Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to provide a comprehensive understanding of what employers perceive their role to be in developing student learning and skills development. Employers who place and participate in an internship program for an undergraduate student will be interviewed to understand their perceptions and the implementation of an internship program at their agencies.Methodology. The study employed a qualitative research methodology to describe the perception of employers in their role in skill development of student interns. Data was gathered quantitatively through semi-structured interviews and utilized purposeful sampling to identify participants who work directly and supervise undergraduate interns.Findings. The participant's definition of internships as educational based, hands-on learning opportunities for student interns to develop skills in a career of interest, aligning with the fact that all participants primarily recruit interns from universities directly. Participants believed that interns' contribution to their agency is vital in increasing productivity and building capacity within their organizations. Communication and public speaking were the two main skills developed during internships based on the participants' experience. Communication skills include: written, verbal, and electronic communication. Lastly, while all participants have not received any training in supervising interns, they identified providing weekly feedback for interns as an essential task in supporting skill development. While only five of ten participants aligned their leadership strategies with the research on transformational leadership.Conclusions. Student interns' contributions are essential to an organizations ability to increase productivity and increase an agency's ability to deliver services to clients. While none of the participants identified have attended trainings that have supported the participants' ability to supervise interns, they identified strategies that encourage student learning and skill development. Thus, it is important to acknowledge that while participants understood internships to be educationally based, hands on experiences, employers' acknowledged time as a limitation in further supporting student interns.Recommendations. The study was limited to ten participants and their experiences supervising interns. Future studies may replicate this study with a larger sample size that includes a variety of organization types, to provide results that are more generalizable. Future studies could also examine the perception of interns as to the role that employers play in their skill development process.