Motivating Students to Do Internships: A Case Study of Undergraduate Students' Internship Experiences, Problems, and Solutions - AEJMC Network
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Teaching Journalism & A journal published
by the AEJMC Small
Mass Communication Programs Interest Group
Vol. 11, no. 1 (2021), pp. 49-60 http://www.aejmc.us/spig/journal
Motivating Students to Do Internships:
A Case Study of Undergraduate Students’
Internship Experiences, Problems, and Solutions
Yue Zheng & Stephanie Bluestein
California State University, Northridge
Abstract
By conducting a survey of 112 graduating senior undergraduate journalism and public relations
students in Fall 2017, Spring 2018, and Fall 2018 at an urban public university in the South-
western region of the U.S., this study explored undergraduates’ internship experiences, examined
the reasons why most of them were not actively engaged in doing internships, and identified
resources they used to acquire internship-related information. The findings generated practical
implications for journalism educators in urban public universities that do not require an intern-
ship for degree completion, to better motivate students in applying for and conducting intern-
ships, and also for media employers to better adapt their routines and requirements to facilitate
college interns.
Introduction lications. Public relations internships also involve
Journalism-related internships in the U.S. date back producing content but on behalf of public relations
more than 300 years (Granger, 1974), when young clients. As interns, students perform “tasks similar
people wanting to learn the printing trade helped in nature and skill level to tasks done by entry-level
produce pamphlets and newspapers in opposition of employees in the organization” (Hora et al., 2019, p. 5).
British control over the colonies. With the assistance By interning, journalism and public relations
of printers’ apprentices, colonists received vital infor- students obtain hands-on experience, develop prac-
mation via news stories and passionate editorials that tical skills, gain publication opportunities, build pro-
ignited public discontent and, eventually, the Ameri- fessional networks, increase career motivation, and
can Revolution (Madison, 2014). Today’s journalism earn academic credits (Daugherty, 2011; Tsymbal et
internships have evolved from “printing” the news to al., 2020; Valencia-Forrester, 2020). Internships also
“producing” news content for digital and print pub- boost students’ self-confidence and dispel self-doubts
Keywords: Internship, Journalism Internship, Media Internship, Public Relations Internship, Journalism
Education, Communication Education, Communication Pedagogy, Journalism Pedagogy, Journalism
Students, Broadcast Students, Public Relations Students50 • Zheng & Bluestein, Motivating Students to do Internships
(Riley, 1983), making them better prepared to enter LiteratureReview
the full-time professional workplace. Students’ General Internship Experience: Although the
Completing journalism-related internships in benefits of interning are many, not every college stu-
college has become even more important for students dent completes an internship. Figures of journalism
in the second half of the 20th century as evidenced and mass communication students who completed
by employer surveys and task force reports (Folkerts, at least one internship before graduation continuous-
2014). While a bachelor’s degree is the common min- ly hovered around 80% between the 1990s and 2006
imum qualification in the U.S. for a newspaper re- (Neidorf, 2008; Madison, 2014). A more recent survey
porter job (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020a), of 10,482 alumni from 22 journalism schools – includ-
media employers usually seek out applicants for full- ing many of the top journalism programs in the U.S.
time positions who have prior work/intern experience – showed that 70% completed at least one internship
(Hilt & Lipschultz, 1996). Therefore, gaining profes- as an undergraduate (Rosenstiel et al., 2015).
sional experience through interning has the potential In general, whether or not college students have
to elevate a recent graduate’s resume to the top of the done an internship(s) primarily depends on their aca-
stack (Gardner, 2012). Research also shows that stu- demic program (Hora et al., 2019). In journalism-re-
dents with rich internship experiences are more likely lated programs, students’ intern experience differs
to secure a job with higher pay and are more likely to across institution types (private university, public ur-
succeed in their career than those with scarce intern ban university, and college town-university), size of
experience (Beard & Morton, 1998; Neidorf, 2008). the journalism program, whether or not the program
Although the importance and benefits of intern- is accredited by ACEJMC (Accrediting Council on
ships cannot be denied, little academic attention has Education in Journalism and Mass Communica-
been paid to journalism-related internships. Previous tions), and whether an internship course is required
internship-related studies surveyed college students of for degree completion (Hora et al., 2019; Neidorf,
all majors, rather than focusing on journalism/public 2008). Those studies also found that students’ demo-
relations students (Hora et al., 2019; Johnson, 2020). graphic characteristics are not as effective as institu-
Some studies only explored one type of on-campus tional norms in terms of affecting students’ internship
internship – a student-run publication (Madison, pursuits (Hora et al., 2019; Johnson, 2020).
