,001 - $ 40,000
$40,001 - $ 50,000
$50,001 - $ 60,000
$60,001 - $ 70,000
> $70,000 χ2 P
School of Business 2% 11% 19% 30% 20% 10% 8%
156.9 0.0001***
School of Sciences and Mathematics
8.93% 17.86% 14.29% 17.85% 12.50% 10.71% 17.86%
School of Education, Health, and Human Performance
20.96% 17.74% 53.23% 4.85% 1.61% - 1.61%
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
21.74% 33.33% 23.19% 18.84% 1.45% 1.45% -
School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs
16.67% 16.67% 33.33% 33.33% - - -
School of the Arts 38.46% 15.38% 30.77% 15.39% - - -
Note: - represents no values. The total number of seniors who responded to these two questions is 322.
Table 34 presents the chi-square test between school and salary. The chi-square test indicates
that the association between school and salary is statistically significant (χ2=156.9, p<0.01). The
finding clearly suggests that there is a statistically significant difference in seniors’ self-reported
salaries by school. First, it is apparent that seniors from School of Sciences and Mathematics and
School of Business have earned much higher salaries than their counterparts from School of
45
Education, Health, and Human Performance, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, School
of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs, and School of the Arts. That is, 18% of seniors from
School of Business and 28.57% of seniors from School of Sciences and Mathematics have
salaries that are more than $60,000, whereas less than 5% of seniors have earned that much in
each of the other four schools. In addition, of the top two schools where seniors have reported
the highest salaries, School of Sciences and Mathematics has 17.86% of seniors who have earned
salaries more than $70,000, and the corresponding figure for School of Business is 8%.
The senior distributions by gender and school Table 35. The cross-tabulation of gender and school
School
of Business
School of Sciences
and Mathematics
School of Education, Health, and
Human Performance
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
School of Languages, Cultures,
and World Affairs
School of the Arts
χ2 P
Male 29.01% 24.68% 11.20% 23.92% 8.14% 2.80% 61.71 0.0001***
Female 20.61% 13.49% 21.76% 29.39% 10.88% 3.24%
Note: the total number of seniors who responded to these two questions is 1,351. School of Professional Studies was not included in this analysis.
Table 35 illustrates that male and female seniors are disproportionately distributed across
schools, with female students primarily housed in School of Education and School of
Humanities, and male students primarily coming from School of Business and School of
Sciences and Mathematics. The chi-square test indicates that male and female students are
disproportionately distributed across schools and the gender difference across schools is
statistically significant (χ2=61.71, p<0.01). The finding indicates that male seniors are more
likely to study in the fields of business or sciences and mathematics, while female seniors are
more likely to study in humanities or social sciences and education; thus, the significant
46
differences in salaries between male and female seniors is likely to be related to the
disproportionate distributions of male and female seniors by school. That is, when considering
examining the salary differences between female and male seniors, field of study needs to be
carefully considered.
The association between gender and satisfaction with the curriculum in their majors Table 36. The cross-tabulation of gender and satisfaction with the curriculum in their majors
Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very
Satisfied χ2 P
Male 0.77% 5.13% 10.51% 52.31% 31.28% 22.69 0.004**
Female 0.32% 1.69% 7.18% 51.21% 39.60%
Note: the total number of seniors who responded to these two questions is 1,339
Table 30 presents the results of the chi-square test between gender and satisfaction with the
curriculum in their majors. The chi-square test indicates that the association between gender and
satisfaction with the curriculum in their major is statistically significant (χ2=22.69, p<0.01). The
results suggest that female seniors have been more satisfied with the curriculum in their majors
than their male counterparts. For instance, 39.6% of female seniors have been “very satisfied”
with the curriculum in their majors, but the corresponding figure for male seniors who have been
“very satisfied” with the curriculum in their majors is 31.28%.
