Internship alternatives: Solutions for the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Abstract

Internships are an integral component of most undergraduate and graduate public administration programs. These learning opportunities allow students to get practical experience in a workplace setting before graduation and provide them with an opportunity to apply knowledge gained in the classroom to the “real world.” But what are students, departments, and employers to do when circumstances—including major disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic as well as situations unique to specific students—complicate or even prevent on-site internship experiences? This article outlines a variety of approaches to finding a solution to this problem, weighing the benefits and drawbacks of each.

Keywords

Internships COVID-19 curriculum employment pandemic virtual

Introduction

Internships are the most frequently used high-impact educational practice across all types of universities (Kuh, 2008). In the United States, approximately 90% of colleges and universities offer for-credit internships or similar work-integrated learning experiences (Weible, 2010). Indeed, internships have been described as a “disciplinary success story” for political science departments (Hindmoor, 2010) given that such departments often have robust internship programs for undergraduate students majoring in political science, public administration, legal studies, criminal justice, and other concentrations or designations that commonly fall under their purview. This is true at the graduate level as well. For instance, most Master of Public Administration programs require an internship (NASPAA, 2010). Students in these programs frequently find internships in legislatures, city councils, local governments, non-profits, executive branch agencies, and even political campaigns. However, designing and implementing internship programs is challenging in the best of times, let alone when a crisis occurs.

As COVID-19 spread throughout the United States in the Spring of 2020, many colleges and universities shut down their campuses. While learning management systems (e.g., Blackboard and Canvas) and videotelephony services (e.g., Zoom and WebEx) allowed most courses to shift online with relative ease, addressing internships proved to be more challenging. Data suggest that approximately half of all internships in the United States were canceled as a result of the pandemic (Stansell, 2020). This left departments with little time to grapple with a pressing challenge: What happens when circumstances make student participation in on-site internships unfeasible?

Exacerbating this challenge is the fact that the growing body of literature on internship programs has focused almost exclusively on traditional on-site experiences (e.g., their value, their structure, and assessing their outcomes). Insufficient attention has been given to the various approaches that might be taken in lieu of an on-site internship. The present article begins to fill this gap in the literature. The authors begin by outlining the contours of traditional internship programs and identifying the stakeholders. Next, they enumerate five approaches to internship alternatives and discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of each in light of the goals and interests of students, departments, and employers. The goal of this article is not to provide a definitive answer as to which course of action is better than the rest—an impossible task given the unique institutional and situational variables that are likely to inform such a decision—but rather help internship coordinators think strategically when considering how to deal with situations that prevent students from completing on-site internships, which are likely to arise outside the context of COVID-19. The authors conclude by highlighting future avenues of research that would strengthen the literature on internship alternatives.

The internship experience

An internship is a short-term, structured, and supervised learning experience in a professional workplace setting that allows students to gain meaningful, practical training related to their field of study or career interests. Internships can be part-time or full-time endeavors and can require students to complete a designated number of work hours for the employer (e.g., anywhere from 120 to 300 work hours over the course of a semester is common). The number of academic credits students can earn for completing an internship can range from zero to twelve or more hours. Internships are frequently characterized as a capstone activity, much like a thesis or a senior seminar, and they may exist in university or department core curriculums, or as an elective offered by departments.

Internship programs generally seek to achieve five key objectives: (1) strengthening program curriculum, (2) bolstering recruitment, (3) promoting consistent graduate placement, (4) developing students’ professionalism and workplace competencies, and (5) building a relationship with the host employer to ensure internship opportunities continue to be offered in the future (Ashmore et al., 1981). A broad range of considerations (e.g., viability, practicality, academic integrity, and the availability of resources to support such programs) inform how internships are designed and implemented to achieve these objectives (Hanson, 1984). Just as these considerations guide the design and implementation of traditional internships, so too should they inform decisions regarding alternatives to on-site internships.

The stakeholders

While any number of people might be associated with an internship in some form or fashion, there are typically three main stakeholders: the student, the internship coordinator, and the employer (Westerberg and Wickersham, 2011). Some of the costs and benefits to these actors are obvious and pragmatic, while others are, perhaps, more abstruse. The hope is that acknowledging and reflecting upon them will yield more productive conversations about how to best address situations that prevent students from completing on-site internships.

