Understanding students' perceptions and attitude toward learning about internships in a business school

Abstract

Purpose

Internships are an integral part of a college curriculum, yet students are sometimes unaware of how to secure this opportunity. This research aims to determine efficient methods to provide information to students within the given majors, identify barriers on what is stopping students from seeking out internships earlier and identify the appropriate time for students to receive internship information.

Design/methodology/approach

This study undertook descriptive research in a preliminary investigation of the undergraduate business students' attitude toward learning about the internship program offered by a business school of a state funded university in Michigan, USA. The data-collection instrument consisted of structured closed-ended questions relevant to undergraduate business students' perceptions and attitude toward learning about the internship program.

Findings

The results of this survey of 631 undergraduate students revealed a relationship between gender and the willingness to gain information about internships. Additional findings revealed that students who received information at the beginning of their schooling were more likely to plan for the internship in advance. Finally, students who preferred to receive information about internships multiple times were most likely to contact their academic advisor or internship director for more resources.

Originality/value

Together, the results of these findings can be used for current institution and other business schools with similar setting to reduce the barriers students face and allow undergraduate business students greater accessibility to internship positions.

Citation

Ho, H.W.L. and Squires, S. (2022), "Understanding students' perceptions and attitude toward learning about internships in a business school", Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 537-555. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-06-2021-0121