How Do Supervisor Roles and Task Complexity Influence Students’ Career Development during Internships?
3:10 PM – 3:30 PM • 20 Minute Runtime • Room 220
To ensure high-quality internships and maximize student career outcomes, it is crucial to provide students with opportunities to perform relevant tasks and to ensure that supervisors offer appropriate feedback and support for their development. This study investigates the impact of workplace tasks at internships on students’ career development, focusing on the moderating role of supervisors. Using regression analysis with a sample from National Survey College Internship (NSCI) 2023 data of 1,454 college students who completed internships, we found that students performing high-skill tasks with supervision had significantly higher career development outcomes compared to those performing low-skill tasks with supervision when supervisors provided mentoring (β = 0.108, p < 0.05) and support (β = 0.125, p < 0.01). Additionally, students engaged in autonomous work also experienced higher career development when supervisors offered mentoring (β = 0.156, p < 0.01), support (β = 0.128, p < 0.01), and goal clarity (β = 0.092, p < 0.01).
The findings highlight the critical role of both task complexity and supervisory support in fostering meaningful internship experiences that contribute to student’s professional growth. Specifically, the more complex and autonomous the task, the more crucial the supervisor’s role becomes in supporting the student’s career development. These results suggest that during internships, both students and supervisors should prioritize building a strong rapport and learning how to provide effective feedback and supervision. Moreover, adequate rewards and institutional support for both interns and supervisors are essential to enhance the overall internship experience and outcomes.QA
Hee Song
Project Assistant • University of WI-Madison CCWT