The student

Students have the most to gain from internships and the most to lose when these opportunities are taken away. Internships can either be paid or voluntary, with the latter increasingly being perceived by many as exploitative (Burke and Carton, 2013; Yamada, 2016). Thus, while students are charged tuition and earn academic credit for enrolling in an internship, they may also earn compensation and/or benefits from the employer.

In addition to completing the requisite number of work hours for the employer, students are frequently required to complete and submit additional scholastic work to the internship coordinator to satisfy their internship requirement. This can include keeping a daily log or reflective journal of their activities, writing a research paper on a topic associated with the internship, or completing ethics exercises. Other requirements can include periodic check-ins with the internship coordinator, verbal reports, and formal evaluations of the student’s performance by the employer. These requirements are designed to extract as much value as possible from what are sometimes less-than-glamorous work arrangements (Anderson, 2014).

Critics may deride internships as “cheap credits” or “non-intellectual,” but when structured properly, internships enable students to obtain a deeper and broader understanding of the phenomena they have learned about in the classroom by putting their knowledge and skills to practice outside the classroom (Parilla and Hesser, 1998). Additionally, they provide an opportunity for students to increase their self-awareness, hone their interpersonal skills, expand their social and professional networks, and improve upon their resume. Internship programs frequently include one or more means of assessment that can impact the student’s academic record (i.e., the student receives a grade that affects their grade point average).

The internship coordinator

Coordinating internship programs is time consuming and, occasionally, exasperating. That said, a job well done can produce tangible benefits for students, the coordinator, and their department. Internship coordinators are tasked with helping students locate internships, working with the employer to establish expectations and obligations, assessing students’ learning outcomes, and mediating conflicts between interns and their employer. Building relationships with employers and facilitating productive communications between students and employers can be challenging.

For their efforts, internship coordinators—particularly those in larger programs—are frequently compensated with a reduced teaching load and/or a stipend. And, of course, there is the intrinsic reward of seeing students fly after leaving the nest, so to speak. It is also worth noting that among faculty, it is often the case that internship coordinators are the most connected with employers. Internship coordinators’ teaching and research endeavors can benefit from these relationships, and they may even lead to more lucrative endeavors (e.g., consulting). Furthermore, these relationships can further the strategic goals of their department, such as developing employment pipelines, facilitating classroom visits from practitioners, and recruiting qualified professionals to provide guidance (e.g., sitting on the governing board of a research center affiliated with the department).

The employer

Not all employers are eager to host interns. Supervising interns (as well as helping internship coordinators design, implement, and assess these programs) can be time consuming and onerous for the employer. Interns’ lack of experience or socialization can lead to embarrassing situations and, like any employee, they can act irresponsibly or inappropriately at times. Employers may come to the conclusion that integrating these temporary laborers into their organization and supervising their activities is more of a hassle than it is worth.

Despite these potential drawbacks, employers have many good reasons to offer internships to students. Of course, the most obvious benefit is that the cost of employing an intern is low compared to other types of employees. While interns may require some additional supervision, their energy and eagerness to please, as well as the fresh perspective they can bring to existing challenges, makes them attractive to employers. Internship programs can also serve as a valuable means of creating an employment pipeline, improving town–gown relations, tapping into faculty expertise, and gaining publicity.

Alternative approaches to traditional internships

What happens when students are unable to work on site or cannot find an internship at all? Case-by-case approaches may be adequate when dealing with the occasional situation (e.g., troop deployments, health concerns, or changes at the agency) that prevents a student from completing an on-site internship. However, as COVID-19 demonstrated, situations that dramatically increase the number of students facing these challenges make case-by-case approaches untenable. To better prepare for situations where such disruptions might occur (e.g., pandemics, natural disasters, and national security events), academic programs need to develop comprehensive and lasting solutions that meet the needs of students, internship coordinators, and employers.

This article identifies five general approaches, which will be discussed in turn: (1) waivers/substitutes, (2) going virtual, (3) incorporating on-campus resources, (4) incorporating off-campus resources, and (5) do-it-yourself. The authors review the benefits and drawbacks of each. The intention is to encourage higher education professionals to think systematically and strategically about how to approach internship alternatives in their own programs.

