Understudied and Unexamined Facets of Work-Related Experiential Opportunities

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Although internships and similar work-related experiential activities are among “the most influential ideas shaping higher education today” (Wolfgram & Ahrens, 2022, p. 139), there is much we do not know about these experiences and their outcomes. In this session, presenters offer diverse and nuanced perspectives on understudied or unexamined facets of work-related experiential activities (WREAs). Together, papers feature understudied or unexamined student populations (i.e., doctoral and post-traditional students), modalities (i.e., remote WREAs), and restrictions to access to these opportunities (i.e., geographic locale). Relevant to the conference theme, papers also interrogate assumptions undergirding existing research on WREAs (e.g., that work-related experiential opportunities are universally beneficial and are accessible to students from all places, particularly given an increased reliance on remote opportunities).

Sub Unit

• SIG-Workplace Learning

Chair

• Collin Case, University of Georgia

Papers

• Flexibility at What Cost? Multiple Stakeholder Perceptions of Remote Work-Related Experiential Activities - Amy Elizabeth Stich, University of Georgia; Collin Case, University of Georgia; Karen L. Webber, University of Georgia; Matthew Grandstaff

• The Value of Work-Related Experiential Activities During College: Comparing Traditional Versus Post-Traditional Students - Kyoungjin Jang-Tucci, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Amelia McCarthy; Hoyun Kim, University of California - Berkeley

• College Intern Labor Markets: Unequal Access and Distribution - Jared D. Colston, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Exploring Doctoral Student Experiences in Low-Bandwidth Project-Based Internships - Andrew Crain, University of Missouri

Discussant

• Matthew Wolfgram, University of Wisconsin - Madison