College internships and other forms of Work-Based Learning (WBL) are widely considered to be high impact practices (HIP) that contribute to students’ social and economic mobility post-graduation. CCWT conducts empirical research to understand issues related to access and effectiveness of college internships. We also review the literature on college internships across national and disciplinary boundaries to inform our own work and to offer as a service to scholars and practitioners. At CCWT, we utilize findings from this research to develop resources, tools, and programming to help post-secondary institutions, employers, and students improve practices and gain skills to smooth students’ transition into the workforce. For example, the College Internship Scorecard has been widely used to assist institutions, employers, and scholars to evaluate college internship programs and design college internships that have meaningful impacts for all students.
CCWT College Internship Study
What do we really know about internships and their impacts on student outcomes such as wages, employment status, and career satisfaction? Do internships – especially those that are unpaid – serve to reproduce inequality by limiting access to these “high-impact practices” to those with ample and officially sanctioned forms of financial, cultural, and social capital?
To shed light on these critical questions, CCWT launched the longitudinal College Internship Study in 2018. This study was groundbreaking in that it was the first to focus on issues of equitable access, program structure, and student voices. We documented obstacles to internships and other indicators of internship quality. this research helps. Collectively, our work identified gaps in students’ access to high quality college internships , showed that students at two-year institutions face significant challenges balancing heavy course loads with work commitments and lack of information about securing internship opportunities, and surfaced disproportionate barriers faced by historically underrepresented students (e.g., first-generation students, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds) at personal and structural levels which impact decision-making regarding whether to pursue internship opportunities (e.g., Jang-Tucci et al., 2024; Hora et al., 2023; Song & Hora, 2024; Thompson et al., 2021).
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CCWT National Survey of College Internships (NSCI)
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. The NSCI instrument is organized around CCWT’s 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 2023, CCWT partnered with Strada Education Network to deliver the NSCI.
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Work-based & Experiential Learning Lab (WELL) Project
We launched the WELL Project in Fall 2024 with the goal of translating knowledge and insight gained from the scholarly literature to direct application. The WELL Project seeks to ensure all students have access to impactful work-based learning experiences, tools for optimizing those experiences, and career development skills for successful workplace transitions. Our aim is to develop, co-create, and pilot evidence-based tools and frameworks to provide employers and students resources that will optimize their work-based learning experiences.
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Internship Research Resources
CCWT regularly reviews the literature on internships across national and disciplinary boundaries. This research informs our own work and provides a resource for scholars and practitioners who are interested in staying up-to-date on the college internship literature.
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