Regardless of how internship coordinators and departments choose to deal with these situations, it is important to remember several things. First, it is unlikely that any of these approaches will faithfully and fully replicate the on-site internship experience, but the perfect should not be the enemy of the good (or even the acceptable, when the situation demands it). Second, consider course learning outcomes and departmental goals when fashioning alternatives to the on-site internship. Finally, consider the workload required to implement the approach. Some of these approaches are more time-consuming than others, and internship coordinators almost invariably have other responsibilities apart from managing internships.

Waivers/substitutions

It can be unfortunate, but sometimes the best move is simply to punt. While this might initially be perceived as a dereliction of duty on the part of a department that is trying to provide a student with a comprehensive educational program, waivers and substitutions are a reality of academic life. Courses get substituted because required ones are not offered, there are program changes, enrollment issues, or things such as faculty sabbaticals or medical issues. They are rarely ideal but sometimes they are in everyone’s best interest. Substituting for an internship can be more complicated since they are in some respects very different from regular courses. As a result, one is not substituting apples for apples but rather apples for oranges. Indeed, this characterizes this course of action as a substitution, whereas the remaining approaches are characterized as alternatives (i.e., they are alternative means of replicating various aspects of traditional on-site internships).

There are several potential advantages to a waiver/substitution. First, this approach can help keep students on track to graduate. Forcing students to stay an extra semester (or longer) just to satisfy an internship requirement is something neither students nor the university desire. This approach also mitigates the need for an internship coordinator to spend a considerable amount of time devising alternative plans for interns. It also has the potential to allow students to develop more content knowledge in a particular area since they are probably taking an additional class or classes in lieu of the internship.

Unfortunately, a waiver/substitution means that students will be deprived of the internship, something the department has already identified as an important part of the overall curriculum. Apart from the practical experience, students would also miss out on the important professional connections that are often associated with the on-site internship. Some substitutes (e.g., a capstone course) may still be able to facilitate students’ professional development and the integration and application of knowledge they have acquired over their academic career (Shine and Heath, 2021).

This course of action may prove difficult for internship coordinators, who might not be able to issue a waiver/substitution without consulting with colleagues and university administrators. Furthermore, having no interns to oversee, they could lose their course release or stipend. This course of action may be the least desirable to employers, who would miss out on the benefits of hosting interns.

The virtual internship experience

The use of virtual platforms such as Zoom and WebEx exploded with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting many aspects of higher education to simply move activities online. Many employers also began using these platforms to host meetings and accomplish tasks. As a result, employers may be more open to the idea of virtual internships now than they have been in the past.

The virtual internship experience can have a variety of advantages for students, internship coordinators, and employers. Students continue to get the practical experience that is central to an internship. The work continues: it is simply moved to an online environment, which enables students to develop the types of skills they will need in the increasingly digitized 21st century workplace (e.g., meeting on Zoom, navigating online file storage systems, and working in groups electronically). While internship coordinators may need to modify their assessment mechanisms for this online environment, this approach allows them to proceed largely as they would with an on-site internship. Meanwhile, employers maintain their access to inexpensive labor and other university resources.

While the potential benefits of this approach are extensive, the challenges are also significant. As many online instructors can attest, some students simply do not excel in an online environment. Similarly, many employers are ill-suited or unprepared to move their activities online. Some may be willing to try but lack the infrastructure to do so. Still others may not want to invest in training their employees to supervise online internships since, in most cases, one cannot just put a laptop and some software in a student’s hands and tell them to work remotely. Some positions just are not suitable for an online internship experience. Having an honest conversation with employers about their willingness and ability to provide meaningful virtual internships can help prevent situations where students are simply given “busy work” to fill their time commitments without any supervision or feedback.

