In this ebook, you will learn what innovative colleges, students, and employers are doing with their experiential practical learning to succeed in the 21st century.
2. /02
At a crossroads, students,
colleges, and employers must
renovate experiential education
opportunities if they want to
succeed in the 21st century.
4. In addition, the NACE Internship and Co-Op Survey reported that employees who
interned or completed a co-op at their employer were more likely to be working for the
company between one and five years later, when compared to their co-workers. Thatâs
a significant benefit for employers, who not only retain that workerâs knowledge, but
avoid the high costs associated with hiring a new employee.
While everybody agrees that internships are a prime differentiating factorâa
âmust-haveâ for college graduatesâthe number of internships is declining. In 2014,
employers in two-thirds of the industries surveyed by NACE said they were hiring fewer
interns, resulting in a 3.4 percent decline.
NACE researcher Kenneth Tsang says there isnât a definitive answer to explain the
decline, but he offers three possible contributors:
âą Recent litigation and negative media attention over unpaid internships have
dissuaded employers from hiring any interns, for fear of facing similar lawsuits.
âą Students are opting for higher-paying part-time jobs, like bartending, because
intern salaries have stagnated in the last few years.
âą The Affordable Care Act requirements for employer-provided benefits make
internships cost-prohibitive.
INTRODUCTION /04
In 2014, employers
in two-thirds of
the industries
surveyed by NACE
said they were hiring
fewer interns âŠ.
5. The drop in internships is a big problem for colleges and universities because students
more frequently cite âto get a jobâ as their primary reason for attending college, rather
than âto learnâ or âto get an education.â
âIf a student invests in education, there better be something at the end of those four
years,â says Kevin Hewerdine, director of career services and employee relations at the
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
So if the goal of colleges is to recruit students, the goal of students is to get a job,
and the goal of employers is to hire well-qualified workers, how can these parties align
to benefit everyone? It requires an internship intervention, challenging preconceived
notions and renovating the internship into an experience that benefits students,
colleges, and employers alike, says Jocelyn Lincoln, Vice President of Recruitment
Operations for the Americas at Kelly Services Inc.
The days of internships focused on grunt workâgetting coffee and filing endlesslyâ
should be gone. âInternships should be more experience-focused. Bring in students
and give them a significant business challenge,â Lincoln advises.
In this ebook, you will learn what innovative colleges, students, and employers are
doing with their experiential practical learning to succeed in the 21st century.
INTRODUCTION /05
âInternships should
be more experience-
focused. Bring in
students and give
them a significant
business challenge,â
Lincoln advises.
7. âInternships truly play a vital role in students gaining hands-on
practical experience in their chosen field,â says Jennifer Williamson,
director of academic and career advising at University of Wisconsinâ
Platteville. âThey gain valuable experience in what itâs going to be
like to work in their field, what the daily routine is like, and what to
expect in the environment.â
Although she works with students in many fields, Williamson points to engineering as an
industry that understands how to create effective internships. âThey truly embrace what
an internship is. They see the value in engaging students who are going to become their
co-workers, their colleagues, and representatives of the field. So they want to ensure
thatâthrough the training, hands-on experience, and other activitiesâthey are truly
helping and promoting the profession to the students,â she says. âIt requires more than
just saying, âYes, Iâll take an intern.ââ
Williamson explains that, unlike practical work experience, an internship must be more
structuredâan educational tool. Like many other schools, the University of Wisconsin
requires students to have a faculty adviser, who ensures the student truly is gaining from
the experience and can help facilitate discussions if problems arise.
/07ENGINEERING THE INTERNSHIP
âIt requires
more than just
saying, âYes, Iâll
take an intern.ââ
9. STARTING EARLY /09
At the RoseâHulman Institute of Technology, recognized as one
of the best departments in the United States by BestColleges.com,
students are introduced to the concept of internships two weeks
into their first year.
âCulturally, the expectation is that students have multiple experiences before their
senior year, and that view is really coming from corporate America. Students who donât
have that internship experience are really behind the eight ball when they are seniors
searching for their first full-time job,â says Hewerdine, from Rose-Hulman.
In 2014, 95 percent of RoseâHulman graduating seniors had at least one internship,
and 82 percent had multiple internships. About half of the multiple-internship students
gained experiences with different companies, and half worked for the same company.
In addition, all seniors complete a capstone project, most of which are done with
external companies.
