Blogs (4) >>
Thu 21 Mar 2024 10:45 - 11:10 at Meeting Room E145 - Industry and Internships Chair(s): Daniela Marghitu

The demand for skilled workers in computing fields continues to outpace the supply of qualified students. Despite the need, hiring can be a challenging process, both for employers seeking prospective employees and for students who may be unsure where to apply, daunted by technical interviews, and/or feeling the effects of imposter phenomena. In this experience report, we describe a program established to reduce some of these hurdles by pairing (n = 63) undergraduate students with (n = 7) companies to offer short-term computing internships, called a “Sprinternship.” Sprinternships eliminated the hurdle of technical interviews, provided students with training beforehand to offer foundational knowledge, and placed them in teams to work on challenge projects. We describe the details of the program and our investigation of its impact. Social Cognitive Career Theory guided the inquiry as we took a mixed-methods approach to understand the students’ experiences and the potential impact on their self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and career goals. Quantitative analysis revealed a statistically significant increase in students’ confidence in computing, something echoed in their open-ended responses. Thematic analysis further yielded that Sprinternships were meaningful in two major areas: Goals and Learning Experiences. The program aided in students’ self-discovery, made them feel accomplished, and strengthened their industry ambitions. Responses also yielded insight into positive and negative programmatic aspects to consider for future iterations. We hope that our description of the Sprinternships, findings, and recommendations can be useful to other practitioners looking to engage students with practical learning and enhance their graduate employability.

Thu 21 Mar

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10:45 - 12:00
Industry and InternshipsPapers at Meeting Room E145
Chair(s): Daniela Marghitu
10:45
25m
Talk
Foot in the Door: Developing Opportunities for Computing Undergraduates to Gain Industry ExperienceMSI
Papers
Nimmi Arunachalam Florida International University, Stephanie Lunn Florida International University, Mark Weiss Florida International University, Jason Liu Florida International University, Giri Narasimhan Florida International University
DOI
11:10
25m
Talk
Industry Mentoring and Internship Experiences at a Community College Baccalaureate Program in Software DevelopmentMSI
Papers
Kendrick Hang Green River College, Tyler Schrock Green River College, Tina Ostrander Green River College, Roseann Berg Green River College, Tyler Menezes CodeDay, Kevin Wang Mentors in Tech
DOI
11:35
25m
Talk
Institutional Perspectives on Formal Work-Based Learning Programs in the UKGlobal
Papers
Jack Parkinson University of Glasgow, Sebastian Dziallas University of the Pacific
DOI