WORKING TO LEARN: INTERNSHIPS FOR TODAY'S SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS

This study compares student learning in employment-based interriships with learning in nonemployment-based internships. Data from foundation and ad-vanced employment-based and nonemployment-based students (N=180) indi-cate statistically significant gains during the acadenuc year. Pre- and post-evaluative data from field instructors (N=22) also reflect statistical significance. This counters concerns about the value of employment-based internships. There was a trend for employment-based foundation MSW students to perceive themselves initially as more knowledgeable than nonemployment-based stu-dents. By the end of the foundation year, this difference disappeared. Recom-mendations are made for employment-based field practica. IN RECENT YEARS, there has been a dramatic increase in part-time master's of social work (MSW) students who often are engaged in full-time social work-related employment. The percent of part-time MSW students has increased from 29 % in 1982 (Navari, 1991) to 41 % of all students graduating from an accredited MSW program in 2002 (Lennon, 2004). This increase in part-time students often requires alternatives to school-arranged internships. One alternative has become an employment-based field placement. Do stu-dents who complete their field requirements in an employment-based placement experi-ence similar levels of learning as those assigned to a school-arranged internship? This question becomes increasingly relevant as field education evolves into the future, yet continues to be shaped by its past. The initial membership requirements of the American Association of Social Workers, established in the early 1920s, emphasized practice experience rather than classroom education (Kendall, 2002). Therefore, field experience was initially the mainstay of social work education, in which students completed apprenticeships under the direction of more experienced social workers (Caspi & Reid