{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90501"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90501","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Student internship experiences and learning opportunities: a mixed methods study","abstract":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2016-07-07 without embargo terms","abstract_html":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2016-07-07 without embargo terms","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Zehr, Sarah Marie"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Ed Organization and Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Delaney, Jennifer A.","Trent, William T.","Greene, Jennifer C.","Jankowski, Natasha A."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-07-07T19:53:17Z","date_published":"2016-07-07T19:53:17Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:32Z","subjects":["Experiential learning","career development","internships","mixed methods"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2016 Sarah M. Zehr"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90501","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Delaney, Jennifer A.","Trent, William T.","Greene, Jennifer C.","Jankowski, Natasha A."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Zehr, Sarah Marie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2016-07-07T19:53:17Z","2016-04-04","2016-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Ed Organization and Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Experiential learning","career development","internships","mixed methods"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2016 Sarah M. Zehr"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90501"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2016-07-07 without embargo terms","The student, Sarah Zehr, accepted the attached license on 2016-04-01 at 15:19.","The student, Sarah Zehr, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2016-04-01 at 15:22.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2016-04-04 at 16:50.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9139 on 2016-07-07 at 13:28:31","Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T19:53:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 4 ZEHR-DISSERTATION-2016.pdf: 3161138 bytes, checksum: 8462c874cf93e50cbc158bfab6b0c138 (MD5) Zehr correlation matrix.xlsx: 206956 bytes, checksum: 6ee58971a90b1f03f251361f377a184d (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4207 bytes, checksum: 241e9acdec7339d5db870428f49b6b35 (MD5) PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt: 4553 bytes, checksum: bed78c6bd6e9b777c6768d3a00618813 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-04","In 2000, Coco (2000) reported that an estimated 75% of undergraduate students had some internship experience when they graduated, and the figure is likely higher today. With the vast majority of students participating in some form of internship, the academy needs to understand what students are experiencing and learning as a result. Companies also benefit from a better understanding of what students experience and learn through internships. This study employed mixed methods to explore student experiences in internships, including a survey with both closed- and open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews. The data indicated that internship experiences share a number of characteristics on the surface, but deeper investigation revealed subtle differences that impacted learning outcomes. Inherent student characteristics such as gender, domestic status, and income level can also impact aspects of the internship experience. Five main findings resulted from the study. In general, the workplace represents a conducive learning environment for students to participate in and learn from work tasks. Social interaction played a critical role in learning outcomes, and work environments where students felt comfortable seeking assistance from their supervisor and coworkers resulted in increased learning opportunities. The learning environment at startup companies provides a different set of learning opportunities compared to more traditional established companies; however, this was not the case with the learning environment at all established companies as some shared several characteristics with startups. Students who interned at startups worked on larger projects as opposed to being assigned a series of discrete tasks, which was more common at established companies. Finally, even internship experiences within the same company are unique and depend to some extent on the student, the supervisor, and the team of coworkers. This study contributed to the scholarly literature on internships by providing insight about the types and characteristics of tasks that student perform in internships and the skills and knowledge they gain as a result."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Student internship experiences and learning opportunities: a mixed methods study"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Delaney, Jennifer A.","Trent, William T.","Greene, Jennifer C.","Jankowski, Natasha A."],"dc:creator":["Zehr, Sarah Marie"],"dc:date":["2016-07-07T19:53:17Z","2016-04-04","2016-05"],"dc:description":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2016-07-07 without embargo terms","The student, Sarah Zehr, accepted the attached license on 2016-04-01 at 15:19.","The student, Sarah Zehr, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2016-04-01 at 15:22.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2016-04-04 at 16:50.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9139 on 2016-07-07 at 13:28:31","Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T19:53:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 4 ZEHR-DISSERTATION-2016.pdf: 3161138 bytes, checksum: 8462c874cf93e50cbc158bfab6b0c138 (MD5) Zehr correlation matrix.xlsx: 206956 bytes, checksum: 6ee58971a90b1f03f251361f377a184d (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4207 bytes, checksum: 241e9acdec7339d5db870428f49b6b35 (MD5) PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt: 4553 bytes, checksum: bed78c6bd6e9b777c6768d3a00618813 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-04","In 2000, Coco (2000) reported that an estimated 75% of undergraduate students had some internship experience when they graduated, and the figure is likely higher today. With the vast majority of students participating in some form of internship, the academy needs to understand what students are experiencing and learning as a result. Companies also benefit from a better understanding of what students experience and learn through internships. This study employed mixed methods to explore student experiences in internships, including a survey with both closed- and open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews. The data indicated that internship experiences share a number of characteristics on the surface, but deeper investigation revealed subtle differences that impacted learning outcomes. Inherent student characteristics such as gender, domestic status, and income level can also impact aspects of the internship experience. Five main findings resulted from the study. In general, the workplace represents a conducive learning environment for students to participate in and learn from work tasks. Social interaction played a critical role in learning outcomes, and work environments where students felt comfortable seeking assistance from their supervisor and coworkers resulted in increased learning opportunities. The learning environment at startup companies provides a different set of learning opportunities compared to more traditional established companies; however, this was not the case with the learning environment at all established companies as some shared several characteristics with startups. Students who interned at startups worked on larger projects as opposed to being assigned a series of discrete tasks, which was more common at established companies. Finally, even internship experiences within the same company are unique and depend to some extent on the student, the supervisor, and the team of coworkers. This study contributed to the scholarly literature on internships by providing insight about the types and characteristics of tasks that student perform in internships and the skills and knowledge they gain as a result."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90501"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2016 Sarah M. Zehr"],"dc:subject":["Experiential learning","career development","internships","mixed methods"],"dc:title":["Student internship experiences and learning opportunities: a mixed methods study"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Ed Organization and Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:32Z"}