DISCUSSION
This study is one of the first to deeply explore student internship experiences, particularly through a mixed methods design. Initially, I planned to compare student experiences at startups and established companies, but the survey identified few differences between the two
environments. In fact, on the surface, there are surprisingly few differences between various groupings of student experiences in internships. Responses to the open-ended questions showed that students participate in a wide variety of tasks, but the quantitative survey questions indicated that most characteristics of the job and work environment are relatively consistent among
internships. However, interviews uncovered more subtle distinctions about student experiences in internships.
Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data led to five significant findings about student experiences in internships. First, the workplace represented a conducive learning environment for students where they were able to participate in work tasks and learn from practice. Second, social interaction played a critical role in student learning outcomes, despite the fact that most students spent the majority of their time working independently. Welcoming supervisors and coworkers who were willing to help when needed contributed significantly to student learning, both through direct and indirect guidance. Third, while I originally planned to look at startups and established companies, I realized that size alone did not adequately
categorize companies. A subset of established companies shared characteristics with startups; this was intentional in some cases where innovation represented a core value of the company, but
could be unintentional in cases where an office was isolated from the rest of the company (such as in a research park). Fourth, students who worked at startup or hybrid companies talked more about projects as opposed to discrete tasks, while students who interned at established companies more often received a series of smaller assignments. Finally, the learning outcomes resulting from each internship experience are unique, even within the same company, as many teams have distinct personalities and social interaction represents a key contributor to student learning.
The language that students used to describe the culture of the workplace and the tasks that they performed revealed different paths to learning outcomes. Based on the findings, students who interned at an established company were more likely to encounter an
apprenticeship approach in which they are assigned a specific task, shadow or observe others doing the task, and then mimic what they saw to perform the task. In contrast, students who interned at startups or hybrid companies spent more time on larger projects where they have an overarching goal and break the project into pieces themselves to complete it. This second scenario aligns more closely with a constructivist approach to learning in which the student has access to help but primarily leads the project on their own, defining tasks or pieces of the project, and figuring out how to achieve the goal. In both cases, students learn through performing tasks and through direct and indirect guidance, but in the second scenario, the student plays a more active role, priming him or her to tackle future projects and/or to resolve future problems. As a result, learning outcomes differ and students develop a different skill set. Further, students who work primarily on projects may not perceive the various discrete tasks they performed
throughout the project, but see the project holistically. This would account for why students who interned at startups did not report data analysis as a task or a skill developed.
Contributions to the Literature
Many past studies have demonstrated that students benefit from experiential learning in various ways, including improved academic performance, greater autonomy, increased
confidence, improved interpersonal skills, higher salaries, etc. However, past studies have not explored why these benefits occur or what the student actually experiences during the internship. This study focuses on what students experience, including the tasks they perform, their work environment, and their interactions with others in the workplace. Many of the interview subjects talked about increased self-confidence, about applying concepts they learned to a real world environment, and that they anticipated that they could apply their experiences to their future coursework, which aligned with past literature.
Previous literature on this topic expressed concerns about internships such as unrealistic expectations of interns and mostly “grunt” work that is not meaningful. However, most of the students in this study, both in the survey and interviews, indicated that they felt they contributed to the organization and participated in meaningful work. Students reported tasks that related to their area of study and that required their current knowledge and skills, as well as development of new knowledge and skills.
Traditionally, faculty have viewed experiential learning as non-academic. Because many students in the study did not make connections between school and work, this is a valid concern, but students also clearly indicated that they learned significantly, and in some cases learned skills and knowledge that they did not encounter in school. There were examples of both
(initiating their own projects, coming up with their own solutions) and both resulted in the acquisition of new skills or knowledge.
Limited research exists currently that provides insight into what students actually do during internships or how experiences differ at different types of companies. This study contributes to the literature by providing data on the types of tasks in which students engage during internships and the skills they learn as a result. In addition, this study examines how different work environment characteristics may foster different types of learning. Startup organizations and established companies that foster startup-like environments may enable students to experiment more and try new things. In fact, the identification of hybrid companies that more closely resemble startups than established companies represents an important
contribution in and of itself. At the same time, both the survey and interviews suggest that students do learn in the workplace through a variety of activities as Billett (2001, 2002a, 2002b) discusses in his organizational learning framework, including performing work tasks, direct guidance, and indirect guidance. To my knowledge, past studies have not used Billett’s framework in the context of experiential learning.
