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Student Intern Engagement
3.1. Introduction
In issues revolving the professional practice, the internship concept is not a new term. The internship is the process by which a student put into practice the theoretical ideas from school. Most companies have been using the internship as a means of increasing innovations and developments. On the other hand, the students see the opportunity for personal devolvement when engaging in the internship.
Universities and colleges engage in the rare finding of attachment opportunities for their students. In the event the school/institution fails to find an internship opportunity for a student intern, the student looks for the opportunity individually. Those students who successfully secure a chance to work with an individual company inform of an internship can either work as part-time intern.
Daly, Perkins, Kumar, Roberts & Moore (2013, p.900) argue that a student intern can also work as a temporary worker. In simpler terms, there are those student interns who join an organization to work as an intern but secure a job position at the same firm after the internship period expires. On the other hand, there are those student interns who leave the organization immediately their stay at the respective organization expires Sobral & Islam (2015, p.505). Internship engagement can also be mirrored through the mirrors of the specialization of the student intern.
This is apparent because different students with different specialization levels engage in the internship. There are senior workers such as senior managers who may wish to engage in the internship to increase their work experience. On the other hand, a typical worker may also wish to engage in the internship to increase the experience too. Saunders & Ash (2013, p.496) argue that the level of student intern engagement can be mirrored through the mirror that gives the distinction between the paid and unpaid student interns.
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Both paid and unpaid interns have the significant impacts on the organization. Not only does unpaid and paid intern have the pertinent effect on an organization, but the unspecialized and specialized interns also have the important impacts on the organization’s operations. Dare, Fancourt, Robinson, Wilkinson, & Bagg (2009, p.345) admit that temporal and permanent student interns should not be left behind in this discussion since they still have pertinent impacts on the operation of an organization.
Therefore, this literature review engages in a thorough exploration of research articles to give a comprehensive analysis on how different level of intern student engagement affects an organization. In addition, the review will provide insights to some of the various types of works and their effects on intern student engagement. By the end of the literature review, an understating of the effects of the varied level of intern student participation in the operations of an organization would be drawn.
3.2. The influence of the different type of employee on student intern engagement
LaNasa, Cabrera & Trangsrud (2009, p.332) introduce that different type of employees influences student intern engagement. Those who engage in part-time or temporary work have varied impact on an organization. This is because their job descriptions are different depending on the time or duration of attending job at an organization. A part-time intern has been defined by Griffing (2010, p.111) as the type of an intern who attends the job through irregular activities.
These workers are called to resume duties each time an organization sees the need for it. This concept of part-time internship has been elaborated by Stansbie, Nash & Jack (2013, p.156) who argue that the intern involved in this type of internship has no control over the hours or the duration on when to attend a job. Nosbisch (2011, p.6) adds that part-time interns are taken to accomplish duties that were unable to be finished by the other workforce.
Temporal interns, on the other hand, are very different from part-time ones. This is because they resemble the permanent workers only that they work on a contract (Feast, Collyer-Braham & Bretag 2011, p.239). Once the contract expires, the intern leaves the organization immediately, unless the contract is renewed. From the definition of the part-time and temporal intern, it can be deducted that they can have the different influence on the organization.
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Taking part-time student interns in context it can be said that their engagement can have minimal benefits to the organization. This is because their involvement with the organization is only to finish the little-left duties by the permanent and temporal workers. Stansbie, Nash & Jack (2013, p.157) argue that part-time student interns lack the opportunity to engage in the decision-making process. The part-time interns are just there to finalize to what have been set by the temporal and permanent workers.
Furthermore, Daly, Perkins, Kumar, Roberts & Moore (2013, p.906) added that part-time interns have the fear of their stay at the organization being terminated immediately a disappointing thing happens in an organization. This is because an organization cannot risk containing the part-time interns at the expense of the temporary workers. Therefore, at this point, it can be said that part-time student interns have an insignificant contribution to an organization, as their engagement is not secured.
However, the above statements are contradicted by Griffing (2011, p.111) who argued that part-time interns could have considerable influence on the organization than the temporary interns. This is because the intern works hard to the bone to ensure that he or she is promoted to the position of the secular intern. This is because the part-time interns finish the remaining last critical phases of projects of the day Sweitzer & King (2013, p.91).
Therefore, once the projects are completed successfully, the respective intern is promised to secure temporary job at the organization. Therefore, the influence of the part-time student intern engagement can be said to have the exponential impact on the organization.
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Temporary student interns, on the other hand, survive on the description of the contract. They have equal contributions as those accorded to the permanent workers (Chen, Sheu, O’Sullivan, Cate & Teherani 2014, p.136). The importance of the temporary interns is seen as the incumbent workforce absorbs them and become a part of the force. With the little time, the temporary intern becomes a part of the workforce such that he or she becomes a part of the decision-making process at the organization.