2014) or a social media institute operated by students Acknowledging the influence of institution/pro-
(Maben & Edwards, 2015). Other previous studies gram type, this study focuses on one specific type of
only examined paid or unpaid internships from the journalism program, diving deeper into responses by
educators’ perspective, but neglected students’ opin- undergraduate students: A public university locat-
ions and experience (Senat, Ketterer, & McGuire, ed in an urban Southwest region with a small jour-
2020). While researching students’ overall internship nalism program that does not require an internship
experiences, Daugherty (2011) surveyed only pub- for degree completion, which is comprised mostly
lic relations students, and McDonough, Rodriguez of first-generation students raised in low- and mid-
and Prior-Miller (2009) accomplished their research dle-income families.
more than a decade ago, which makes their outcomes Benefits Obtained By Completing Internship(s): By
obsolete and unable to generalize to the current me- doing a journalism-related internship, students expose
dia landscape and journalism-related pedagogy. themselves to the media industry, become familiar
To fill this research gap, this study surveyed 112 with a fast-paced working environment, figure out
graduating journalism and public relations under- the appropriate etiquette to communicate with col-
graduate seniors regarding their internship experi- leagues and clients, and develop their abilities to think
ence, internship information acquisition, and barriers critically, creatively, and independently (McDonough,
to completing internship(s) in college. The findings Rodriguez, & Prior-Miller, 2009). Those soft skills can
also produced practical implications for educators at affect a new employee’s success on the job (Schabel,
urban public universities that do not require an in- 2014). Students also improve their specific practical
ternship for degree completion, to better motivate skills such as writing, editing, and use of technolo-
students to apply for internships and complete them, gy (Daugherty, 2011). Additionally, students could
and also for media employers to adapt their routines receive course credits if enrolled in an internship class.
and requirements to facilitate college interns. Besides those immediate rewards, students alsoTeaching Journalism & Mass Communication 11(1), 2021 • 51
potentially build a better resume, develop profession- (Ivanova, 2018). However, unpaid internships in pub-
al networks, receive a supervisor’s reference for a fu- lic relations, marketing, and advertising remain com-
ture job search, and/or earn a full-time employment monplace (Gardner, 2012).
offer (Daugherty, 2011). Networking is an effective Yet another issue affecting internship completion
job-hunting tool in the professional world and can is the cost of enrolling in the internship course itself.
provide entry into a company (Schabel, 2014). Indeed, Although the course fulfills either a requirement or an
students tend to feel more satisfied and perceive more elective, some students baulk about paying to take an
value of an internship if they receive more attention internship course, especially when that internship is
and support from their intern supervisors (Hora et al., unpaid (Wexler, 2016). And in an ironic twist, tuition
2019). at many universities is higher in summer, which is the
However, the above studies were conducted many exact time when students might have more time to
years ago; it is unknown whether current students’ in- intern.
ternship experience has changed due to new media Internships might also conflict with students’
technologies. This study, thus, asks its first research class schedules, particularly in a newsroom that isn’t
question: a 9-to-5 job. Intern reporters might need to cover
RQ1: What is the overall internship experi- breaking news throughout the day and night, includ-
ence of undergraduate journalism and public ing during class time (Madison, 2014). Some college
relations students? students feel like they are not ready for a professional
job yet and are not confident enough to apply for an
Barriers to Completing internship ( Johnson, 2020). Some interns also feel
Journalism-Related Internships powerless to ask whether they understand their work
Although internships better prepare students for correctly or whether they can be assigned to any tasks
future careers, college students have barriers to con- (Daugherty, 2011).
ducting, or even applying for, an internship. The main Several studies identified another possible barrier
obstacle is the dearth of paid internships, especially to doing an internship: a lack of local internship op-
since the Great Recession of 2007-2009 (Skowronski, portunities (Hora et al., 2019; Johnson, 2020). A jour-
2009). Some students need or want to use their spare nalism-related internship has become even harder to
time working a paid job to help cover tuition and liv- get in recent years due to shrinking newsroom staffs
ing expenses. Most paid internships, however, prefer and the closure of newspapers (Grieco, 2020). How-
hiring those who already have some previous intern- ever, almost 30% of journalism-related employment
ship experience (Neidorf, 2008). It is thus not sur- in the U.S. is clustered in five metropolitan areas: New
prising that students who work fewer hours at their York City, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Atlanta,
main jobs are more likely to participate in internships and Chicago (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020b).
