ABSTRACT At a time when colleges and universities are anxious to prove that their graduates are employable, internships are being increasingly touted as valuable ‘high-impact’ practices. However, how students themselves conceptualise internships is poorly understood, which inhibits the inclusion of their voices in the employability discourse and considerations of program design. In this study we use the freelisting method from cultural anthropology to analyse data from students (n = 57) in three US colleges, using saliency analysis, thematic analysis, and social network analysis techniques. Results indicate that the most salient terms in the cultural domain of internships were: ‘experience,’ ‘learning,’ ‘paid,’ and ‘connections.’ Students discussed these words in utilitarian terms (e.g. something to ‘get’ for one’s resume), as important aspects of career- and self-exploration, and to highlight the importance of compensation. Differences in the complexity of student accounts were evident between students who had taken an internship and those who had not. These findings highlight how common definitions of internships reflect a homogenous and aspirational perspective that is inconsistent with student accounts. We conclude that students’ insights about internships are important to consider to re-frame the employability debate to include student perspectives and experiences, to avoid one-size-fits-all approaches to internship design, and to facilitate student self-reflection.

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学生如何将大学实习经历概念化？采取以学生为中心的设计和实施实习方法

摘要在大学急于证明自己的毕业生可以就业的时候，实习被越来越多地吹捧为有价值的“高影响力”实践。但是，对于学生自己如何概念化实习的理解却很少，这阻碍了他们的声音被包括在就业能力讨论和程序设计的考虑之中。在这项研究中，我们使用文化人类学的自由列表法，通过显着性分析，主题分析和社交网络分析技术，对来自美国三所大学的学生（n = 57）的数据进行了分析。结果表明，在实习文化领域中，最显着的术语是：“体验”，“学习”，“有偿”和“人脉”。学生用功利性的术语讨论了这些单词（例如，一些“要”拿到简历的东西），作为职业和自我探索的重要方面，并强调薪酬的重要性。在参加过实习的学生与未参加过实习的学生之间，学生账户复杂性的差异很明显。这些发现突出了实习的常见定义如何反映出与学生账目不一致的同质和理想的观点。我们得出的结论是，学生对实习的见解对于重新组织就业能力辩论以纳入学生的观点和经验，避免采用一种千篇一律的实习设计方法以及促进学生的自我反思非常重要。在参加过实习的学生与未参加过实习的学生之间，学生账户复杂性的差异很明显。这些发现凸显了实习的通用定义如何反映出与学生账目不一致的同质且有抱负的观点。我们得出的结论是，学生对实习的见解对于重新组织就业能力辩论以纳入学生的观点和经验，避免采用一种千篇一律的实习设计方法以及促进学生的自我反思非常重要。在参加过实习的学生与未参加过实习的学生之间，学生账户复杂性的差异很明显。这些发现突出了实习的常见定义如何反映出与学生账目不一致的同质和理想的观点。我们得出的结论是，学生对实习的见解对于重新组织就业能力辩论以纳入学生的观点和经验，避免采用一种千篇一律的实习设计方法以及促进学生的自我反思非常重要。