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gaining employment. I expect this diverse view on the internship, students using this opportunity of internship for personal, professional and aspirational reasons. Hence there is value in internships for students. What they expect from an internship may resonate with their situations, personal interests, and personal aspirations. Therefore, the diverse perspectives on internship by students.
5.4.4. Concluding Comments on the Stakeholders’ Perspectives on Internship
The general perspective of the various stakeholders on an internship is that they all seem to acknowledge the importance of internship as a crucial component of learning and for employability. There are some variations in terms of their expectations. This is understandable when setting their views on internship against their interests. While the academics value internships as learning spaces for graduates to contextualise, their learning gained from academic institutions, employers view internships as means of preparing graduates to meet their work requirements so they can draw future employees from the pool of interns. Students' value internships based on their circumstances and professional aspirations. Hence internships are a space for a multitude of gains, some academic, some workplace experience, some personal and professional.
146 5.5.1 Transformation of Knowledge into Practice
Drawing from West Ventura and Warnick’s theoretical foundation for inductive transfer (2007), transferring learning is crucial for graduates to understand how they can develop employability skills. With increasing emphasis being laid on efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the job market, the pressure is on academics to make learning valuable and to prepare students for the job market.
Hence, in this sub-area, I present and discuss the roles of the participants in the transformation of knowledge into practice from the data gathered.
5.5.2 The Academics’ Views on the Purpose of Internships
Academics spend the most time with students at the university, playing a crucial role in ensuring that students achieve the expected competences of the programme design. In line with Jackson (2014), the data suggests that academics are in favour of internships that allow students to integrate academic and professional subjects into an actual work situation.
Finance Academic 1:
“We at the academy we teach everything on paper, for us it is academic knowledge, but the practical training is very, very important. So, through the internship, the students get exposure to the real world of work. Our students lack these employability skills for their achievement.”
Hotel Academic 5:
“Yes, what they have learned in class is only a percentage of what they do at the workplace, so everything they have learned at the workplace emanates from their experienced supervisors and other professional workers on-the-job. They shared knowledge; they developed skills and can practice more about what they have learned. “
Finance Academic 1:
“The practical training is compulsory during the course. All students must have at least 4 months of placement. We discuss with several companies -an expert in this domain. We develop professionals who have the required knowledge in their fields to make readiness graduates.
However, fresh graduates would get employability skills through experiences in the workplace.
We at the university, we want our graduates to have employability skills and to do in the job.”
Excerpts from the above data reveal that although academics recognise their contribution to the theoretical knowledge of graduates, they also acknowledge that graduates need practical experiences through internships under the supervision of professional workers in companies.
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Academics support the development of content knowledge together with some technical and soft skills among students in the university, while it develops employability skills during internships in actual work situations. Academics recognise that the university does not provide the required environment for graduates to practise in real conditions as authentic sites for the knowledge gained during the coursework component of the curriculum.
Thus, to allow students to gain working experiences, academics organise internship programmes for them in close collaboration with employers in the relevant fields of study. When probing this issue further, I found out that the academics market, organise, and monitor the whole process of the internships (from an earlier quote by an academic - we target more employers so they can come to us, recruit and hire our candidates, our students to have an internship). Internships, organised by academics with the collaboration of employers, provide students with the opportunity of putting gained knowledge into practise in a real working environment (Cooper, Orrell & Bowden, 2010).
The importance of communication and collaboration between academics and employers (or supervisors at the workplace) for proper implementation and monitoring of the internships, is highlighted here. Some academics use internships for collaboration and communication, enabled through their supervision responsibilities associated with the internship.
Academic 4 ICT:
“So, at the finish of the internship as an academic of the university, we have monitoring visits to see how the internship has taken place. They discuss issues about future collaboration with employers. It is very important there that we go, the object is to communicate to employers.”
