Aims and objectives

We aim to explore the virtual internship landscape and student intern and employer experience in two contrasting institutional contexts, the UK and Italy, focusing on the business services sector (aligning with Digit Centre research priorities).

Our objectives are:

RO1. To map key features of virtual internships in the UK and Italy; e.g. virtual internship providers/users, types of internships, who accesses them.

RO2. To explore how, if at all, virtual internships differ from in-person internships for interns, especially in terms of skills and knowledge development, organisational knowledge, and employability outcomes.

RO3. To explore how, if at all, virtual internships differ from in-person internships for employers, especially in terms of recruitment processes/decisions, developing candidate relationships and the design/delivery of internships.

RO4. To explore whether virtual internships are more accessible than in-person internships to students from disadvantaged or minority backgrounds.

RO5. To develop best practice guidance for interns, employers and HEIs, and to disseminate our findings at an impactful event;

RO6. To grow our research network on graduate transitions to employment by focusing on the experience of digital work to inform future research directions and apply for further funding.

Rationale

Though not new, virtual (remote, online, or e-) internships have recently increased in popularity owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is unclear whether the growth in virtual internships will be sustained, but they will likely remain more prevalent than before and become a key strategy for early talent recruiting. Virtual internships are also likely to develop ‘digital’ skills required for digitally intensive occupations, characterized by digital tasks or intense use of digital devices, that have grown substantially in recent years. However, there is little research on interns’ and employers’ experience of virtual internships.

We deliberately adopt a cross-national perspective to address how the institutional context affects the experience of virtual internships. In Italy, placements and internships are typically part of a more institutionalised transition from education to employment and are usually part of the educational curriculum, but in the UK they are less institutionalised and more varied.

Research questions

RQ1. Who are the main actors involved in the virtual internship landscape?

RQ2. What are the features of virtual internships?

RQ3. How do virtual internships compare to in-person internships (for student interns: in terms of developing workplace and wider knowledge, skills and employability; for employers: in terms of recruitment and selection decisions, developing relationships with candidates and internship design and delivery)?

RQ4. Do virtual internships help widen participation to disadvantaged groups?

The project is structured around two workpackages: WP1: Mapping the virtual internship landscape, and WP2: Exploring the intern and employer experience.