A majority of first-year students expect to complete an internship before graduation but less than half of seniors actually do so. However, the benefits of work-based learning, especially paid internships, are seen as early as the year after graduation.
Research from the Strada Center for Education revealed that students who completed a paid internship during college were making $3,000 more than peers who did not. Continued gains are realized throughout ensuing years as those who complete a paid internship or apprenticeship report more satisfaction with their careers, higher annual income, believe their education was worth the cost, that their education helped them achieve their goals, and they are more likely to recommend their college or university to others.
New research from Strada focuses on the gap between first-year students’ intentions to participate in internships and the actual level of seniors who do. Survey findings revealed that seniors who participate in paid internships feel “significantly” more confident in communicating their knowledge and skills to potential employers. Unfortunately, other work-based experiences, such as unpaid internships, practicums, and cooperative learning are not associated with an earnings benefit one year after graduation.
Paid, real-world working experiences help students acquire new skills, build networks, and gain clarity on their future goals. Holding an internship can increase academic performance, confidence in career planning, employability, and career satisfaction. These “high-impact” practices are increasingly part of a post-secondary education oriented toward workforce needs.
Interestingly, researchers did not find any statistically significant differences in the impact of work-based learning on post-completion outcomes based on race, gender, or socioeconomic status. This suggests that the benefit from these experiences is strong across demographic groups. However, access to the opportunity for paid internships is uneven. Black and Latino students, women, low income, and first-generation students are less likely to participate in a paid internship.
Men are about two percentage points more likely to have a paid internship compared to women. Differences by race and ethnicity are larger. Black or African American graduates are about 13 percentage points less likely than white graduates to have a paid internship, and Latino graduates about eight percentage points less likely.
The future of work-based learning
There are clearly financial benefits to participate in paid internships, but there are noneconomic benefits as well, such as more positive opinions about the value of education, higher career satisfaction, and stronger feelings of goal achievement. One thing institutions can do to increase paid internships is to ensure that non-STEM majors have similar access to high-quality, paid internships as students in STEM disciplines. Employers, institutions, and other organizations need to develop revenue streams that help subsidize paid internships and target students who are women, low income, first generation, and students of color.
To produce desired outcomes for student success post-graduation in the form of higher earnings and career confidence, institutions need to expand quality work-based learning experiences for students.