Drawing from the above excerpts, academics see the purpose of internship as being practical training through site base learning in authentic work environments. In addition, noting the value of internship, employers use the internship to maintain and expand relationships with the worksite for culture collaboration in supporting the development of graduates for the world of work.
5.5.3 The Employers’ Views on the Purpose of Internships
Billet (2010) argues that employers allow graduates to earn experience and to gain basic knowledge in their chosen field of study during internships. The data as gleaned from employers supports this argument by Billet (2010) and extends on this by including a planned process of development and supervision for enabling meaningful workplace experiences.
148 Finance Employer 1:
“Well, we have different categories because we recruit interns for a short-term period that is, two months during holidays. The second category is for six months. We develop more internships in the community so they can know more about the work environment.”
The various categories of internship suggest that there is some rationale for how an internship is planned and executed. This plan focuses more on experiential learning within the workplace environment.
Hotel Employer 6:
“For us, a reputable hotel, we find that the internship programme is beneficial for both employers and graduates. Employers have a pool of young fresh potential candidates for future employment. It allows us to contribute to teaching a skill to youngsters.”
In this excerpt, the employer views an internship as an opportunity for students to learn and an opportunity for employers to identify potential future employees.
The primary purpose, therefore, of internship from the employers’ perspective is to support the learning programme by developing employability knowledge and skills. Additional benefits include recruitment possibilities from a known pool of potential employees.
5.5.4 The Graduates’ Views on the Purpose of an Internship
Graduates involved in the educational internship programme work with an academic and often register for academic credits as part of this experience (Gault, Leach, & Duey, 2010). The credit- bearing approach to internship ensures that interns are not only answerable to the workplace (employers) but also to their faculty during the internship period. For graduates, internships allow the classroom to be only part of the education necessary for success in the real world. They consider joining an enterprise to gain a wealth of relevant work experience.
Finance Graduate 1:
“Well, I have had an internship of 3 months in a private company, and when I joined, I completed my internship in the marketing field. We were also running projects, so he (the supervisor) always guided me; he gave me enough information to go ahead.”
149 Finance Graduate 2;
“It is compulsory for the programme to undertake this internship because it carries 3 credits.”
ICT Graduate 3:
“Learning and gaining the eight preferred employability skills allow me to be in a better position when competing for a job in a company. I have joined the internship programme to help with this training. Also, I have more opportunities to get work experience and to get a job in a company.”
Hotel Graduate 5:
“I would say employability comprises skills, experience, commitment to personal excellence, willingness to take risk, and understanding while during an internship programme, to finding employment. To put the theories learned at university into practice and getting working experience to become employable.”
Finance Graduate 1:
“I needed to have the experience, experience in the employability skills pertinent to my course, and self-confidence. Training and development, practical training compulsory to get a job occasion. Companies are requesting for experience and employability skills to use new employees. During my internship, they assigned me a supervisor who facilitated and directed me in all my projects. They guided the employability skills during the internship according to the needs of this organisation. I relate them to the goal and objectives of the Corporate.”
The data from these excerpts suggest that the graduates view the purpose of internship as part of their learning experience for employability, which includes workplace experiences. Also, according to the graduates, other purposes of internships include acquisition of earmarked credits, work experience, and employability skills and completion of university projects, and opportunities to put into practise what they have learned at universities.
5.5.5. Concluding Comments on the Purpose of the Internship as Viewed by Stakeholders
For the three stakeholders in this study, the purpose of internships is to provide authentic work experiences in which knowledge and skills learned during the academic component of the curriculum are deployed within authentic workplace environments. All the stakeholders also
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stated that internships offer other additional benefits. For the academic, collaboration, communication and recruitment of more worksites were the additional benefits for them. The employers viewed internships as opportunities for identifying and grooming their future potential employees; there would be a pool of known graduates from which to draw their future employees. Students see the additional benefit of an internship as providing them with workplace experience that is needed when applying for jobs in the respective fields. Hence the purpose of internships includes core learning and secondary benefits that are linked to the stakeholders’ personal or sectoral needs.