(Hora et al., 2019). The fact that students can’t afford It is thus unknown whether internship scarcity would
unpaid internships started to become more common become a barrier as well for students in an urban pub-
in the 1990s (Ivanova, 2018). lic university located in one of those five metropoli-
Resistance to the status quo came in 2011, when tan areas. This study then asks the following research
two unpaid interns working on Fox Searchlight Pic- question:
tures’ 2010 film, “Black Swan” filed a lawsuit claim- RQ2: What hinders undergraduate journalism
ing they were treated like regular employees, and thus and public relations students from doing an
they should be paid. The five years of legal maneuver- internship?
ing, which resulted in a win for the interns, had the
causal effect of increased awareness about paying in- Internship Information Acquisition
terns for their efforts (Patten, 2016). But then the U.S. Initiative and motivation are needed to take the first
Department of Labor made it easier to justify unpaid step in applying for an internship. Prior studies found
internships when it updated its Fair Labor Standard that a professional network is more effective in job
Act in January 2018. The new Labor Department rule hunting than a general search on the internet or via a
determined that interns do not need to be paid if the university job hub. College internship advisors either
intern will benefit more from doing the internship introduced them to a job directly or endorsed them
than the company benefits from the student’s work as references (Neidorf, 2008). However, it is still52 • Zheng & Bluestein, Motivating Students to do Internships
unknown whether recent social media and LinkedIn Results
have changed the way students gather intern-related Of the total 112 graduating senior undergraduate
information and hunt for internships. This study, thus, students who completed the survey, 26.79% (n = 30)
produces the following final research question: had a curricular focus in public relations, 39.29% (n =
RQ3: How do undergraduate journalism and 44) were focused on broadcast, 25.89% (n = 29) were
public relations students usually acquire in- focused on print/digital (i.e., newspapers, magazines,
ternship-related information? and websites), and 8.04% (n = 9) were unknown.
Regarding the total number of internships stu-
Methodology dents completed during college, 35.71% (n = 40) stu-
To answer the research questions, a survey was devel- dents had no internship, 30.36% (n = 34) completed
oped and approved by the Institutional Review Board one internship, 22.32% (n = 25) did two internships,
of the authors’ university before data collection began. and 11.61% (n = 13) completed three or more intern-
Pretest: To develop the survey instrument, the authors ships. One-way ANOVA (F = 3.68, df = 2, p < .05)
conducted a pretest in February 2017, by interview- found that public relations students did more intern-
ing 18 undergraduate students in one of the author’s ships (M = 1.63, SD = 1.43) than broadcast students
upper-division public relations classes. The authors (M = .98, SD = .90), and print/digital students (M =
then analyzed the students’ answers, identified major .93, SD = 1.16).
themes, and incorporated them into the survey instru- Among the 72 students who completed intern-
ment that was used in the subsequent three semesters ships during college, 65.28% (n = 47) had an unpaid
(Appendix I). internship, 25.00% (n = 18) did one paid internship,
RQ1 asked students how many internships they and 9.72% (n = 7) did more than one paid internship.
completed during college and whether they were paid Table 1 shows the skills students improved upon
or unpaid. Students were also asked whether they en- during their internship(s), in addition to other en-
rolled in an internship-related course(s) and if not, hanced skills that included networking, social media,
they were asked to explain why. For those who did and professional telephone skills.
an internship(s), they were asked what skills they im- Among those who did at least one internship,
proved upon. 36.11% (n = 26) took the department’s internship
RQ2 asked students without an internship if they course, which counts as three of the 12 required up-
had applied for any internship and if not, why they per-division elective units, and 5.56% (n = 4) enrolled
didn’t apply. For those who applied but didn’t do an in an online internship class offered by the state uni-
internship, they were asked to explain why. versity system.
RQ3 asked students if they were familiar with The 46 students who did an internship(s) but
campus internship resources and how they found in- didn’t take the department’s internship course ex-
formation about internships. And lastly, students were plained why they didn’t enroll. (They could check
asked what internship-related workshop topics they more than one reason): Some did not know about the
preferred. course (30.43%, n = 14), their internship(s) was paid
Data Collection and Analysis: To research undergradu- and thus didn’t feel the need to enroll (13.04%, n = 6),
ate students’ overall college internship experiences, the they didn’t meet the course prerequisites (8.70%, n =
researchers employed the purposive cluster sampling 4), they started their internship too late in the semes-
technique to select a cluster: all senior undergraduate ter (8.70%, n = 4), or they didn’t complete the course
students who were in their final semester of a jour- paperwork (4.35%, n = 2). Other reasons included
nalism program at an urban public university in the “My internship was during summer,” “Internship was
Southwestern region of the United States. in political science,” and “I am not gonna pay for a
Near the end of the Fall 2017, Spring 2018, and class (to do an internship).”
