Campus-based eco-sustainability internships: initial findings and implications for career programming

Purpose Today’s college students have personal and professional interests in furthering sustainability and environmental stewardship efforts. Environmentally focused campus-based internships offer one strategy to help students bridge classroom knowledge with real-world experience. There is a dearth of empirical literature on how such experiences, particularly those that incorporate earning a recognized credential, influence students’ future career plans. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the lived experiences of undergraduate participants in a campus-based eco-sustainability internship program at a university in the United States. Design/methodology/approach Authors present findings from an exploratory qualitative phenomenological study on one such eco-sustainability internship program focused on native plant habitat restoration framed around Social Cognitive Career Theory. Through semi-structured interviews, three undergraduate student participants shared their experiences enacting a project on their campus and earning an environmental leadership credential. Findings Data analysis of interview transcripts revealed eight themes about students’ experiences participating in the campus-based internship. These themes reflect students’ personal and professional gains, as well as their feedback on the program implementation. Originality/value Though limited in scope and number of participants, this exploratory study provides an in-depth look into the experiences of students who participate in structured sustainability internships at their universities that lead to a recognized credential. Authors share implications for developing similar programming with an emphasis on bolstering career development outcomes.