Internship Research

Decorative photo of three students at an internship fair.

Internships are widely considered valuable high impact practices (HIP) that contribute to students’ social and economic mobility. Students and employers report mixed results in regards to the effectiveness of these experiences at providing graduates with career readiness and occupational skills. CCWT conducts empirical research and periodically reviews the literature on internships across national and disciplinary boundaries.

CCWT Internship Research

CCWT launched the National Survey of College Internships (NSCI) in 2018 in response to the growing interest in internships and related forms of work-based learning, which are widely seen as “high-impact practices” (HIPs) that contribute to students’ academic, social and career success.  However, national studies on internships that focused on issues of equitable access, program structure and student outcomes hadn’t been conducted prior to the development of the NSCI framework. The need for data about internships became even more important with the Covid-19 pandemic and growing concerns about inequitable access to internships (especially unpaid positions), particularly for low-income, first-generation and/or BIPOC students. In documenting obstacles to internships and other indicators of equitable treatment of interns, the NSCI data helps institutions identify and address these obstacles, which is one way higher education can help solve the nation’s growing problems with income inequality, structural racism, and workplace discrimination.

The NSCI instrument is organized around the Internship Scorecard framework, which aims to capture three critical elements of a college internship: (1) purpose and prevalence, (2) quality, and (3) equitable access. In capturing these key aspects of an internship, the 58-item NSCI survey goes far beyond merely documenting whether or not a student has taken an internship.

In 2023, Strada Education began collaborating with CCWT to administer the survey instrument. Click here to learn more about NSCI.

CCWT Internship Publications


Other Helpful Sources

Ebner, K., Soucek, R., Selenko, E. (2021). Perceived quality of internships and employability perceptions: The mediating role of career-entry worries. Education and Training, 63(4), 579-596.

Jackson, D., & Bridgstock, R. (2020). What actually works to enhance graduate employability? The relative value of curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular learning and paid work. Higher Education, 81, 723-739.

O’Connor, H., & Bodicoat, M. (2017). Exploitation or opportunity? Student perceptions of internships in enhancing employability skills. British Journal of Sociology of Education38(4), 435-449.

Shoenfelt, E. L., Stone, N. J., & Kottke, J. L. (2015). Internships: An established mechanism for increasing employability. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 6(1), 24-27.

Heyler, R., & Lee, D. (2014). The role of work experience in the future employability of higher education graduates. Higher Education Quarterly, 68(3), 348-372.

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