Learning Through Experience: Examining the Influence of Baccalaureate Internships on College Graduate Employment Outcome Adequacy

College graduates are increasingly encountering inadequate employment outcomes that are not commensurate with their level of formal education, resulting in an underutilized labor force. In tandem with these suboptimal employment outcomes are the increasing costs of a college degree and record levels of student debt. Over the next decade, the number of college graduates is expected to outpace the number of jobs requiring a college degree. This widening gap between educational achievement and occupational attainment beseeches the need for greater clarity on the college-to-career transition. In an effort to bridge this gap by providing a stronger connection between academic theory and practical application, some college degree programs include an experiential learning component, such as an internship. The purpose of this survey design study was to examine the relationship of baccalaureate internships with college graduate employment outcome adequacy. Graduates from a baccalaureate program that required student internships were surveyed to examine the relationship of internship job characteristics, workplace environment characteristics, and select contextual factors on the adequacy of their employment outcomes. A series of logistic regression analyses were performed to test the extent to which the independent variables, both as a set and individually, reliably predicted employment outcome adequacy. Each of the three sets of predictors was tested followed by a test of all predictors together. Examination of a bivariate scatterplot of normalized residuals suggested the need for further analysis; thus, a final test of all predictors with an outlier omitted was completed. Across the five tests, limited support for Task Significance, moderate support for full-time internships, and strong support for Career Development Opportunities individually and Workplace Environment characteristics as a set emerged as statistically significant predictors of employment outcome adequacy. Each one-unit increase in a respondent's impression of their internships' Career Development Opportunities resulted in a more than twentyfold increase in the likelihood of an adequate employment outcome. Similarly, a respondent whose both internships were full-time was more than seven times more likely to be adequately employed than respondents who participated in any part-time internships.Ed.D., Educational Leadership and Management -- Drexel University, 201