Student Perceptions of Internships: What Are the Perceived Benefits for the Interested Parties?

A sample of 259 marketing students from two universities provided their perceptions of the benefits associated with marketing internships. They agree that an array of benefits accrue to the student interns, the organizations for which the students serve in internship positions, the university, and the general student population at their own university. Among the benefits that are strongly acknowledged by the students are that an internship helps the student interns learn more about their chosen career path, that organizations benefit from the enthusiasm of an eager subset of workers, that successful internships help their university develop strong partnerships with the hiring organizations, and that successful marketing internships help students in other majors secure their own internships in their respective disciplines. It appears that the benefits far outweigh the students’ concerns, the most meaningful of which is the requirement that they pay tuition for internship credit. The results still document the need for Career Services to do a better job of allaying their concerns. One might say they need to do a better job of marketing