Understanding the value of internships

Start date: 1 May 2016
End date: 31 December 2026
Principal investigator: Dr Helen Hughes (Leeds University Business School)
Collaborators: Dr Matthew Davis (Leeds University Business School), Dr William E. Donald (University of Southampton, and Ronin Institute), Dr Nalayini Thambar (University of Nottingham), Dr Nicola Thomas (University of Sheffield)

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Description

Internships, often referred to as ‘work placements’ in the UK, are pivotal in the career trajectory of high-flying graduates. They provide crucial workplace exposure and experience prior to graduate employment, and are a popular choice for many students as they develop their work readiness. Graduate destination data suggests that employment opportunities are stronger for students who have undertaken an internship, with such students also benefiting from improved academic outcomes.

Despite this, internships remain poorly researched overall, raising important questions about how best universities can support such students. How prepared are they for their internship, and do they have the right skills to succeed? What do students expect from an internship, and do their expectations and goals change during their employment? Are some types of internship more beneficial than others? How quickly do interns develop the right balance of skills, and what do employers think about these students’ proficiency?

By exploring such questions we believe that universities can help ensure that students are well prepared for their internships and the graduate employment market, and that opportunities are inclusive, and facilitate student success.

Research overview

The overall aim of this project is to explore the value of an internship, and understand how students develop skills, values and goals as a result of their internship experiences. The research is a multi-partnered collaboration, and the overall research programme comprises different workstreams.

Workstream 1

Since 2016 we have been tracking students’ development across more than 100 competencies at three time points (pre-internship, mid-internship and end-of-internship), exploring their proficiency and rates of development. Alongside this, our research explores the goals, values and expectations that students have about their internships, as well as how they are perceived in the workplace by their workplace colleagues.

So far, over 1250 students have taken part in the research from across three faculties; and over 1900 line manager and workplace peers from over 280 organizations have provided ratings of students at different time points.

Top five issues arising from workstream 1:

Students’ competencies develop at different rates.
There are discrepancies in the ways that students and their colleagues rate their competency development during the placement.
There are differences between student proficiency, and the rates at which competencies develop, depending on student demographics (e.g. discipline and gender).
The approach to pedagogy provides multi-layered feedback for students, and opportunities for them to self-manage progress.
The University can use this data to develop benchmarks, as well as evidence-based employability provision across the University, and with sector-wide implications.

Workstream 2

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been exploring students’ experiences of undertaking remote and hybrid internships. In this part of the work we interviewed 22 interns during the 2019/20 year, and analysed questionnaires and reflective essays from 175 current interns, to understand the way that their internship experiences had influenced their work readiness and competency development.

Impact

The value of this work is multi-faceted. Student feedback suggests that they really value the opportunity to receive formative feedback from their colleagues, and find the opportunity for self-reflection helpful in navigating placement opportunities.

For universities and placement hosts, the research is beneficial because it enables us to better target employability initiatives, measure and benchmark student progression, and so in time, improve the quality of the guidance we give to students.

Publications and outputs

Workstream 1 – Understanding the value of internships

Understanding the value of internships – project summary – infographic
Understanding the value of internships – report
How do students and organisations get value out of work placements? – Research and Innovation Podcast, July 2020

Presentation video:

Hughes, H.P.N. (2023). The Work-Integrated Opportunity and Development Tool: A Practical Approach to Maximizing the Value of Work-Integrated Learning. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 35(1), 195-207. IJTLHE4396.pdf (isetl.org)
Hughes, H.P.N., Mouratidou, M. and Donald, W.E. (2023). "Exploring the impact of an industrial placement year on students' competency development: a three-cohort, longitudinal study", Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 13(6), 1218-1233. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-02-2023-0044
Donald, W. E., & Hughes, H.P.N. (2023). How academics can play a more influential role during a year-in-industry placement: A contemporary critique and call for action. Industry and Higher Education, https://doi.org/10.1177/09504222231162059

Workstream 2 – How COVID-19 has affected those on internships

Starting your career during a pandemic – report, October 2021
Starting your career during the pandemic: How organisations, universities, and interns can help – infographic, October 2021
Trends in employment practices for student hires during the pandemic – podcast, January 2022

Starting your career during the pandemic – podcast, December 2021

Blog post series – December 2021

Webinars:

Hybrid and future ways of working – Why one size can’t fit all – webinar, November 2021

Papers:

Hughes H.P.N., Thambar N. (2023). Graduate Careers in a Changing Workplace: A Fresh Challenge?. In: Donald WE (eds.) Establishing and Maintaining Sustainable Career Ecosystems for University Students and Graduates. IGI Global
Thambar, N., & Hughes, H. P. (2023). 'The Robots are Coming 2–Rise of the Screens’: The role of higher education careers professions in disrupted times. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 50(1), 85-95. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.5009

Presentations:

Thambar, N. & Hughes, H.P.N. (2023) The Rise of the Screens: The Impact of Hybrid Working on early graduate careers. Keynote Speech at the 2023 AGCAS Annual Conference, Keele
Hughes, H.P.N., with Interaction Learning & Development (2023) Early Career Networks: What are they, how are they changing, and why should you care? Presentation at the Institute for Student Employers: Student Development Conference, London

Media

Luminate (prospects.ac.uk) The impact of hybrid working on graduate careers (October 2023)
BBC Worklife, Why Gen Z workers are starting on the back foot (April 2023)
ERT News, Why Generation Z workers start work... “limping” (April 2023) (News. In Greek. Feature piece about generation Z workers and how they are thrown into demanding tasks and deliberately "throw them into the deep end".)
BBC Worklife, The companies that churn through young workers (January 2023)
Money Marketing, Why internships are more valuable than you think (December 2022)
BBC Worklife, Why young workers can’t shake presenteeism (August 2022)
Financial Times, The new workplace: what young starters need to know (June 2022)
ISE Development Survey – Quotes from Dr Helen Hughes are used throughout the publication (March 2022)
BBC Worklife – Dr Helen Hughes is quoted in BBC Worklife, The simmering tension between remote and in-office workers (March 2022) – Referenced in Forbes Hungary and SINA China.
BBC Radio Scotland – Dr Helen Hughes spoke on the Kaye Adams show about the benefits of having a good workspace, particularly when working from home, to improve mental health and productivity (January 2022).
BBC Radio Leeds – Richard Stead interviewed Dr Helen Hughes about the prevalence of hybrid working models and home-working (May 2021).

Contact

If you are interested in hearing more about the project, or are keen to collaborate, please get in touch with Dr Helen Hughes.

Follow on Twitter:
@HelenPNHughes

Connect on LinkedIn.