Fall 2018 semesters, the researchers distributed print- Among the 40 students who didn’t do an intern-
ed questionnaires to students in an upper-division ship, 57.50% (n =23) never applied for one, 52.94%
capstone class. Among the total 192 senior graduating (n = 9) applied but weren’t contacted, (17.65%, n = 3)
students over three semesters, 112 students (58.33%) were interviewed but not offered an internship, 5.88%
completed the voluntary survey. The authors em- (n = 1) were offered an internship but rejected it, and
ployed SPSS for data cleaning and analysis. 23.53% (n = 4) had other unspecified reasons. Table 2Teaching Journalism & Mass Communication 11(1), 2021 • 53
shows the reasons why students didn’t apply for any feature writing.
internship. One comment illustrated a student’s mis- Some students said they wanted more support
conception about internship duties: “I don’t believe in from professors and the department. One student,
internships. They just make you get snacks.” who thinks the requirements were confusing, said,
All 112 respondents were asked what internship “The department should make more efforts to support
resources they were aware of and had used (Table 3). us landing an internship.” Others asked for class time
Table 4 shows how students found out about to be devoted to applying for internships under their
internships and other sources including the PRSSA professor’s guidance. Students also wanted help with
(Public Relations Student Society of America) web- resumes, leads on paid internships, and suggestions on
page, and flyers posted in the department’s office, how to follow up on an internship application.
hallways, and classrooms.
Students also ranked the importance of intern- Discussion
ship-related workshop topics: Preparing a resume and By conducting a survey of 112 graduating seniors
cover letter (M = 4.75, SD = .74), prepping for a job in an undergraduate journalism and public relations
interview (M = 4.53, SD = 1.01), succeeding in an in- program in Fall 2017, Spring 2018, and Fall 2018
ternship and first full-time job (M = 4.5, SD = .94), at an urban public university in the Southwestern
seeking internship information (M = 4.42, SD = 1.04), region of the U.S., this study explored undergradu-
and enrolling in the department’s internship course ates’ internship experiences, examined the reasons
(M = 3.8, SD = 1.32). why one-third of them did not complete an intern-
A variety of suggestions for faculty were offered ship during college, and identified the resources they
when students were asked what additional support used to acquire internship-related information. The
the department could have provided. Some sugges- findings generated practical implications for both
tions centered around the course itself, which at this journalism educators in urban public universities that
university is offered as an elective that can only be do not require an internship for degree completion, as
taken once. One student thinks the course should be well as industry professionals, to better motivate and
mandatory. “It will help push students to really look facilitate students to conduct internships.
for an internship,” while another student said they The first research question explored the overall
should be allowed to take the course multiple times internship experience of the 65% of journalism and
(That student missed out on an internship in their last public relations students who did at least one intern-
semester because they had already taken the elective ship during college. The primary “hard skills” students
course and couldn’t afford to enroll in a course at a gained were oral communication, research ability, and
community college). Another student suggested the use of technical equipment and software, which are
prerequisites be removed, which, at this university, are all very practical skills regardless of their future jour-
two semesters of news-writing courses plus a third se- nalism-related profession (Table 1). It is interesting to
mester of either broadcast writing, public relations or notice the low ranking of news/public relations writ-
Table 1. Skills Improved Upon During Internship(s) (n = 112)
Skills Mean SD Skills Mean SD
Working under pressure 4.46 .82 Creativity 4.13 1.05
Time management 4.38 .75 Sensitivity to diversity 4.07 1.02
Oral communication 4.34 .93 Visual communication 4.0 .97
Problem solving 4.22 .90 Ethical decision-making 3.97 1.04
Research abilities 4.21 .99 News/PR writing 3.79 1.23
Use of equipment and Understanding of First
4.17 1.10 3.40 1.13
software Amendment/legal issues
Note. 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree54 • Zheng & Bluestein, Motivating Students to do Internships
ing, which is somewhat consistent with prior research about insufficient intern opportunities being a prob-
(McDonough, et al., 2009). The reason is likely due lem, which is not surprising in an urban area. That
to interns not being given enough opportunities to means journalism scholars should primarily consider
write. At media outlets, interns are commonly con- the nature and location of institutions as a main fac-
ducting research and fact-checking, and if they do get tor in doing future internship-related research. Media
to write, it’s typically a news blurb. At public relations educators and professionals should also develop dif-
agencies, interns might be allowed to write emails and ferent strategies to engage students who are study-
public relations pitches but often don’t get the chance ing and living in different locations in doing future
to write formal news releases. internships.