These types of student interns have centrifuged engagement with an organization such that productivity increases in an organization. Fresh ideas brought by the interns are easily absorbed and put into practice. The temporary student interns are dutiful. The dutifulness is brought by the fact that the organization will second them to be hired permanently in the organization.
Sidhu, Weller & Mitchell (2015, p.743) argue that the contribution of the temporary student interns is great since they seek renewal of their contracts. Therefore, they end up working down-to-earth to appease their supervisors. Once the superiors become appeased, they will approve for the second renewal of the expiring contracts.
The other level of the student interns is the one that has paid and unpaid student interns. A study done by O’Bryan, Daston & Riehle (2014, p.54) concluded that the organization that does not pay their interns records high unproductive operations. The reason behind this statement is that there is little student intern engagement. The students are demoralized despite the fact that they are gaining experience in the interning Webber, Nelson Laird & BrckaLorenz (2013, p.330).
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Most factories in the London region take the advantage of the notion that the experience gained by the interns is not commensurable to the input they give during the internship. Therefore, they do not deserve to be paid. Unfortunately, the saving on the wages is met with decreased employee productivity due to minimized student intern engagement. Tucker & Abbasi (2015, p.405) argue that a demotivated student intern is a frustrated employee. This is because the social aspect of the intern is not satisfied.
The net implication of the dissatisfaction is that there is the ultimate slower accomplishment of the company’s objectives. The other observable effect of the unpaid internship is that there is the disconnection between the intern and the organization. This statement is seconded by Ward & Yates (2013, p.206) who argued that the student intern lacks the purpose of engaging in the internship. The conscious of gaining experience in the internship is disturbed by the fact that there are no incentives at the end of the day.
Therefore, at the end of the internship, the student intern ought to have gained nothing from the internship. Croft, Duah & Loch (2013, p.1054) emerge to argue that paid internship is the best form of an internship. This is because they make the student intern psychologically, emotionally, and physically engage productively in the operations of the organization.
The Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Model gives that meeting the social needs of an employee ensures that there is the motivation of the respective employees for the early realization of the set objectives. Therefore, as Ward & Yates (2013, p.207) argue, giving the student interns a small pay inform of supporting their traveling expenses can be the best of reward to ensure that they work down to earth to give back to the organization giving them the job experience.
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3.3. The influence of the various type of work highly on student intern engagement
Any organization has job categories that have some professional aspects. Middleton, Abrams & Seaman (2011, p.67) admit that there are those type of employees in an organization that have much expertise than the other. Therefore, these variations in skills affect the intern student engagement largely. Some of these professional categories include the senior managers and other workers. Once a student intern joins an organization, the environment created by the above classes of workers determines their engagement.
It is observed by Oktay, Jacobson & Fisher (2013, p.209) that the productivity of a student intern increases when presented with an environment with professional workers such as superiors and senior managers. This is because the senior managers act as role models and mentors. The senior managers are always available to give advice to the new interns on how to put their theoretical understanding of concepts into practice.
By observing the textile industry in London, Stansbie, Nash & Jack (2013, p.155) observed that the productivity of the student interns increased when they worked correlatively with their supervisors. The author noticed that those interns presented to the other workers who had little expertise had difficulties with addressing problems. Therefore, the productivity of the interns presented to these groups of employees was minimal. This statement approves the indication of Lee, Chao & Chen (2015, p.8) who argued that various type of work significantly influence intern student engagement.
The authors gave that there existed skilled, semi-skilled, and non-skilled in the companies in the UK economy. Any working setting presented with these groups of workers is promised to give various feedbacks to the newcomers such as student interns. Stansbie, Nash & Jack (2013, p.159) record that an internship is a form of learning that is designed to accomplish one’s needs and interest.
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The author adds that the learning amalgamates learning how to become an independent learner and how to help, assist, and guide others in the place of work. Just as Snavely (2012, p.112) argued, an internship is guided by a vision, in which the theoretical textbooks and models are replaced by competency and measures of education. Associating internship with a leading figure is indispensable in ensuring that it is realistic. Most of the organizations in the London region ensure that a student intern is paired with mentoring supervisors where they are interning.
Cooperatively, the supervisor collaborates mutually with the student intern, carefully inspects their work, counsels, coaches, and assesses their progression (Chen, Sheu, O’Sullivan, Cate & Teherani 2014, p.137). Since the mentors or supervisors are part of the support system in assisting and nurturing the student interns, there is a positive engagement of the respective student interns. The clear implication of such activities ensures that there is the smooth functioning of the workforce since the interns are systemically integrated to the existing labor force. The general workforce is said to assist the student in learning productively.
