The Role of Project-Based Internships in Shaping Engineers’ Careers

Project-based internships are becoming crucial for enhancing Engineering education as they make students apply the classroom learning to real-world problems and recommend solutions, which helps develop their skills and makes them better prepared for the profession they are seeking to pursue. This study intended to study factors influencing the effectiveness of project-based internship in developing students professionally and enhancing their career preparedness. Industry type and workplace culture moderates the relationship, which helped develop a conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected using a survey from 279 Engineering graduates pursuing Engineering program. The findings of the paper highlight the crucial impact of structured internships on improving students' readiness for professional environments, supported by a varied sample of engineering students. The most advanced techniques of PLS-SEM were used to assess such constructs as Professional Development (PD), Project-Based Learning (PBI), Work Related Competencies (WPC), and these constructs revealed high reliability and validity. Specifically, project-based internships were found to positively influence the professional development of students. This relationship was significantly mediated by students' prior knowledge and the quality of feedback and mentorship they received. Additionally, both industry type and workplace culture played moderating roles, shaping the strength and direction of key relationships in the model. These findings highlight the contextual and experiential nuances that influence internship effectiveness.The research is one of the few on studying such in-depth relationships in Indian context.