Journalism and public relations students also How students acquire internship-related infor-
gained many valuable interpersonal “soft skills,” such mation was the focus of the third research question
as enhancing their ability to work under pressure, (Table 4). The most common method was a job-search
time management, and problem solving, which again website. Professors were also common sources of leads
confirms a prior study (McDonough, et al., 2009). on internships, as well as friends, colleagues and fami-
That means, while new media technologies have been ly members. This result is different than prior research
developed quickly in the past decade, the core con- that found personal networks were more effective than
tent, duties, and “take-aways” of journalism-related general internet search (Neidorf, 2008); that could in-
internships haven’t changed much compared to the dicate that job search sites have gradually replaced the
pre-social media era. traditional network-based recruiting, which facilitates
The second research question, which inquired students who have zero intern experience and a weak
about what prevents undergraduate journalism and professional network. It is interesting that LinkedIn,
public relations students from doing an internship. as a novel professional social media platform, did not
Consistent with prior research (Gardner, 2012; Iva- rank among the top three sources, which means while
nova, 2018), the inability to afford to do an unpaid it is a good platform for students to showcase their
internship was the most common reason cited by stu- profiles, it might not be very effective in gathering in-
dents, followed by not having enough time to do an tern information. Perhaps that is because LinkedIn
internship (Table 2). The demographics of this study’s is not as user-friendly as job search sites for employ-
department means that some students work part- ers to share information or because students are not
time, or even full-time jobs to pay for their tuition and aware of the information posted on LinkedIn.
expenses (Pell Grant-eligible students in this depart- To conclude, some undergraduate journalism and
ment totaled 61.63% in Fall 2017, and 56.61% in Fall public relations students are not actively engaged in
2018). Working an unpaid internship is considered a doing internships. That makes those internship-free
luxury for many, who need to be paid for their time students unable to apply the classroom knowledge in
spent away from studies and family responsibilities. practice and thus unable to meet realistic industry ex-
Contrary to previous studies (Hora et al., 2019; pectations after graduation as well (Cole, Hembroff,
Johnson, 2019), this study didn’t find any response & Corner, 2009). By knowing their obstacles and
Table 2. Reasons For Not Applying For An Internship (n = 23)
Reasons n % Reasons n %
Couldn’t afford to do an unpaid 10 43.48% Didn’t understand how to apply 3 13.04%
internship
Didn’t have spare time for an 9 39.13% Couldn’t finish application 2 8.70%
internship materials
Didn’t feel prepared to succeed 9 34.78% Couldn’t afford transportation to 1 4.35%
internship site
Didn’t understand importance 5 21.73% Already working in the field 1 4.35%
of internships
Note. Students could check more than one reasonTeaching Journalism & Mass Communication 11(1), 2021 • 55
Table 3. Awareness of Internship-Related Resources (n = 112)
Heard About And Ever
Never Heard
On Campus Internship-related Resources Heard About It Sought Information Or
About It
Assistance From It
n % n % n %
Department’s Weekly Newsletter 56 50% 33 29.46 18 16.07
Department’s Social Media 45 40.18% 44 39.29% 19 16.96%
Department’s Internship Workshops 31 27.68% 59 52.68% 17 15.18%
University Career Center 7 6.25% 70 62.50% 29 25.89%
Table 4. Sources Used to Get Leads On Internships (n = 112)
Sources n % Sources n %
Job-search website 53 47.32% Guest speaker 18 16.07%
Department’s weekly news-
Professor(s) 42 37.50% 14 12.50%
letter
Friend, colleague, or family
38 33.93% University Career Center 12 10.71%
member
Company’s website or social
37 33.03% Department’s social media 7 6.25%
media
LinkedIn 29 25.89%
Note. Students could check more than one sources
information acquisition behaviors, both journalism to increase publicity on behalf of “convenient” clients,
educators and media professionals could adapt their such as a friend’s or relative’s family-run business, a
teaching and working routines to facilitate and en- religious institution, and/or a cause they care about.
gage students in doing internships, by considering the Perhaps students will be more motivated to provide
following practical implications. free services for their own publications or people they
know or admire.
Practical Implications for Journalism Educators Surprisingly, several students reflected that they
A work-around to combat the dearth of paid intern- were willing to do a “cool” internship with trendy
ships, suggests that journalism educators should YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok influencers, even if it
primarily tell students in the early stage of college was unpaid. That suggests educators should encourage
that they might need to start with an unpaid intern- students to integrate their true passions into intern-
ship before they can move on to paid internship. ships and also adapt their school’s internship crite-
Students then should be advised to put aside money ria to current pop culture, rather than sticking to the
early in their college career so they can afford to do old-fashioned requirements of students doing intern-
at least one unpaid internship during college, much ships in a newsroom or a public relations agency.
