Student Internships During Times of Pandemic: A Historical View of Pandemics, Recession and Their Effect on Education

Student Internships during Times of Pandemic; A historical view of pandemics, recession and their effect on education With the current pandemic, a potential recession is also occurring. Considering the "Great Recession" of 2007-2010, student enrollments went up while taxpayer support to public universities fell. Also associated with these changes was the increase in unemployment which correlates with the increase in enrollment. Non-traditional students (not typical recent high school graduates) return to college as jobs become more difficult to find. In a thorough review of the American Society of Engineering Education archives, there is little about any correlation between job placement and the Great Recession. Internships are a part of many construction, engineering and architecture degree programs. These might be mandatory for course credit or strongly encouraged, yet voluntary, during college. Internships may be mandatory for professional credentials after graduation. Little research is available to identify any correlation between internship placement and recessions. Although, anecdotal relationships between recessions and internships have been reported. With the current economic situation associated with the Covid pandemic, there is an opportunity to identify changes that occur in the construction industry. A thorough review of existing literature is performed. Additionally, a survey instrument was created. This research project surveys students seeking construction internships in the summer of 2020. Potential interns are asked about their experience this summer as compared to previous years. Students were also asked about the effect of the pandemic and economic changes on their internship experience. Additionally, students were asked to share additional thoughts.