Student internships within higher education institutions: an emergent conceptual typology

Student internships are recognised in scholarly discourse as important, useful opportunities for developing skills, building experience, and aiding employability. However, there are barriers to accessing student internships and inequity of experience. Whilst there is an increasing body of literature on internships facilitated by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), little literature focuses on internships within HEIs (i.e. with HEIs as internship hosts). In particular, student and staff accounts of their own experiences are under-represented, and there is little consensus on the types of internships offered, responsibilities involved, and factors supporting success. This lack of clarity constitutes a significant barrier to offering opportunities to students in accessible and clear ways, heightening inequities. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to gain insight into the types of internships on offer within HEIs. The project used an applied qualitative approach and a grounded theoretical methodology to analyse the perceptions of student interns and HEI staff within a Scottish university. Key findings indicate a wide range of internship types, responsibilities and experiences. This has informed the creation of a new theoretical conceptualisation of HEI internships: a hierarchical typology of internship types. This will be useful for any HEI offering internships, aiding clear communication about internships offered.