like creating an “internship nest egg” that they can tap Given the lack of spare time was another major
into when they do an unpaid internship or pay for an reason hindering students from applying for intern-
internship class. ships, educators should encourage students to look for
Another possible solution to combat the inability internships on/around campus, in the local commu-
of some students to do an unpaid internship is to en- nity, or for remote internships to save travel time and
courage journalism students to self-publish on blogs expenses. When most in-person internships shifted
or social media as a way of building up their resume to a remote arrangement during the COVID-19 pan-
credentials, and encourage public relations students demic, internship advisors were forced to reconsid-56 • Zheng & Bluestein, Motivating Students to do Internships
er their internship criteria and, oftentimes, be more per, broadcast, and public relations.
accepting of remote internships. If remote intern-
ships become more plentiful – and acceptable – in a Practical Implications for Media Employers
post-pandemic world, then students in smaller cities Knowing a lack of spare time for an internship ranked
will have more opportunities if they are allowed to as the second most-important reason for not apply-
do a remote internship. Thus, this study will be more ing, media employers should thus be more flexible in
applicable to them, too. scheduling internship opportunities in spring and fall
Additionally, journalism educators should pay to avoid possible schedule conflicts, and provide more
more attention to newspaper and broadcast students, full-time summer internships. Robust remote intern-
since they fall significantly behind their public rela- ships should be created to allow students with time
tions peers in doing internships. Perhaps newspaper and/or transportation issues to do an internship from
and broadcast students over-rely on student-run cam- home. If an employer can find the budget to pay an
pus media in lieu of a formal internship. Educators intern, they should because they will likely attract a
should emphasize the benefits that students can gain higher caliber of applicants and those chosen might
from real internships but can’t obtain from working be more reliable, loyal, and dedicated.
in student-run media, such as networking opportu- Besides posting ads on a company’s website and
nities and the access to other professional resources. various job search websites, media employers should
Also, media employers might consider campus media try to schedule a college visit to speak about their in-
experience as a required class activity, rather than real ternship offerings and to talk about their expectations.
professional experience. If they aren’t able to travel to campus, they could cre-
Taking a closer look at students’ sources of gath- ate a short informational video to be shown in cer-
ering intern-related information, while none of the tain classes to spark discussion. Employers are also
official educational sources (department newsletter, encouraged to use trendy social media, like LinkedIn,
department workshops, or university career center) to recruit from the younger generation. Finally, em-
ranked among the top three, “professors” ranked as ployers need to be more aware of academic calendars
top two in this survey. That means professors and in- so their recruitment efforts coincide with semester or
ternship advisers should increase their efforts to alert quarter start/end dates. Looking for an intern to be-
students of specific internship opportunities, free gin in the middle of the semester is unproductive for
campus services, and the internship class that allows both students and employers.
students to earn course units.
Besides regular announcements in class, media Limitations and Future Study
educators should also offer internship-related work- While contributing insightful ideas, this study had
shops since some other popular reasons for not ap- several limitations. Firstly, this study focused on only
plying for an internship was that students “didn’t feel one university’s academic program that does not con-
prepared to succeed,” “didn’t understand the impor- tain advertising nor marketing courses. Although the
tance of an internship,” and “didn’t understand how findings can apply to urban universities and colleges
to apply.” Also a few students said their GPA was too that do not require an internship for degree comple-
low to get a recommendation letter from a professor, tion, the sample size is not big enough to represent
but it might be too late for them to improve their a broader population of American undergraduate
grades. That means even for graduating senior under- journalism and public relations students. It is also
graduates, students differ a lot in terms of the intern- unknown to what degree the COVID-19 pandemic
ship progress. Therefore, educators should develop and the increasingly popular work-from-home rou-
different internship topics targeting students who tine have changed the general media landscape and
don’t care about internships, students who are pre- specific requirements of college interns. Therefore,
paring application materials and interviews, students future studies should consider replicating this sur-
who have problems registering for the internship vey in more journalism and public relations programs
course, and students who already have an internship across the United States, including both public and
and want to thrive there. Educators should also con- private schools.
sider developing workshops specialized for different According to recent informal discussions with
majors, considering the different routines of newspa- the authors’ colleagues at peer institutions, at oneTeaching Journalism & Mass Communication 11(1), 2021 • 57
university that does not require an internship, 43% to fact-tank/2020/04/20/u-s-newsroom- employ-
49.4% of journalism students completed an intern- ment-has-dropped-by-a-quarter-since-2008/
ship during the three semesters of this study; however, Hilt, M. L., & Lipschultz, J. H. (1996). Broadcast
at another university, after an internships were made newsroom hiring and career preparation. Jour-
compulsory, the number of students who took an in- nalism & Mass Communication Educator, 51(1),
ternship class increased from about 20 each semester 36-43. doi:10.1177/107769589605100105
when it was optional to 68-96 students each semes- Hora, M, Chen, Z., Parrott, E., & Her, P. (2019).