âFirst and foremost, students are seeking an opportunity that is going to increase their
technical skill set, increase their knowledge base in the real world, and teach them how
the company operates,â Hewerdine says.
Students who donât
have that internship
experience are
really behind the
eight ball when
they are seniors
searching for their
first full-time job.
11. While engineering and technically focused colleges have advocated
and integrated internships or co-op experiences for decades,
liberal arts colleges are only now stepping up their promotion of
internships as they strive to be more relevant and responsive,
to better demonstrate the value of a liberal arts degree in a 21st-
century economy, according to Hanover Research.
Cornell College in Iowa is rare because it has been challenging the liberal arts norm
for decades. In fact, its unique academic calendar opens up the opportunity for
internships in a way that few schools can. Cornellâs academic calendar is focused on
one class at a time. Every 3.5 weeks, a student completes a single course. âWe can do
internships during one of the blocks so students can work 40 hours a week for a month.
Thatâs different to most universities, where students might intern part time during the
semester and can only do full-time internships in the summer,â says Joe Dieker, Vice
President for Academic Affairs and Dean.
Cornell students have interned at a range of employers, from the national
merchandiser TargetÂź
to a small publishing house in Denver and a womenâs health
clinic in Mexico, as well as diverse nonprofit, arts, theater, and music organizations.
/11GETTING THE MESSAGE
Cornellâs academic
calendar is focused
on one class at
a time. Every 3.5
weeks, a student
completes a
single course.
14. The Detroit Collaborative Design Center works exclusively
with nonprofits seeking to do cutting-edge work within cities.
It is housed within the School of Architecture at the University
of Detroit Mercy and hires full-time interns for the fall, spring,
and summer semesters.
In an office of just 10 staff members, interns do everything, according to Executive
Director Dan Pitera. Students report to project managers, attend client meetings, and
get to learn and practise many aspects of architecture across diverse interest areasâ
urban design, landscape, planning, and more.
âWe feel strongly that an intern should be a part of all aspects of a project and of day-
to-day life. Typically, in a larger firm they get pigeonholed into one or two things, and
donât get exposed to a variety of experiences,â Pitera says.
He acknowledges that the Design Centerâs approach to internships isnât the most
efficient way to operate the overall business. Consider the example of a client meeting.
The internsâ presence isnât required, but the center finds merit in their involvement.
âIn the long run, weâre making better interns because when theyâre working on follow-
up work, they remember what the client said, and they have a tenor and feel that they
couldnât get if they werenât there,â Pitera says.
/14OPERATING IN THE SMALLER WORKPLACE
âWe feel strongly
that an intern
should be a part
of all aspects of
a project and of
day-to-day life.â
15. However, having interns directly interact with clients can present some challenges.
âThe client can say something and we can keep our poker face whereas the students
might heavily sigh or roll their eyes. They donât even know theyâre doing it,â
Pitera says.
To preserve the client relationship, âwe explain to the client that this student has only
been working with the Center a few months and doesnât necessarily hold the same
values. We explain that we, not the intern, are the continuity for the clientâs project.â
After the meeting is over and the client placated, the Design Center staff will speak
to the intern to ensure it never happens again. In fact, the Design Center attempts to
thwart the potential for challenges in public. During the course of the internship, Pitera
or another staff member creates informal training opportunities by posing theoretical
client questions or asking off-the-wall questions to see how the interns respond.
Then they explain why another response may be more appropriate.
Design Center interns work full time, and receive both academic credit and
compensation. Pitera says interns are paid hourly rates comparable to what they would
receive from another employer in the industry.
/15OPERATING IN THE SMALLER WORKPLACE
During the course of
the internship, Pitera
or another staff
member creates
informal training
opportunities by
posing theoretical
client questions âŠ
17. While the Detroit Collaborative Design Center interns are
compensated as most are in the engineering, science, and
professional fields, many internshipsâparticularly those in social
science fieldsâare unpaid. This has drawn fire from students and
the U.S. Department of Labor in recent years.
Five years ago, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wanted interns to create
time-sensitive content during the NBA teamâs games for outlets that would not
be able to buy the content. Since he couldnât monetize the endeavor, he thought
unpaid interns would be the key to its success. But, as he learned, thatâs not the way
internships work legally in the United States, and as a result Cuban became a vocal
critic of the unpaid intern requirements.
