Document Type
Dissertation
First Faculty Advisor
Ketchum, David
Keywords
Starting Salaries; Majors; Grade Point Average; GPA
Publisher
Bryant University
Rights Management
All Rights Retained by Brittany Sarza and Bryant University
Abstract
Students often wonder what curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities contribute to initial starting salary. Previous studies on this topic have indicated that the factors GPA, major/field of study, gender, and having an internship all increase starting salary. Prior research showed a positive and significant relationship between GPA and starting salary (Jones and Jackson, 1990), fields that require mathematical abilities had higher starting salaries in comparison to those fields without quantitative abilities (Paglin and Rufolo, 1990), 95% of the gender gap in starting salaries with women earning less than men could be attributed to college majors selected (McDonald and Thorton, 2007), and experience is beneficial, but only up until a certain point. Using a linear regression approach on a sample of 386 Bryant University graduates from 2013 to 2015, this study found that GPA, major/field of study, ethnicity, employer size, having an internship, commission-based salaries, global companies, and reasons for accepting the position all had significant effects on starting salary.