ter after it was required. Future research should also Problematizing college internships: Exploring
examine whether a mandatory internship course can issues with access, program design, and develop-
actually improve students’ internship experience and mental outcomes in three U.S. colleges. (WCER
benefit their future careers, and whether it should be Working Paper No. 2019-1). Retrieved from
included in the journalism curriculum. University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin
Also, this study’s sample size and descriptive Center for Education Research website: http://
questions could not test the correlational relationships www.wcer.wisc.edu/publications/working-papers
among different variables. Future examination could Ivanova, I. (2018). It’s now easier for businesses not
conduct a longitudinal study to measure the correla- to pay interns, so one company started a shaming
tional relationships among student demographics, campaign. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/its-
motivations, expectations, and benefits that students now-easier-for-businesses-not-to-pay-interns-
gain from their overall internship experience. so-one-company-started-a-shaming-campaign/
Johnson, C. G. (2020). Evaluating the barriers to
completing a college internship: A senior honors
References project, Honors College at East Carolina Uni-
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Beard, F., & Morton, L. (1998). Effects of internship Neidorf, S. M. (2008). Wanted: A first job in
predictors on successful field experience. Jour- journalism—An exploration of factors that
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Daugherty, E. L. (2011). The public relations in- Mass Communication Educator, 63(1), 56-65.
ternship experience: A comparison of student doi:10.1177/107769580806300105
and site supervisor perspectives. Public Relations McDonough, K., Rodriguez, L., & Prior-Mill-
Review, 37(5), 470-477. er, M. R. (2009). A comparison of student
Folkerts, J. (2014). History of journalism education. interns and supervisors regarding intern-
Journalism & Communication Monographs, 16(4), ship performance ratings. Journalism & Mass
227-299. doi:10.1177/1522637914541379 Communication Educator, 64(2), 139-155.
Gardner, P. (2012). Reaction on campus to intern- doi:10.1177/107769580906400202
ship controversy. Retrieved from: http://www. Madison, E. (2014). Training digital age journal-
ceri.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ ists: Blurring the distinction between stu-
Reaction-on- Campus-to-the-Unpaid-Intern- dents and professionals. Journalism & Mass
ship-Controversy-Whitepaper.pdf Communication Educator, 69(3), 314-324.
Granger, B. (1974). Review of A Sweet Instruction: doi:10.1177/1077695814532926
Franklin’s Journalism as a Literary Apprentice- Patten, D. (2016, July 12). Fox Settles “Black Swan”
ship, by James A. Sappenfield, Early American Interns Lawsuit After Five Years. Deadline
Literature, 9, 204-05. Hollywood. Accessed from http://deadline.
Grieco, E. (2020). U.S. newspapers have shed half com/2016/07/black-swan-intern-lawsuit-fox-
of their newsroom employees since 2008. Pew settles-1201785666/
Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/ Riley, S.G. (1983). Some student assessments58 • Zheng & Bluestein, Motivating Students to do Internships
of newspaper internships. Journalism & Appendix I.
Mass Communication Educator, 38(1), 8-10. Internship Survey for Journ 498 Students
doi:10.1177/107769588303800102
Rosenstiel, T., Ivancin, M., Loker, K., Lacy, S., Son- Q1. What practicum class did you take?
derman, J. & Yaeger, K. (2015). Journalism and Public Relations Agency___ Broadcast Station___
communication grads’ experiences with school, Newspaper____
student media, and internships. American Press
Institute. https://www.americanpressinstitute. Q2. How many internships did you have in total
org/publications/reports/survey- research/educa- during college, including any internships you’re cur-
tion-student-media-internships/ rently doing this semester?
Schabel, D. (2014). Promote yourself: The new rules for 0 (Skip to Q8)_____ 1_____ 2_____ 3______
career success. St. Martin’s Griffin. More than 3, specify_____
Senat, J., Ketterer, S., & McGuire, J. (2020). Between
a rock and a hard place: Attitudes and practic- Q3. How many of your internships were paid?
