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Technology Internships Prove Flexible, Resilient, and Critical During COVID

At a Glance

This research is about how one community college preserved and strengthened their technology internships during COVID with commitment and creativity. Although the college, employers, and students faced technical, logistical, and supervisory challenges in maintaining technology internships through the pandemic, the college was committed to ensuring their resilience because they were required for graduation. As a result, many interns had opportunities to gain new skills related to navigating virtual work arrangements. In addition, employers drew on interns to fill staffing shortages and internships continued to serve as a key bridge to technology employment during the pandemic.

Published jul. 26, 2022

Contributors

Lois Joy
Director, Research
Matthew Longo
Senior Program Manager

Fran O’Reilly, Senior Researcher, JFF
Angela Estacion, Senior Research Manager, WestEd

Capabilites

Design

When COVID disrupted education and work, one community college proved that work-based learning can thrive if administrators and employers are willing to get creative.

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A three-year study that JFF conducted for the National Science Foundation shows that community college technology internships can be effective bridges to employment for postsecondary students. The research showed that when internships were required for graduation students were much more likely to participate. But for internships to be effective, community colleges need to put structures in place to support, guide, and engage both students and employers. This is more likely to occur when the internships are required.

Research and Analytics

Impact Story

Research and Analytics

Design

Invest

Influence

Scale

The stakes are high for programs and policies that transform our nation’s systems of working and learning. You need to ask the right questions, collect the right data, and conduct the right analyses to know what works and how to improve.  

JFF’s Research & Analytics Unit combines deep field knowledge with rigorous and systematic inquiry to create strong evidence that can be put into action.