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Recent reports on accounting education have observed that an increasing difference exists between what students are being taught and what accounting practitioners actually do. Yet, despite such criticisms of accounting education, methods exist that help blend study and practice more effectively. Included among the methods are accounting internships and related cooperative work‐ study programs. This study was conducted at the college of Business and Economics, United Arab Emirates University to investigate the effect of student internships on subsequent academic performance. The post‐internship course performance of students with accounting internship experience was compared to that of non‐internship students matched on the basis of grade point averages (GPA) and credit hours completed. The results indicated that the internship students performed significantly better than the non‐internship students in accounting courses, and in overall GPA subsequent to the internship semester. These findings contradict prior research and support accounting internships as tools to enhance students’ knowledge and motivation.

Internal audit student internship programmes are an integral part of the curriculum for Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) target schools of US universities. The internship concept is explored ‐ how it is implemented, its characteristics, and its advantages and disadvantages – at six target schools. It is concluded that the benefits, to the items, employers and academic institutions, outweigh the potential disadvantages.

The present paper aims to outline the case for diversity gains for employers via virtual internships, while recognizing the role of government and educational support.

In the context of Australian employment statistics about people with disabilities, the actors, key issues and barriers to utilizing virtual internships are explored.

The results of an online survey with 24 career, access and inclusion service officers at Australian universities suggested that the large majority were unfamiliar with virtual internships, as many shared concerns about what kind of learning and mentoring opportunities such computer-mediated internships may provide to their students.

Employers embracing new e-HR developments may be particularly well situated to adopt virtual internships and combine these effectively with existing diversity initiatives, many of which already include mentoring and learning opportunities. A closer dialogue with career, access and inclusion services may further support a fruitful knowledge exchange and reduce the concerns of educational representatives about virtual internships and their usefulness to increase the employment prospects of people with disabilities.

At present, virtual internship programs remain the exception, and are often not connected with diversity initiatives, nor are virtual internships well known among student services. However, virtual internships represent a promising opportunity for employers who wish to access untapped national (or even international) talent pools and thus candidates that would benefit from and contribute to their diversity initiatives.

This paper examined the evaluation of the virtual internship program for KAU IT students during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 summer.

A mixed-method survey was utilized for the data collection. Out of 164 enrolled students in the 2020 summer training program, 147 students opted to participate. This gives a response rate of 89.6% of the total students' number who could participate. In addition to collecting quantitative data, qualitative data were collected. The sources for qualitative data were survey open questions, weekly reflective writing and video recordings.

The quantitative result showed that the students were satisfied with their virtual internship. These results were further qualitatively explored and discussed under five themes: information and knowledge, work experience, live interaction, the comfort of achieving tasks and soft skills. The outcomes showed that the plan which offered students opportunities to be trained online with real companies accomplishing real work tasks was the best in fulfilling the requirements of the internship. Thus, it emphasized the importance of a strong alliance with the industry to provide useful virtual internship opportunities.

Though this study made a novel contribution to the timely literature on the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not without its limitations. The difference in the three sample sizes makes it difficult to get in-depth comparative analysis. For future research, it is highly recommended to study the impact of online training with real existing companies on a relatively larger sample number.

In order for a higher educational institute to successfully adopt the proposed plans for the virtual internship, here are the reflections and lessons learned from our three plans. (1) Emphasize your efforts on extending your partnership with the private sector and computing industry. (2) The MCIT training focuses on developing technical skills; therefore, it is great to be offered to students in the computing field as extracurricular activities but not as the fulfillment of the internship program. (3) Blackboard training sessions, which cover nontechnical skills, are good to be offered prior to the internship.

For governmental human resource agencies, it is highly recommended to further develop and invest in manpower to develop online platforms. In normal situations, these platforms act as an extra training resource. In abnormal situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, they act as useful source for online training. For students, this sudden unexpected transition from normal to online training should enrich them with the ability to be flexible and adaptive, tune them with opportunities for independent and innovative creative work, encourage them to take risks and provide them with opportunities to do things differently. As an outcome, students will enhance their self-efficacy and capabilities.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, not only classes and internship programs have been done remotely but increasingly jobs have also gone in that direction. A virtual internship today might be good preparation for the virtual/remote work of tomorrow. For this reason, this study was conducted to add a novel contribution to the virtual internship literature.

The world of work is becoming digital, a process accelerated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic and resultant remote working guidelines. Online internships have become more popular in this context, and yet there remains a lack of research investigating how these internships are perceived across stakeholders. The purpose of this paper was to begin to address this research gap by exploring academic, student and employer perceptions of online internships with a focus on employability.

The research explored 156 stakeholders (53 students, 50 academics and, 53 employer/professionals) perceptions via a mixed-methods online study encompassing quantitative responses to internship vignettes, alongside open-ended questions designed to explore stakeholder attitudes in more depth.

Stakeholder groups reported similar attitudes towards online internships. Overall, online internships were viewed as valid, flexible, work experience, linked to skill development and likely to enhance student employability. However, concerns were raised regarding communication protocols and development, intern isolation and a lack of organisational immersion.

Based on the research, the authors make three recommendations to continue to enhance and develop the online internship experience: ensure multiple methods of regular communication between student and organisation, attempt virtual immersion in the organisation and assign each intern additional support beyond their immediate supervisor.

Based on a holistic and novel analysis of key stakeholders' viewpoints, this paper provides much needed insights and evidence on how to design and quality assure effective online internship practice.

Work integrated learning (WIL) activities, especially internships, are essential for career preparation and development. This paper applies career adaptability and capital theories to examine how international internships help undergraduate business students in their career exploration, preparation and development.

