Internship and Careers 1998 Abstracts

Internship and Careers Interest Group

Predicting Successful Internships • Fred Beard and Linda Morton, Oklahoma • Although previous research suggest the characteristics of successful interns and internships, little research has attempted to examine the relationships between them and specific outcomes. The results of a canonical correlation analysis indicates that all the predictors are correlated with successful outcomes; that the predictors account for approximately one-half the variance in successful internships; and that the effectiveness of an intern’s worksite supervisor is the single most important predictor of internship success.

A Phenomenological Study of the Internship Experience: Reflections from Three Perspectives • Emma Daugherty, California State University-Long Beach • Journalism and mass communication educators have long valued and internships for students. With all the importance placed on experiential learning experiences, such as internships, scant literature exists on the subject. In order to understand the underlying expectations and perspectives of the internship experience for the three groups of participants • interns, site supervisors, and internship coordinators • a phenomenological method of inquiry was used in this study. This qualitative study included 15 interns, 15 site supervisors, and 20 faculty internship coordinators as participants and found that similarities and differences in their responses can help improve the internship experience.

Positioning University Internship Programs to Emphasis the Complementary Nature of Theoretical and Applied Training Methods • Teresa Mastin, Michigan State University • The debate continues, theoretical or applied training methods, which method is most appropriate for training students enrolled in university advertising and public relations programs. This paper proposes that university internship programs are qualified to serve in a unique position as harbinger that theoretical and applied methods are indeed complementary and as such should be presented concurrently. Such a stance would help students and practitioners alike make the conceptual link between applied activities and their theoretical underpinnings.

Correlating Grade Point Average with Internship Performance: A Case Study • Michael L. Maynard, Temple University • Analysis of internship grades earned by 132 journalism mass communication students who registered for internship credit at a major Northeastern university show that students with a 2.7 GPA predictably do as well as students with a GPA ranging from 3.0 to 3.3. Accordingly, it is recommended that the GPA cutoff point for internship eligibility at this school be lowered to 2.7, from the previous 3.0 standard. This case study demonstrates the value of measuring actual performance against idealized standards.

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