es of mass communication programs regard- __________
ing unpaid student internships. Journalism &
Mass Communication Educator, 75(2), 177-195. Q4. What did you improve upon from your intern-
doi:10.1177/1077695819882565 ship(s)? (1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neutral, 4=Agree,
Skowronski, W. (2009). Priceless? Fewer newspa- 5=Strongly Agree)
pers are offering paid internships to journalism 1 2 3 4 5
students. American Journalism Review, 31(2),
16+. https://link-gale- com.libproxy.csun.edu/ News/PR writing
apps/doc/A199122134/EAIM? u=csunorth- Visual communication
ridge&sid=EAIM&xid=3b22b9e3 Oral communication
Tsymbal, N. A., Savchuk, N. M., Avramenko, V. I., Use of equipment and
Sichkar, S. A., & Denysiuk, I. A. (2020). Mass software
media internships in vocational training of Research abilities
students majoring in journalism. International Time Management
Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Ability to work under
Research, 19(6), 238-250. pressure
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020a). Occu- Problem solving
pational outlook handbook: Reporters, cor- Creativity
respondents, and broadcast news analysts. Sensitivity to diversity
Retrieved from: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
Ethical decision-making
media-and-communication/reporters-correspon-
Understanding of First
dents-and-broadcast-news-analysts.htm#tab-1
Amendment/legal issues
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020b). Occupa-
tional Employment and Wages, May 2020. Re- Other skill, please specify
trieved from: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/
oes273023.htm#(1)
Valencia-Forrester, F. (2020). Models of work-in- Q5. Did you enroll in the CSU Entertainment Ini-
tegrated learning in journalism education. tiative online class (an internship class provided by
Journalism Studies, 21(5), 697-712. doi: the university system)?
10.1080/1461670X.2020.1719875 Yes____ No_____
Wexler, E. (2016). Paying to work: New twist
in the debate over unpaid internships and Q6. Did you take the Journ 494 AEE/BEE (an
whether colleges should charge tuition for upper-division journalism internship course)?
them. https://www.insidehighered.com/ Yes (Skip to Q11)____ No_____
news/ 2016/05/17when-students- pay-tui-
tion-work-unpaid-internshipsTeaching Journalism & Mass Communication 11(1), 2021 • 59
Q7. Why didn’t you take Journ 494? Check all that
apply: Q12. In general, how did you find out the internship
Didn’t know about the class information? Check all that apply.
Didn’t meet the prerequisite(s) From a job searching website
Didn’t finish the paperwork From LinkedIn
Started internship too late in semester From the company’s website or social media
My internship was paid and thus I didn’t feel I From a professor
needed the class From a guest speaker
Other, please specify___________________ From a friend, colleague, or family member
From the Journalism Department’s Weekly News-
Q8. If you didn’t do any internship, did you apply to letter
any internships? From the Journalism Department’s social media
Yes (Skip to Q10)____ No______ From University Career Center
Other, please specify____________________
Q9. Why didn’t you apply to any internship? Check
all that apply. Q13. Please indicate the importance of the follow-
Didn’t know of any internship opportunity ing workshop topics to you (1=Not Important at All,
Didn’t understand the importance of internship 2=Somewhat Unimportant, 3=Neutral, 4= Somewhat Important
5=Very Important)
Didn’t understand how to apply
Couldn’t finish the application materials 1 2 3 4 5
Didn’t feel prepared to be successful at any intern-
ship How to seek internship information
Couldn’t afford to do an unpaid internship How to prepare my resume and
Couldn’t afford the transportation cover letter
Didn’t have the spare time to do an internship How to prepare for my job interview
Already working in the field so I don’t need an
internship How to succeed in my internship
Don’t plan to go into journalism or PR after I grad- and my first full-time job
uate How to enroll in Journ 494 AEE/
Other, please specify ___________________ BEE
Other, please specify
Q10. If you applied but didn’t do an internship, what
was the reason?
A. Wasn’t contacted by the company Q14. What else could the Journalism Department
B. Interviewed, but wasn’t offered an internship have done to help your internships?
C. Was offered an internship but I rejected it
D. Other, please specify_________________________
Q11. Are you familiar with the following services?
Heard about
Never Heard
and ever sought
heard about
information or
about it it
assistance from it
Journalism De-
partment’s Weekly
Newsletter
Journalism Depart-
ment’s Social Media
Journalism Depart-
ment’s Internship
Workshops
University Career
Center60 • Zheng & Bluestein, Motivating Students to do Internships Yue Zheng, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Cal- ifornia State University, Northridge, Department of Journalism. Zheng’s teaching and research interests pri- marily explore strategic communications, with a focus on nonprofit public relations, new media technologies, and international communications. Before she earned her Ph.D. in Mass Communications from the University of South Carolina in August 2016, she obtained her B.A. in Journalism from Renmin University of China in June 2008 and then obtained her M.S. in Journalism and Mass Communications as well as a statistics minor from Iowa State University in May 2012. Stephanie Bluestein, Ed.D., is an associate professor at the California State University, Northridge, Department of Journalism. Bluestein’s teaching and research interests primarily explore journalism pedagogy, internships, ac- ademic integrity, and mid-20th century journalism. She earned all of her degrees from California State Univer- sity, Northridge: a B.A. in Journalism in May 1988; her M.A. in Mass Communication in December 2007, and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership in May 2012. © Yue Zheng and Stephanie Bluestein 2021. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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