The association between gender and satisfaction with overall academic experiences Table 37. The cross-tabulation of gender and satisfaction with overall academic experiences
Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very
Satisfied χ2 P
Male 1.54% 2.31% 14.10% 53.59% 28.46% 31.37 0.0001***
Female 0.53% 1.26% 7.48% 51.84% 38.89%
Note: the total number of seniors who responded to these two questions is 1,341
47
Table 37 presents the results of the chi-square test between gender and the satisfaction with the
overall academic experiences. The chi-square test indicates that the association between gender
and satisfaction overall academic experiences is statistically significant (χ2=31.37, p<0.01). The
results suggest that female seniors have been more satisfied with the overall academic
experiences than their male counterparts. For instance, 38.89% of female seniors have been
“very satisfied” with their overall academic experiences, but the corresponding figure for male
seniors who have been “very satisfied” with their overall academic experiences is 28.46%.
The association between transfer student status and satisfaction with curriculum in their majors Table 38. The cross-tabulation of transfer student status and satisfaction with the curriculum in their majors
Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very
Satisfied χ2 P
Transfer 1.26% 3.47% 11.67% 45.11% 38.49% 15.59 0.004**
Non-transfer 0.21% 2.51% 7.10% 53.13% 37.05%
Note: the total number of seniors who responded to these questions is 1,275
Table 38 presents the results of the chi-square test between transfer student status and
satisfaction with the curriculum in their majors. The chi-square test indicates that the association
between transfer student status and satisfaction with the curriculum is statistically significant
(χ2=15.59, p<0.01). The results suggest that seniors who are transfer students have been less
satisfied with the curriculum in their majors than their counterparts who are not transfer
students. For instance, 45.11% of seniors who are transfer students have been “satisfied” with the
curriculum in their majors, but the corresponding figure for seniors who are non-transfer
students and have been “satisfied” with the curriculum in their majors is 53.13%.
48
The association between transfer student status and satisfaction with satisfaction with their overall co-curricular activities experience Table 39. The cross-tabulation of transfer student status and satisfaction with their overall co-curricular activities experience
Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very
Satisfied χ2 P
Transfer 1.91% 3.18% 29.30% 40.77% 24.84% 13.47 0.009**
Non-Transfer 0.84% 2.20% 21.36% 44.92% 30.68%
Note: the total number of seniors who responded to these questions is 1,269
Table 39 presents the results of the chi-square test between transfer student status and
satisfaction with their overall co-curricular experiences. The chi-square test indicates that the
association between transfer student status and satisfaction with their co-curricular experience is
statistically significant (χ2=13.47, p<0.01). The results suggest that seniors who are transfer
students have been less satisfied with their co-curricular activities experience than their
counterparts who are non-transfer students. For instance, 24.84% of seniors who are transfer
students have been “very satisfied” with their co-curricular activities experience, but the
corresponding figure for seniors who are non-transfer students and have been very satisfied with
their co-curricular activities experience is 30.68%.
The association between transfer student status and satisfaction with their overall College of Charleston experience Table 40. The cross-tabulation of transfer student status and satisfaction with their overall College of Charleston experience
Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very
Satisfied χ2 P
49
Transfer 9.05% 20.60% 27.14% 30.15% 13.06% 10.57 0.03*
Non-Transfer 9.40% 12.60% 23.40% 37.60% 17.00%
Note: the total number of seniors who responded to these questions is 1,274.
Table 40 presents the results of the chi-square test between transfer student status and
satisfaction with their overall College of Charleston experiences. The chi-square test indicates
that the association between transfer student status and satisfaction with their overall College of
Charleston experience is statistically significant (χ2=10.57, p<0.05). The results suggest that
seniors who are transfer students have been less satisfied with the overall College of Charleston
experience than their counterparts who are non-transfer students. For instance, 43.21% of seniors
who are transfer students have been either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their overall
College of Charleston experience, but the corresponding figure for seniors who are non-transfer
students is 54.6%.
50
References Bauer, K. W., & Bennett, J. S. (2003). Alumni perceptions used to assess undergraduate research
experience. The Journal of Higher Education, 74(2), 210-230.
Lopatto, D. (2007). Undergraduate research experiences support science career decisions and
active learning. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 6(4), 297-306.
Russell, S. H., Hancock, M. P., & McCullough, J. (2007). Benefits of undergraduate research
experiences. Science(Washington), 316(5824), 548-549.