For an internship to be exempt from the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act (that is, unpaid),
it must offer training for the benefit of the trainee, shouldnât displace a regular
employee, and should take place under close observation. Employers must gain no
immediate advantage based on the traineeâs activities, and on occasions may actually
have their operations impeded.
/17DEBATING PAID OR UNPAID
But, as he learned,
thatâs not the way
internships work
legally in the United
States, and as a
result Cuban became
a vocal critic of
the unpaid intern
requirements.
18. As the U.S. Department of Labor began cracking down on rule-breakers, more
employers discovered the restrictive nature of unpaid internships and realized they
legally couldnât continue their unpaid internships as they were.
Students, and some universities, frown upon unpaid internships because they can
have a negative effect on post-graduation employment compensation. NACEâs Class
of 2014 Student Survey revealed that graduates who came from a paid internship and
received a full-time job offer generally commanded a higher starting salary than did
graduates who had an unpaid internship and received a full-time job offer.
/18DEBATING PAID OR UNPAID
⊠more employers
discovered the
restrictive nature of
unpaid internships
and realized they
legally couldnât
continue their
unpaid internships
as they were.
21. Eventually, Holliday left college just short of earning her degree, taking what she
learned in her internshipsâboth practically and philosophicallyâand turning it into
a business. She created Freelanships, a virtual internship site, to help her millennial
generation gain experience and make money without participating in formal on-site
programs.
Author and HR executive Russell says virtual or telecommuting internships are difficult
to find, in part because universities too often think internships have to happen at
brick-and-mortar locations. âTheyâre way behind on this. I understand they want to
ensure the internship has rigor, but [virtual] is our way of life,â he says.
At RoseâHulman, students can turn their internships into a freelance career during the
school year. Some students work for companies from their dorm rooms. âWe have a
lot of opportunities for students to get paid well from part-time or contract work that
companies want them doing while theyâre here at schoolâitâs becoming second nature
to students who understand that work style and work life,â Hewerdine says.
/21GOING VIRTUAL AND FREELANCE
Students can turn
their internships
into a freelance
career during the
school year. Some
students work for
companies from
their dorm rooms.
23. Workers now expect to have at least seven to 10 jobs in their
lifetime, says Williamson of the University of WisconsinâPlatteville.
With that evolution, long-time loyalty between the employer and the employee
is gone. As a result, workersâespecially those in the millennial generationâhave
embraced the âwhat-can-you-do-for-meâ attitude.
âBefore the employer had the power. Now the candidate has the power, a greater
sense of entitlement, and a greater sense of workâlife balance, and employers are
going to have to adjust to that mentality,â Williamson says.
University of WisconsinâPlatteville students are encouraged to look beyond salary
when considering employment opportunities. âThere are other things involved in
making your decisionâbenefits, time off, workâlife balance, and more,â Williamson
says. âCompanies need to adapt to that, while at the same time maintaining the
integrity of their company without alienating the current workforce and while still
continuting to engage fresh talent. Itâs truly an adaptation.â
/23EMBRACING THE NEW WORLD OF WORK
âBefore, the
employer had the
power. Now the
candidate has the
power, a greater
sense of entitlement,
and a greater
sense of workâlife
balanceâ âŠ
24. The Detroit Collaborative Design Center recognizes the adapting workplace. It doesnât
operate a traditional 9-to-5 office, and doesnât expect its interns to conform to that
rigidity either. Pitera says interns are made aware that if they want to put in an hour or
two posting on Facebook, responding to personal email, or running errands, they can,
but they need to make up that work time.
âWe adhere to deadlines. Itâs all about getting quality work done, and if their work
happens on schedule, then they can adjust their time. That never would have
happened 20 years ago,â Pitera says. âNow we manage time in a very different way.
Iâm fine with them doing this or that, as long as the work and the deadlines are met,
and they give advance notice of in-office schedule changes.â
/24EMBRACING THE NEW WORLD OF WORK
âNow we manage
time in a very
different way. Iâm
fine with them doing
this or that, as long
as the work and the
deadlines are met.â
26. Eschew the word âinternshipâ in favor of âexperiential learning.â
âInternship is the nomenclature for learning experiencesâ
practicums, co-ops, internshipsâitâs still the same,â Russell
says. âItâs university students coming together in the business
environment to apply what theyâve learned academically in a
real-life opportunity.â
Apprenticeships are an example of experiential learning, though they typically
havenât been a part of the U.S. university experience. Tamar Jacoby recently wrote in
The Atlantic about how apprenticeships fell out of favor in the United States, a âvictim
of our obsession with college and concern to avoid anything that resembles tracking.â
As she cited, less than 5 percent of young people train as apprentices in the United
States, and those apprenticeships are primarily in the construction trade. In Germany,
though, apprenticeships are experienced by close to 60 percent of students, and cover
fields as diverse as advanced manufacturing, IT, banking, and hospitality.
