Changhee Lee, Vanderbilt University & Mindi Thompson, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Career adaptability has become increasingly important in the discourse on work-based learning and college students’ career development, given its potential link with lifelong vocational success. However, the impact of internships and specific supervisory styles on career adaptability remains underexplored. This study addresses the gap by exploring whether and how internships, considering qualities including autonomy, goal clarity, emotional support, and task-related mentoring, relate to interns’ career adaptability gains. Using Ordinary Least Squares regressions with two-wave survey data (N=847), we found that internships are associated with gains in the concern dimension of career adaptability. Additionally, higher autonomy and goal clarity significantly predict overall career adaptability gains among interns. These findings offer insights for designing effective internships that maximize professional growth and adaptability for college interns.