Evaluating the Design and Benefits of Internship Programs

Abstract

Scholarship on the role of professional development opportunities for undergraduate students has highlighted the growing importance of internship programs. Different designs of internship programs have emerged as their numbers proliferate. Internship programs vary on key dimensions including integration of academic content, development of internship offerings (publicly available vs. specially designed internships), and placement (self-select vs. guided). This paper compares three models of internship programs in a research university: a “traditional” model involving an array of political science–related internships; a research-focused internship program in political science; and an environmental internship program focused on environmental science, policy, and education internships. The paper evaluates and compares these programs by examining organizational and process variables, the impact of internships on participants, and participant satisfaction. We use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including a specially designed opinion survey of participants in the three programs. The results demonstrate that different models of internship programs with varying resources can all provide high impact and high satisfaction levels when certain elements are integrated into the programs. Students who were given more challenging tasks and opportunities to take initiatives were especially likely to gain a variety of personal, professional, and civic benefits. Overall, the highest levels of satisfaction were expressed by participants who felt their internship gave them new knowledge and skills, improved their employment prospects, enriched the college experience, and contributed to an important cause.

Keywords:

• Internships
• internship programs
• assessment
• experiential learning
• survey

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dennis Chong, Morris Levy, and participants at panels at the 2018 Midwest Political Science Association Conference in Chicago and the 2018 Western Political Association Conference, especially Francis Neely, for their helpful advice on this paper. We also thank Vanessa Yu and Dan Wolinsky for their research assistance.

Notes

1 This research was determined to be exempt from 45 CFR 46 by the University of Southern California Institutional Review Board, Approval Number UP-20-00643.

2 About 40 students have taken a program more than once. Due to the anonymous nature of the survey, we had to limit each respondent to one response. Respondents were instructed to refer to their most recent internship if they had enrolled more than once.

3 Increasingly, both governmental and nongovernmental organizations are required/choose to hire interns who receive academic credit for their internship often due to federal/state funding restrictions.

4 Many of the participants who received the survey request had already graduated from the university.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yael Wolinsky-Nahmias

Yael Wolinsky-Nahmias is a Professor of Practice in Environmental Studies and Political Science at the University of Southern California. She has authored articles and book chapters on environmental politics and has published two books: Changing Climate Politics: U.S. Policies and Civic Action (CQ Press/Sage, 2015) and Models, Numbers, and Cases: Methods for Studying International Relations, with Detlef Sprinz (University of Michigan Press, 2004). She teaches courses on environmental politics, climate change policies, civic participation, and sustainability and has created a highly successful internship program in environmental studies at the University of Southern California. The program has helped more than 150 students gain professional experience in environmental policy, science, and education, and many of these students have consequently launched careers in the area of their internship. She received her BA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, MA from the University of Pennsylvania, and PhD from the University of Chicago.

Arthur H. Auerbach

Art Auerbach is a Professor of Teaching in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California. He received his bachelor of arts degrees in political science and environmental studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his juris doctor degree from Pepperdine University School of Law and served as a state prosecutor for 10 years with the California Attorney General’s office in Los Angeles. In 2000, he left the practice of law and completed his PhD in 2007. He teaches a variety of courses within public law. He is also the Internship Director of the University of Southern California Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, where he works with undergraduates at all stages of their academic careers to gain real-world experience prior to graduation.