As Jacoby detailed, dual training is a highly respected career path in Europe.
Trainees split their days between classroom instruction and on-the-job time at a
company. The arrangement generally lasts four years with the hope of it leading
/26TAKING THE âOLDâ APPROACH
Dual training is a
highly respected
career path in
Europe. Trainees
split their days
between classroom
instruction and
on-the-job time
at a company.
27. to full-time employment. Dual-training competition is stiff. Only 425 of the 22,000
applications were accepted by Deutsche Bank, and John Deere approved only 60 of
3,100 applicants. As Jacoby wrote, âIn both settings, university and dual training, itâs
agreed that the purpose of education is to prepare people for jobs. In America, weâre
not so sure. Weâre committed to the idea of education that prepares people for life
and suspicious of anything that smacks of training.â
/27TAKING THE âOLDâ APPROACH
âIn America, weâre
not so sure. Weâre
committed to the
idea of education
that prepares people
for lifeâ âŠ
29. âIt appears that many institutions are focusing on redesigning and
improving career services offices, internship opportunities, and
experiential learning instead of altering curricula or graduation
requirements,â according to the 2013 Hanover Research report.
The research cited some exceptions. Wake Forest University offers an undergraduate
minor in entrepreneurship and social enterprise. At Messiah College, administrators
challenged all academic departments to redesign requirements to ensure students
could understand and express the relationship between their academics and the world
of work.
Lincoln from Kelly Services says that universities would do well to proactively address
workforce mattersânot only from the career-services level, but in the classroom like
Messiah College is doing. She is struck when she looks at curricula and sees little
education provided on the diverse ways to procure talent. Higher education tends
to teach the traditional W-2-employee model, and fails to instruct on varied work
experiences and formats.
/29LAGGING BEHIND VERSUS LEADING THE INNOVATION
Lincoln from Kelly
Services says that
universities would
do well to proactively
address workforce
mattersânot only
from the career-
services level, but in
the classroom âŠ
30. âI think that 40-hour full-time week expectation is changing so dramatically. The
concept of free agencyâwhere the worker is not tethered to one particular employer
and can go anywhereâis gaining acceptance,â Lincoln says. âWeâre more contract-
driven, especially as we get to the point where health benefits are more portable, and
more people are electing to choose how theyâre going to work.â
She says the new world of work requires innovative thinking from both universities
and employers. âItâs a holistic view of talent engagement. Organizations focused on
workforce planning in their business model are getting more sophisticated. Theyâre
thinking about the internship pipeline differently,â Lincoln says.
/30LAGGING BEHIND VERSUS LEADING THE INNOVATION
âThe concept of
free agencyâ
where the worker
is not tethered
to one particular
employer and can
go anywhereâis
gaining acceptance.â
32. With this revelatory understanding of experiential
education, universities that want to innovate their
approach to internships should:
âą Develop a better understanding of how a work-focused education (including
internships) can positively affect their student recruitment.
âą Require internships or practical work experience as a component of any study
program where the main goal is to secure post-graduation employment.
âą Redefine internships as experiential education opportunities, allowing for co-ops,
practicums, on-the-job experience, contract work, and other models that further
studentsâ practical skills.
âą Develop experiential work programs with small businesses and medium-sized
enterprisesâin addition to large, well-known companiesâto better encompass the
varying employer sizes in the workforce.
âą Educate organizations on the value of offering paid experiential education
opportunities, and ensure they understand the legal ramifications if they donât.
/32ACTING NOW
33. âą Promote and reward experiential programs where students are able to make an
impact, undertaking real-life projects to improve the organization.
âą Foster a better understanding among students of potential post-graduation work
opportunities, including full-time, contractual, part-time, freelance,
and work-to-hire positions.
âą Advocate that university-accrediting organizations grow their definition of
student success to encompass the new world of work and the importance of
experiential education.
/33ACTING NOW