Cord, Bowrey & Clements (2010, p.47) argue that when a student intern is, most of the time, presented to the supervisors, he or she lacks the freedom to express his or her opinions. Tyssen, Vaglum, Gr∅nvold & Ekeberg (2005, p.725) argued that such situation makes a student intern limits the level of engagement in the internship. This is because most supervisors appear to coerce than to encourage the interns. Based on a research conducted on the fear created by superiors on students in polytechnics in London, Ward & Yates (2013, p.209) found that student interns prefer to work in a work environment absent of superiors and other senior managers.
This is apparent because most senior managers and supervisors in the region appear to underestimate the interns. The rules given to the trainees were harsher than to the other employees. The reason behind such frustration as given by Beenen (2014, p.104) is that organizations think that they have to maximize to the full potential of the student interns. Most organizations give that the student employees do not deserve to be paid because the experience they give to the interns is great. Therefore, the superiors give fear to the trainees to make them productive during the few months they will be in the organization.
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3.4. How do difference levels of student intern engagement influence the organization operation?
Irrespective of the level of the intern student engagement, a business offering internship programs gains a variety of benefits. One of the distinct importance is heavily placed on the operations. It is argued by Ward & Yates (2013, p.217) that the interns are fresh, innovative, and diverse students who have ideas for urgency. This urgency is what is required to ensure that the operations of an organization achieves the targeted outcomes within the shortest time possible (Academy Of Marketing Science, Wilson, Black & Capello 2015, p.91).
For example, the part-time student interns do their best to make their place in the organization noticed and appreciated. However, the operations done by the part-time interns seem to move faster than with the temporary interns. This proposition is because the part-time interns have the highest possibility of losing their job than the temporary interns (Helyer & Lee 2014, p.349). This is because the duties done by the part-time interns can be submerged to the ones done by the other temporary interns.
The other reason behind the fastness in operations with the part-time interns is that they are irregular. Thus, they usually have free minds when attending their duties since they have less monotony. On the other hand, the temporary interns have a higher monotony rate than the part-time interns (Chen, Sheu, O’Sullivan, Cate & Teherani 2014, p.139). They work together with the permanent or hired employee. Since they become integrated into the organization’s workforce, they tend to be faster in the first stages.
However, with time, the respective interns slow down to equilibrium to adjust to the working pace of the existing workforce. Still on the aspect of the organizational operations, an intern student engagement is limited if it is continuously exposed to seniors. This is because the interns feel inferior to accomplish objectives as the existing workforce does. Therefore, the operations of the student interns working with superiors and superiors, most of the time, are disturbed. This is unlike a student interns who work with the general workforce.
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This is apparent because they adapt quickly to the corporate culture of the organization to ensure they rhyme with the rest of the force (Academy Of Marketing Science, Wilson, Black & Capello 2015, p.95). In the end, the operations of the organization move swiftly and faster when the student interns work with the general workforce than with the superiors and supervisors who keep on shouting orders to them.
The operation of an organization is predicted by Chen, Sheu, O’Sullivan, Cate & Teherani (2014, p.143) to be faster and productive with paid student interns than with unpaid student interns. This statement is seconded by Dotson & Dotson-Blake (2015, p.54) who attested that a paid student intern is a motivated personnel. In simpler terms, a workforce with a composition of paid student interns is seen to reduce workloads. The professional staff (senior manager) gets the freedom to pursue creative and more developed initiatives. Barnett (2012, p.279) argues that most of the organizations that pay the student interns retains more of them.
This is because the interns are motivated to make use of their theoretical concepts. Therefore, innovative projects are nurtured and developed such that some of the pioneered mechanisms by the interns are left behind to be used by the left workforce once the interns leave the organization. Burbidge (2015, p.162) argues that student internship enables the leaders in an organization replenish their leadership skills. Any supervisor working with any level of student interns is promised to have the opportunity to increase his or her leadership skills due to the continuous coaching and mentoring of the trainees.
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3.4. Conclusion of the literature review
The report has analyzed different levels of student internship on the engagement of the interns in an organization. Concurrently, the survey has found that paid student interns have remarkable effects on the organization’s operations. In addition, the review has correlatively found that student interns working with superiors can have retarded growth than those working with the general workforce.
Various authors have argued that temporary student interns have little engagement than the part-time student interns. This is apparent because part-time student interns wish to become a part of the workforce. Therefore, this group of student interns cooperates with other to ensure that the superiors approve their contributions. However, the temporary student interns can have faster running of the organization’s operation, but not as compared to the part-time student interns (Chen, Sheu, O’Sullivan, Cate & Teherani 2014, p.145).
Therefore, from the above assessment, it becomes visible that there is a need to have a research that will investigate further, how the different types of student intern engagement influence the organization.
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