Industry interns: glorified gofers or valued learners?
5 Jul 2013 04:19 PM
The popular belief that all internships merely exploit young people as unpaid dogsbodies is a "myth", according to new research from the Institute of Education, London.
Professor David Guile and Ann Lahiff, of the IOE's Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies & Societies (Llakes), set out to counter this myth by identifying best practices in the creative and finance sectors.
These include transparent recruitment processes, payment for interns, agreed learning goals, and the chance for interns to work with multi-skilled teams to meet the needs of clients. This helps them develop judgment, entrepreneurialism, skills specific to the sector they are working in and all-important personal contacts.
Internship often works best with a mix of formal and informal arrangements for induction, the research found. The interns are involved in a mix of observation and shadowing, as well as individual and collective responsibility for work.
Professor Guile said internship had been a growing route into employment since the mid 2000s as many employers made it an integral part of their recruitment processes; he did not believe it was increasing because of the recession and the associated job shortage for young people.
Speaking at an event to launch the updated Creative Skillset Guidelines for Employers offering Work Placement Schemes and Internships in London last night (Thursday) Professor Guile called on policy-makers to "reclaim the important role of internship as a means of developing skills to benefit both individuals and employers".
He said industry leaders, including sector skills councils, the CBI and Chambers of Commerce, should publicise best practice, explain the importance of internships and serve as brokers working with higher education to persuade more companies to offer "best practice internships".
Parties responsible for making policy for higher education need to recognise that colleges and universities can only do so much to provide the skills development needed for today's workplace, sector-specific workplace learning was equally invaluable said Professor Guile.
As one intern interviewed for the research explained, the experience of group work on a business team was "far more intense and diversified" than teamwork on his MBA, and could not be replicated at university. The biggest difference was that the work team always kept "client and accountability" at the forefront of all discussions.
Professor Guile said HE institutions needed to recognise the implications of the best practice of companies and individual students for learning, and should take heed of the way people:
- Increasingly use face-to-face networking, supplemented by the Internet and social media, to search and pitch for internships;
- Are increasingly using the internet and social media to attract attention and demonstrate their skills to employers throughout their working lives.
Editors' Notes
The report, Internship: Conventional Wisdom, Models & Recommendations, was funded by the Commercial Education Trust. For more information, to interview Professor Guile, or for a copy of the report please contact James Russell in the IOE press office: J.Russell@ioe.ac.uk, 020 7911 5556 or Diane Hofkins, Llakes communications consultant: d.hofkins@ioe.ac.uk, 07976 703455.
The IOE
The Institute of Education is a college of the University of London that specialises in education and related areas of social science and professional practice. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise two-thirds of the Institute's research activity was judged to be internationally significant and over a third was judged to be "world leading". The Institute was recognised by Ofsted in 2010 for its "high quality" initial teacher education programmes that inspire its students "to want to be outstanding teachers". The IOE is a member of the 1994 Group, which brings together 11 international renowned, research intensive universities. More at http://www.ioe.ac.uk
Llakes
This Economic and Social Research Council-funded Research Centre investigates the role of lifelong learning in promoting economic competitiveness and social cohesion, and in mediating the interactions between the two. Key areas of research include: i) the social and cultural foundations of learning, knowledge production and transfer, and innovation, within the context of a changing economy, and ii) the effects of knowledge and skills distribution on income equality, social cohesion and competitiveness.
It has a programme of multi-discipinary and mixed method research which addresses these issues at the level of the individual life course, through studies of city-regions and sectors in the UK , and through comparative analysis across OECD countries. More at www.llakes.org
ESRC
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC's total budget for 2012/13 is £205 million.
Commercial Education Trust
The Commercial Education Trust is a grant making charity which promotes commercial education by strengthening the links between the business community and the education sector and developing best practice, in particular by supporting projects which focus on innovative, practical and effective business training and research. CET has a strong focus on the young and helping them on the pathway 'From Learning to Earning'. More at www.lccicet.com.
Creative Skillset
Creative Skillset is the licensed Sector Skills Council for entertainment media, fashion and textiles, publishing and advertising, marketing and communications. It is owned and invested in by employers working in social partnership with unions and aspires to have the best skills and talent in the world to drive growth of the industries and the UK economy. Creative Skillset brings all parts of the Creative Industries together to add value through collaboration on workforce development. www.creativeskillset.org
The full Creative Skillset Guidelines for Employers Offering Work Placement Schemes clarify the types of work-based learning programmes and identify best practice for employers in the Creative Industries. They are available online at www.creativeskillset.org/companies/your_staff/placements/article_7670_1.asp