This study used data from 20 interviews, including 15 undergraduate business students from two universities in Australia and Thailand who undertook internships in Asian countries, three internship administrators across two universities, and two overseas internship partners. Thematic-based analysis using the Nvivo program and duoethnographic reflections of the internship coordinators in Australia was applied for data analysis.

The data analysis indicates that international internship experiences facilitate students to become culturally savvy, build their international professional networks, enhance the level of self-perceived competency and cultivate a globalised career adaptability perspective.

This study contributes to theory-building within the WIL literature, international internship experiences, students’ career adaptability and capital.

Although international internship opportunities are available to students, few students are willing to challenge themselves in a foreign setting. The study’s insights provide a better understanding of how university administrators could set up a task force of academics and professional staff to consider a cohesive resourcing structure for the long-term sustainability of the international internship programs.

This study highlights how the international internships enhanced students’ globalised social, cultural and human capital and their ability to adapt to culturally diverse business contexts. The international internship experience can also increase student’s confidence to enter the global labour market and seek opportunities beyond their original country of residence.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a contingent shift to remote working and learning worldwide. However, little is known regarding the impact of this shift on internships. Moreover, much of the available literature studies on internships are focused largely on perceptions by students, less so by supervisors. This paper describes the impact of COVID-19 on public health (PH) internships and examines interns' and supervisors' perspectives on their experiences in internships before and during the pandemic.

A cross-sectional study design was conducted on two cohorts of undergraduate students and their supervisors in Singapore. Participants were surveyed using questionnaires with both close-ended and open-ended questions about various aspects of the internship experience. Data were triangulated from these surveys and module evaluation reports, and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively.

COVID-19 disrupted internships significantly, with a reduction in the number of placements offered and necessary changes to the internship scope. Overall, the internship experience has been positive. Supervisors and e-interns reported high levels of satisfaction and documented learning gains such as the development of technical skills and soft skills unique to remote work.

The study findings fill current gaps in the literature on supervisor perceptions and internship experiences during COVID-19. Recommendations are proposed to optimize e-internships, a potentially authentic workplace in the post-COVID era.

Internships are an integral part of a college curriculum, yet students are sometimes unaware of how to secure this opportunity. This research aims to determine efficient methods to provide information to students within the given majors, identify barriers on what is stopping students from seeking out internships earlier and identify the appropriate time for students to receive internship information.

This study undertook descriptive research in a preliminary investigation of the undergraduate business students' attitude toward learning about the internship program offered by a business school of a state funded university in Michigan, USA. The data-collection instrument consisted of structured closed-ended questions relevant to undergraduate business students' perceptions and attitude toward learning about the internship program.

The results of this survey of 631 undergraduate students revealed a relationship between gender and the willingness to gain information about internships. Additional findings revealed that students who received information at the beginning of their schooling were more likely to plan for the internship in advance. Finally, students who preferred to receive information about internships multiple times were most likely to contact their academic advisor or internship director for more resources.

Together, the results of these findings can be used for current institution and other business schools with similar setting to reduce the barriers students face and allow undergraduate business students greater accessibility to internship positions.

COVID-19 has changed the way we teach and learn, including service-learning (S-L). This study examines the impacts of the work-from-home (WFH) mode on the work performance and learning outcomes of student interns on an eight-week S-L internship programme, and the key factors in terms of its success.

A qualitative research methodology is adopted by interviewing nine student interns and four supervisors from three community partner organisations (CPOs) to understand their experiences of how the WFH mode has impacted intern work performance and learning outcomes. Thematic analysis is used for the data analysis.

The interns uncover a number of negative WFH impacts on the S-L internship, including ineffective communication and management practice, low work efficiency and quality, a lack of task variety and learning opportunities and distractions in the home environment. Furthermore, five critical factors for WFH success are also identified, including prior preparation, effective communication systems, personal motivators at work, the nature of the job in relation to it being suited to the WFH mode, and organisational support.

The study examines impacts on student work performance and learning outcomes in an S-L summer internship programme operating under the WFH mode as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key success factors and practical recommendations have been developed for enhancing the future success of S-L internships operating under the WFH mode.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the role and characteristics of the summer internship program (Digital Summer Clinic) delivered by Eastern Michigan University. The authors report the results of an exploratory study of interns participating in the Digital Summer Clinic over a five-year time period. The study captures and analyzes the experiences of interns as expressed in structured interviews and blog posts.

The study data were text from structured interviews and blog posts capturing the “voice” of the interns. A natural language processing (NLP) analysis of the text corpus, consisting of 43 interviews and blog posts, resulted in the identification of 242 unique stem-terms used by interns in describing the internship experiences. The authors used the JMP Pro 15.2 Text Explorer algorithm (It is defined as a suite of computer programs for statistical analysis developed by the JMP business unit of SAS Institute) to extract the terms that were subsequently transformed and analyzed with factor analysis and regression to address the research questions.

The factor analysis results found six dimensions or themes, defined by the stem-terms used by student interns, best described the internship experience. The authors then explored the relationship between the six themes and the umbrella term “internship” with multiple regression analysis. The regression findings suggest a hierarchy of effects with the theme “Introducing Professional Opportunities” being the theme most predictive of the umbrella term.

The methodology used within the paper is unique in several ways when compared to other research investigating internship programs. First, it uses NLP analysis for the qualitative analysis of text-based descriptions of student experiences over a five-year time horizon. Second, the data analysis uses transformed text to quantitatively determine the major dimensions or themes expressed by the interns about their experiences in the Summer Clinic program. Finally, the relative importance of the themes identified provided direction for future program development.