CEWIL Resource Hub: Internships

Students participating in internships typically complete a single discipline-specific, supervised, and structured work experience or practice placement, for which they also receive academic credit. These internships may be paid or unpaid, and may be scheduled in the middle of an academic program or after all academic courses have been completed (but prior to graduation). Internships can be of any length, but are typically 12 to 16 months long.

Internship program profiles

Students complete a 8-16 month paid internship related to their career goals. The length of the experience allows students to work on an advanced project from start to finish.

Engineering students complete a 12-16 month paid internship. This highly flexible program allows students to complete the internship with more than one employer in four-month increments.

Sport Management students complete a four month internship in their field of study and draft an academic paper alongside their experience in the workplace.

Relevant literature

• Matusovich, H., Carrico, C., Harris, A., Sheppard, S., Brunhaver, S., Streveler, R., & McGlothlin Lester, M. B. (2019). Internships and engineering: Beliefs and behaviors of academics. Education + Training
• Robeck, J., Pate, S., Pattison, A., & Pattison, J. (2013). The impact of fashion merchandising internships on careers. The Journal of Cooperative Education and Internships, 47(1) 31-46. 
• Maertz Jr., C. P., Stoeberl, P. A., & Marks, J. (2014). Building successful internships: Lessons from the research for interns, schools, and employers. Career Development International, 19(1), 123-142.

You can view more relevant literature on internships by visiting WatCACE's WIL research portal.