Incorporating on-campus resources

Another option is to forgo partnerships with employers entirely by crafting a suitable alternative using existing campus resources. Various campus entities such as the career center or the campus library can offer a host of workshops, short classes, and programs that develop professional skills such as writing a resume and cover letter, interviewing, and conducting research. Internship coordinators may be able to design a class, or certificate, that requires students to participate in (or otherwise make use of) these campus resources. While this type of arrangement might diminish the practical aspects of an internship which make it so valuable, it may retain the virtue of equipping students with professional skills that will help make them successful in their future workplace endeavors. It may take internship coordinators and their departments some time and effort to identify and incorporate these types of resources in a way that suits the needs of their students, but at least the substance of these learning opportunities has already been created by other campus entities.

Perhaps the most obvious downside to this approach is that students and employers are not getting the opportunity to work together. Additionally, the type of career preparation resources and activities internship coordinators might include in this approach may already have been required of students before they were even eligible for an internship. It is also true that the type and extent of these types of resources can vary considerably from campus to campus. Some internship coordinators may be able to piece together a comprehensive and well-integrated program for students utilizing this approach, while others may have considerably more difficulty.

Incorporating off-campus resources

Internship coordinators and their departments might also decide to forgo partnerships with employers to develop alternatives that are dependent on off-campus resources. There are many workshops, training modules, and professional certification programs (e.g., Microsoft Office) that are related to the workplace. Training for just about any aspect of the professional workplace that one might conceive—fundraising, computer software, interpersonal communications, management, fundraising, and more—can be found online. Many of these professional development programs target employees who are already in the workplace, but they can still be beneficial to students.

This approach provides a variety of advantages to the internship coordinator. These types of resources almost always come “pre-packaged,” so there is very little course design and development work. Coordinators can instead pick and choose to design a set of experiences that fit best with their curriculum and student needs. Students also get the advantage of gaining experience in workplace skills that should serve them well over the course of their career.

As with the other approaches, there are some disadvantages to consider here as well. Perhaps most importantly, most of these online off-campus resources cost money, sometimes a significant amount of money. This can be a very real problem for students or departments and universities who might seek to cover some of these expenses for students. Another potential issue is that many of these programs are business-focused, making them perhaps less relevant to political science and public administration students. And like the previous approach, this alternative results in students and employers not getting the opportunity to work together.

Do-it-yourself (DIY)

Internship coordinators and their departments may decide that none of the preceding options are entirely suitable on its own. As such, they may decide to pursue a DIY approach that either incorporates elements of the approaches already discussed or produces unique content based on the specific needs and strengths of their program. They might even devise a handful of different “packages” or “tracks” that students can choose from, allowing them to fulfill their internship requirement in a way that furthers their specific career goals. The benefits and costs to students (and perhaps employers) would be a function of which elements are included.

This approach gives internship coordinators the most control over the structure and implementation of the internship alternative. During times of crisis, limiting students’ and internship coordinators’ reliance on external partners—both on and off campus—may be preferable to trying to navigate relationships with them in unpredictable and rapidly evolving situations. However, this control likely comes at a cost. Properly constructing this type of experience for students can be time-consuming for the internship coordinator. That said, once the course has been prepared, it would be ready to use well into the future as the need arises, whereas the other approaches may be more likely to require perennial updating.

Conclusion

An internship can be the most memorable and important aspect of many students’ academic career. Unfortunately, traditional on-site internships sometimes become impossible despite the best-laid plans. Situations like the COVID-19 pandemic can exacerbate this problem to the extent that case-by-case solutions are no longer tenable for many internship coordinators, particularly those dealing with large numbers of students.

This article has offered some suggestions which could be used in lieu of conventional on-site internship assignments. The goal has been to help readers think about these potential solutions systematically in order to make decisions about internships that meet the needs of all involved. The authors hope more scholarship on internship alternatives emerges in the near future. For instance, surveys of students, internship coordinators, and employers could help quantify stakeholder perceptions regarding each solution’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Similarly, efforts could be made to assess outcomes for each option. These lines of scholarship will help students, internship coordinators, and employers be better prepared for future challenges.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Brandon C Waite

Author biographies

Brandon C. Waite is an associate professor of political science at Ball State University, where he also serves as the advisor for the Master of Public Administration program. He earned his PhD in political science from the University of Tennessee in 2008.

Darren A. Wheeler is a professor of political science at Ball State University, where he also serves as department chair. He earned his PhD in political science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 2004.

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