Assessing the Influence of Internship Rationale, Entity, and Duration on Professional Skills and Personal Growth of Business-Related Undergraduate Students in the Philippines

The increased competitiveness in the employment landscape has led to the growing inclination of university students to take up internships. Previous studies suggested that the rationale for engagement, type of organization, and duration are significant aspects of internships. However, research on the impacts of these factors on the professional skills growth and personal growth of interns remain scant, especially in the Philippine setting. Hence, responses from 200 undergraduate students taking up business-related programs in four Philippine universities were gathered via an online survey. Findings in this study indicate that students who did internships in multinational corporations had more professional skills growth than those who did internships at other types of organizations. Meanwhile, those who rendered more than 6 months in an internship had more personal growth than those who rendered less than 6 months. Professional skills growth were also found to be correlated with personal growth. The findings could guide business schools in designing and revising curricula and internship programs.