Changing Higher Ed High-Outcome Internships in Higher Ed: Bridge the Workforce Gap and Enhance Student Success
Higher ed needs to provide more accessible, high-outcome internships to meet the current demands of the workforce and students. A recent McKinsey report finds that more than 85% of companies feel there is a skills gap between education and industry, and the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has identified several career readiness skills students must have upon graduation but can only obtain through internships.
Meanwhile, more than a third of entry-level jobs require three years of work experience, and students who aren’t getting employed after graduating are already questioning the ROI of their degree.
In his latest podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton discusses the characteristics of a well-set-up intern program and how they can benefit students and higher ed with Daniel Nivern of Virtual Internships. This ed-tech company runs online internship programs across 18 career fields. Daniel discusses the pros and cons of each type of internship, what presidents should discuss with employers before creating internship opportunities, how internships should be structured to garner the best results, what communication should look like between the company and intern, how interns can become more part of a company’s work culture, and how to better promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Podcast Highlights
- Universities need to ensure that the company and intern are both happy, which requires aligning the objectives of all parties involved. Identify what both sides seek regarding set criteria, tasks, and skills. What skills are companies looking to gain? What skills do they already have? What skills would the intern like to offer the company?
- Verbal communication must occur before the program begins and should involve identifying projects that the intern must complete by the end of the program. For example, three to five mini-projects can be devised for the intern so they feel they've accomplished something by the end of the program. Ad hoc and spontaneous assignments can be beneficial, but more structure is recommended.
- Integrate two-way feedback to encourage strong communication throughout the internship. The host company supervisor needs to provide structured, formalized feedback so the intern knows how they are progressing and what tasks they've accomplished. Likewise, the intern needs to give feedback to the company to get accustomed to communicating upward and understanding what it means to show off what they've done. These communications are preferred daily, but must be done weekly at the very least.
- The company should help integrate the intern into the workplace, and the intern should also make an effort. This involves speaking to as many employees as possible in an in-person setting. In a virtual setting, it may mean being part of the online communication channels, such as Slack groups, the all-hands town halls the company may run, etc. This needs to be considered well in advance of the programming.
- It is encouraged to have these points agreed upon in writing, signed off by the company, and seen by the student before the internship. Failure to ensure alignment can result in a breakdown in the middle of the partnership.
- In addition to costing the employer extra money, only providing in-person internships can limit the number of students who can participate in the program while diminishing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Many students cannot dedicate additional commuting and in-person time outside of school by having to juggle family and work commitments, etc. Virtual internships are a more scalable, accessible, and equitable approach with many of the same advantages as in-person programs.
- Higher ed is highly encouraged to create credit-bearing internships. Data has shown that students feel much more satisfied with their university course when embedded into the curriculum and believe they have a higher return on investment.
Read the transcript on our website →
About Our Podcast Guest Dan Nivern
Daniel is the Co-Founder & CEO of Virtual Internships, an ed-tech company that runs online internship programs across 18 career fields, bridging the gap between education and industry and helping learners from all backgrounds to gain global work experience.
Virtual Internships is one of the top 100 EdTech startups in Europe in the Holon IQ Europe EdTech list and was named the 23rd best remote company to work for in the world in 2022. Through partnerships with institutions including ASU, Aston University, Botho University, and Kaplan, Virtual Internships has supported thousands of students undertaking remote internships.
A graduate of Oxford University with a Master’s in Management and Chinese, Daniel has been featured on CNBC, BBC News, and Bloomberg for his work in developing global employability programs. He is also the founder of CRCC Asia, a company that has helped over 10,000 students to complete internships in Asia.
About the Host
Dr. Drumm McNaughton, the host of Changing Higher Ed®, is a consultant to higher ed institutions in governance, accreditation, strategy and change, and mergers. To learn more about his services and other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website, https://changinghighered.com/.
The Change Leader’s Social Media Links
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/
- Twitter: @thechangeldr
- Email: podcast@changinghighered.com
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