LIST OF TABLES

ABSTRACT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Student Involvement in the Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration: An Evaluation of Academic and Professional Development
(Report in HTML)

APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

APPENDIX 2: FOCUS GROUP GUIDING QUESTIONS

Table 1: Data Collection Methods of Survey Questionnaire

Table 2: Population Universe and Completed Interviews

Table 4: Student Academic Discipline When First Involved With PCERII by University

Table 5: Student Conference Attendance and Presentations by University

Table 6: Academic Discipline When Interns Became Involved with PCERII

Table 7: Level of Studies When First Involved

Table 8: Academic Discipline When First Involved

Table 9: Intended or Current Stream

This report examines the experiences of former and current students involved in the Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration (PCERII). Examining the experiences of students from six PCERII-affiliated universities across the Prairie region, this report increases our understanding of student involvement in several ways. First, based on the survey results of 180 students, it provides a detailed profile of students employed in the PCERII network. This profile includes demographic information, students' academic history, and a description of professional outcomes resulting from their PCERII involvement including conference attendance, publication record, use of Metropolis services and participation in Metropolis activities. Based on an analysis of focus group discussions, the report further explores students' experiences, insights and recommendations on how to improve their involvement. Results show that students are from a broad range of disciplines and degree programs, and vary widely in their degree of integration in the PCERII and the wider Metropolis community. Toward enhancing their involvement, students' recommendations fall under two main categories. First, they recommend that future policy and program efforts should focus on increasing student awareness of PCERII services and activities. Second, students focussed on issues of professional development, offering several strategies which might improve their training and career outcomes.

• The study had two components: focus group discussions at six locations with 24 students, and a census survey with 95 students.
• Focus groups discussions targeted the following themes: research skills and training, professional development, access to PCERII and/or Metropolis resources, and communications and networking with other students and researchers.
• Survey questionnaires were arranged according to the following topics: involvement with the PCERII, conference attendance, presentations and publications, thesis/dissertation presentations, use of Metropolis resources, student registry, inter-centre internships, employment, evaluation of experience, and demographics.

• The majority of students affiliated with the PCERII were invited or recruited to be involved in this study.
• Just over half (53%) of the students became involved with PCERII while at the Masters level, followed by Doctoral (34%) and Bachelors (13%) students. Students working with PCERII represent a variety of disciplines including Education, Sociology, Nursing, Anthropology, Economics, Psychology, Public Health Services, Human Ecology, Literature, History, Political Science, Linguistics, Religious Studies and Geography
• A small majority of U of C students (53%) and a minority of U of A students (30%) attended at least one Metropolis conference or workshop.
• Services and activities offered by the PCERII are generally under-utilized, mainly due to a lack of awareness.

• The majority of interns (58%) applied to the PCERII after learning about the internship program through an in-class presentation.
• Interns come from a variety of disciplines including Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Science and Business.

• The majority of students were recruited to the PCERII through their supervisors.
• Students are mainly involved with PCERII as research assistants. They often do not have direct contact with the PCERII administrative Centre at the University of Alberta.
• The majority of students in Manitoba and Saskatchewan rate their involvement with PCERII as positive and are satisfied with their experience.
• The majority of students in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are unaware of the services and activities offered by PCERII.

• With regard to training and research skills, students valued the hands-on experience Metropolis research offered them. Their involvement gave them or enhanced existing skills, in defining a research problem, conducting and writing literature reviews, developing survey instruments, data analysis, using statistical software packages, and conducting interviews.
• Students recognized that their affiliation with Metropolis had broadened their opportunities in terms of their graduate careers and occupations.
• Although Metropolis offers a wealth of resources to students, the majority were not aware of these resources and consequently did not use them. Students who were located at the PCERII administrative centre in Edmonton were more aware of and more readily accessed resources.
• Many students who were involved with research projects did not feel connected to the larger Metropolis community and were not aware of Metropolis interests beyond their specific project. However, conference attendance served to promote a greater sense of community and awareness, allowing students an opportunity to situate their research within a larger field of study.
• Students expressed a strong interest in strengthening connections to Metropolis. They recommended increasing student travel grants, and opportunities to present at Brown Bag seminars, as well as introducing publication workshops, inter-centre internships, and annual awards. Students also recommended increased student participation at conferences.
• Students wanted to know more about Metropolis. They suggested that information packages including information outlining Metropolis research and goals, student roles, duties, and opportunities for professional development be distributed to students when they begin their affiliation. A student mailing list could serve as a vehicle to inform students about ongoing Metropolis events and opportunities.
• The internship program offered by PCERII was rated very positively. Interns strongly recommended that this program continue and suggested that they would like to be more actively involved in research projects with publication potential.