Implementing Effective Internships: A Case Study of Work-Integrated Learning in a Chinese Undergraduate University
- PDF / 335,146 Bytes
- 23 Pages / 439.315 x 666.252 pts Page_size
- 23 Downloads / 186 Views
RESEARCH ARTICLE JIN Li, Rebecca CLOTHEY, Brian MCCOMMONS
Implementing Effective Internships: A Case Study of Work-Integrated Learning in a Chinese Undergraduate University © Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2020 Abstract Chinese local undergraduate universities are in a process of transition into universities of applied sciences. Important aspects of this include strengthening cooperation between universities and industry, cultivating applied talent needed in industry, improving students’ employment rates, and promoting economic development. Internships are an important way to help students gain practical experience and deepen university-industry cooperation. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the challenges of the existing internship process in an undergraduate university in China and give suggestions to improve internship quality. Qualitative data from 35 students and 12 administrators/faculty were collected at a local undergraduate university, H University (HU), in central China, which is currently undergoing the process of becoming a university of applied sciences. The findings of the study show issues with the university’s model, including communication between industry and university, internship evaluation, student guidance, and internship quality. Recommendations based on the literature are provided. government policy, internship, work-integrated learning (WIL), Keywords Chinese local undergraduate universities, quality JIN Li ( ) School of Management, Henan University of Urban Construction, Pingdingshan 467036, China E-mail: [email protected] Rebecca CLOTHEY Department of Global Studies and Modern Languages, School of Education, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA Brian MCCOMMONS School of Education, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Implementing Effective Internships
483
Introduction Underemployment of undergraduates is a global issue, and higher education institutions worldwide are utilizing various measures to increase the employability of their students. In order to resolve the problem of structural unemployment in China, the Chinese government has implemented a policy to encourage local undergraduate institutions to turn themselves into “universities of applied sciences.” In this context, universities of applied sciences are defined as those that have positioned themselves close to the local and regional industrial labor markets (Sandelin, Laine, & Lähdeniemi, 2012). Closer university industry ties are an important aspect in the transformation. In addition to an emphasis on applied sciences, efforts are being made to address unemployment faced by graduating students. Internships provide a practical path to closer university and industry ties. They also enhance the experiential learning of the student body as they move towards careers after graduation. A growing number of universities around the world are bridging the gap between undergraduate programs and the job market through work-integrated learning (WIL). This provides students with practical w
Data Loading...
