PPT Slide
Problem Solving Exercise # 26
Impact of Vocational Internships
A quasi-experimental design was used to test the impact of vocational internships on university students in business and industrial relations. A sample of 32 students who had spent a minimum of 100 hours per academic year working in an off-campus business organization was compared to a control group of 35 students in comparable programs who had no internship experience. Students in both groups were identified from academic records and reports of academic counsellors. Experimental and control groups were shown not to differ in terms of mean age, grade-point average, number of credits completed, amount of part-time work experience, marital status, or gender distribution. Questionnaires measuring work values, vocational self-concept, and job interests were administered to both groups before the onset and after the termination of the internship experience. It was found that group differences were nonsignificant prior to the internship, whereas the experimental group showed significantly more positive work attitudes and self-concepts following the internship. It was concluded that vocational internships make a significant contribution to business education.