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Abstract

Background Despite demands to make higher education more relevant beyond academia, and a growing body of work testifying to the benefits of work-relevance programs (e.g., work-placements, or internships) for both students and the companies that host them, there is limited information available for those aiming to optimize these programs. For example, few have explored the challenges and needs of internship supervisors. Here, we focus on the experiences of supervisors in biology and geology programs across three Norwegian institutions. Specifically, through a series of focus groups, we asked internship supervisors about their motivations for serving as student mentors, any challenges they had faced, and what higher-education institutions could do to better prepare them for hosting students at their workplaces.

Results Key challenges faced by supervisors include the need to tailor placements to individual student needs and capabilities, navigating the constraints imposed by academic structures, and addressing communication gaps between students, institutions, and workplace supervisors. Internship supervisors suggest enhancing communication strategies to better define roles and expectations, increasing support and training for supervisors, and establishing clearer, more collaborative frameworks for setting learning objectives with students.

Conclusions The supervisors’ suggestions aim to ensure that internships are mutually beneficial, supporting both students’ educational outcomes and the workplace needs. By focusing on the supervisor’s perspective, we provide valuable insights into one aspect of implementing effective and rewarding internships (i.e., supervisor preparation), thereby suggesting pathways for future improvements in these high-impact educational practices.

Keywords Work placement, Workplace relevance, Internships, Mentoring, Mentor challenges, STEM

Reference and link to the article

Schneider, J.R., Aaby, T., Boessenkool, S., Eriksen, E. F., Holtermann, K., Martens, I., Soulé, J., Steele, A., Zazzera, S., van der Meeren, G., Velle, G., Cotner, S. & Lane, A. K. (2024). Creating better internships by understanding mentor challenges: findings from a series of focus groups. IJ STEM Ed 11, 60. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-024-00518-y

Abstract

Higher education is often divided into discipline-oriented and professional programs. Professional programs prepare students for a specific profession and include relevant theoretical and practical knowledge. Discipline-oriented programs emphasize theoretical knowledge and research within a specific discipline or field. Except for a career within research and higher education, discipline-oriented programs provide less obvious links to future careers. The transition from student life to working life may therefore be challenging.

In this paper, we present and discuss the development and implementation of a work placement course as part of the disciplinary programs in biology at the University of Bergen. The course was developed to provide students with practical- and work- related competences, to inform
about opportunities for future career and to foster motivation and learning. We have revised the course according to feedback from students, workplace hosts and our experience as course teachers during the six semesters the course has been running.

The work placement course is at the bachelor (BSc) level and consists of two main components; a work placement and the student’s own reporting of placement outcomes. For the placement, the students work 140 hours at a workplace as a biologist. The reporting consists of four open blog-posts, one written reflective essay and a final oral presentation. The course teachers also meet with the students and convey information on the roles of biology and biologists in today’s society through a Facebook group. Feedback from the students, hosts and course teachers point to a range of benefits from work practice in discipline-oriented study programs. Based on our experience, we provide guidance for implementing such courses.

Reference and link to the article

Velle, G., Hole, T. N., Førland, O., Simonelli, A.-L., and Vandvik, V. (2017). Developing work placements in a discipline-oriented education Nordic Journal of STEM Education, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017), pp 287-306.