Implications
This study offers several implications for both the academy and for companies that employ interns. As more and more students seek internships in order to be competitive when they graduate and enter the workplace, the academy needs to better understand what students are experiencing during internships and how it relates to the classroom. In both the survey and the interviews, some students saw connections between what they learned in the classroom and their tasks at work, but others did not. In some cases, students may use concepts they learned through
their coursework and not even realize it. Perhaps faculty could help students to make connections between what they learn in the classroom and what they do at work, potentially facilitating a transition from cumulative or mechanical learning to assimilative or
accommodative learning. Faculty members who have spent their careers in the academy and have not worked in businesses could potentially collaborate with career services staff to work with students to reflect on the tasks they performed and how the work could relate to theoretical concepts. Students noted in the survey and in interviews that they learned new skills or
knowledge that they did not learn in their coursework. Again, this could be due to the fact that many students participate in a larger scale project during their senior year, which typically takes place after at least one and potentially more than one internship. However, perhaps faculty can leverage what students learn through internships in the classroom earlier on and/or prepare students as underclassmen as to what they should look for in a work setting. Some institutions provide a course before, during, or after an internship to facilitate student learning. Activities can include discussions (online or in person), reflections, and other exercises to foster
connections between theory and the workplace.
This study focused on business and engineering students, which represent areas where internships have been part of the culture for several decades or more. However, internships have broadened extensively beyond the fields of business and engineering and students from virtually all disciplines are more likely to seek internships than in the past. Therefore, faculty and
administrators from disciplines where internships are less prevalent can potentially look to the fields of business and engineering for guidance. At the same time, they may face different challenges. First, business and engineering internships are more likely to include compensation, but this is not necessarily the case in other disciplines (Yagoda, 2008). In addition, potential
employers in areas outside business and engineering may be less prepared to provide meaningful work and a positive experience for interns, and students would not know what to anticipate from an internship experience. Faculty and administrators could work closely with prospective
employers in these areas to discuss learning objectives for students and the steps the organization has taken to prepare those who will supervise or work with interns.
Companies also need to understand what students experience through internships. Based on the data from this study, it appears that students who work on larger scale projects versus discrete tasks learn different skills, which may make them more valuable future employees. For example, students who work in environments that value flexibility and innovation may be better positioned to contribute significantly to the company. Many companies could benefit from better understanding the millennial generation since these individuals will encompass significant
buying power in the near future, and students who are proactive and demonstrate initiative can potentially uncover and resolve significant opportunities or issues in the workplace. As companies compete for talent, recruiting from the intern pool can bring significant financial savings to companies, making it critical for companies to provide positive experiences for students. Time and again in this study, students who felt that their work was meaningful and impactful to the company reported more positive experiences and were more likely to accept a full-time offer from the company.
Finally, intern experiences depend heavily on the company and industry, but also on the team and supervisor to which they are assigned. Companies would benefit by providing
adequate training to supervisors and other employees who will be working with students so that they can assign meaningful work to the student and foster skill and knowledge development through effective direct and indirect guidance. In fact, to the extent possible, it may be most
beneficial for all parties if companies and faculty collaborated to train intern supervisors, even if that involved faculty providing some written guidelines or suggestions, or providing information on apprenticeship versus constructivist approaches. A welcoming atmosphere also represented a critical factor in how the student described the experience after it concluded, enabling full acceptance into the community of practice, and in how much they learned as a result.
Further Research
This study provided insight as to what students experience at internships, including the types of tasks they perform and what they learn as a result. It also explored potential differences by company type (startup versus established company) and by a variety of demographic
characteristics such as gender, income level, domestic versus international status, major, previous internship experience, and supervisor gender. Several questions arose that would be worth additional study as a result of this research.
First, how could a researcher conduct a survey that better captured the type of company for which the student worked? Based on the interviews, the distinction between established companies and startups may not be sufficient, as some established companies make an effort to mimic a startup environment with varying degrees of success. It would be interesting to conduct the survey again with a mechanism for better categorizing the company type to see if the results were impacted. This could be in the form of adding additional questions about whether the company values innovation and whether the office where the intern works is separated from the rest of the company. Also, would companies in specific industries be more likely to fall into the hybrid category, or is it more company specific? Would some companies fall into more than one category, depending on the division or team? My guess is that would likely be the case,