Internships play a crucial role in shaping students’ insight into future employability. The need to gain insight into internship experiences from a student perspective related to career development is receiving increasing attention in current literature. Despite growing interest in this research topic, there is currently no clear conceptualization of internship experience. Studies remain fragmented and focus on different antecedents and outcomes of the internship experience. This makes it difficult to capture the internship experience and to understand how it fits into students’ career development.
To address this gap, a configurative systematic literature review of 204 empirical (qualitative and quantitative) articles was conducted. The review had two aims: (1) to conceptualize the internship experience, and (2), to map its antecedents and outcomes. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) was used as a theoretical lens to interpret the findings.
Five categories emerged from different conceptualizations of the internship experience: cognitive processes, attitudes, outcomes, emotions, and behavior. These categories suggest a process-based examination of the internship experiences. Using SCCT as a framework, antecedents and outcomes were mapped out, showing that support elements are well researched, while important gaps remain for further study.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first configurative systematic review to conceptualize the internship experience broadly from student perspectives using SCCT. It offers an integrated model to guide future empirical and theoretical research on internships and career development.
