Content area
Adolescence is a critical time for career exploration, and internships are a common tool to promote career development. Yet, few researchers have examined their impact on participants. In this study, we conducted a qualitative case study with adolescent participants (N = 19) in the City of Charlotte's Mayor's Youth Employment Program (MYEP), a city-sponsored paid summer internship program. We explored the experiences of participants in the MYEP and found that participants all reported that their internship experiences were beneficial and their career training prior to the internship was helpful. Most participants noted that positive supervisor and coworker relationships were part of their internship experiences, and all participants stated that their internships impacted their future career decisions. Some participants also described their internship program as having poor communication. We provide implications for these findings, as well as recommendations for future research on the topic.
Keywords: adolescents | career development | case study | internships
ABSTRACT
Adolescence is a critical time for career exploration, and internships are a common tool to promote career development. Yet, few researchers have examined their impact on participants. In this study, we conducted a qualitative case study with adolescent participants (N = 19) in the City of Charlotte's Mayor's Youth Employment Program (MYEP), a city-sponsored paid summer internship program. We explored the experiences of participants in the MYEP and found that participants all reported that their internship experiences were beneficial and their career training prior to the internship was helpful. Most participants noted that positive supervisor and coworker relationships were part of their internship experiences, and all participants stated that their internships impacted their future career decisions. Some participants also described their internship program as having poor communication. We provide implications for these findings, as well as recommendations for future research on the topic.
1 | Introduction
Adolescence is a critical time for career development and exploration, as they grapple with self-discovery and finding their purpose in life (Damodar et al. 2024). This pivotal time is often characterized by the successful or unsuccessful development of self-efficacy, career exploration, and career formation (Gushue etal. 2006; Kalchick and Oertle 2010; Merlin-Knoblich et al. 2022). Research since COVID-19 has suggested that the global pandemic exacerbated adolescents' anxiety about life beyond high school, resulting in heightened anxiety about their career development (Kenny et al. 2024; OECD 2021). Thus, adolescents are at a vulnerable time for support in their career development.
Internships are one common tool to support adolescent career development (Binder et al. 2015). However, despite their prevalence across work sectors and populations, researchers have conducted little research on the impacts of internships (Ashworth etal. 2024; Gamboa etal. 2021; Merlin-Knoblich et al. 2022). Moreover, recent research has criticized the use of unpaid internships to support adolescent or young adult career development, leading to logical questions about the supposed value of paid internships for these populations (Grant-Smith and McDonald 2017; Jacobson and Shade 2018; Leonard et al. 2016). Moreover, only one research article has been published about a city-sponsored paid summer internship program, despite such programs existing in dozens of cities across the United States (see Merlin-Knoblich et al. 2022).
City-sponsored paid summer internship programs differ from other paid internship programs because of their city government hosts. These hosts are funded by taxpayer dollars, meaning that city residents are supporting the internship programs' infrastructures and staffing, whereas other internship programs are hosted by individual corporations or nonprofit organizations. Moreover, city-sponsored internship programs typically develop partnerships with a range of internship hosts in a variety of work environments, rather than just one work sector, which can be the case in corporate or nonprofit internship programs (City of Charlotte 2024). Moreover, city-sponsored internship programs typically can access a diverse and comprehensive range of potential interns due to their partnerships with local school districts. For example, Charlotte's Mayor's Youth Employment Program (MYEP) is promoted to students in all 35 district high schools via their career development coordinators and school counselors (City of Charlotte 2024). Given this vast access to students, city-sponsored internship programs like the MYEP can attract a diverse body of interns to which other internship programs may not have access.
Considering both the lack of research on city-sponsored paid internships, as well as conflicting research about internship value, more research is needed. In this study, we sought to understand how, if at all, paid summer internship programs impact the adolescents who complete them. We did so using a qualitative case study about the City of Charlotte's MYEP.
1.1 | The Ubiquity and Impact of Internships
Jacobson and Shade (2018) asserted that internships are now "the obligatory norm" among young people (p. 320). Since the late 1980s, a culture of internships has evolved to seemingly provide meaningful, experiential experiences to adolescents and young adults (Jacobson and Shade 2018; Gamboa et al. 2021; Mirrlees 2015). Though no found research indicates how many high school students complete internships, many colleges now embed internships in their programs of study to support students (Downs et al. 2023; Jackson and Rowe 2023), and the NACE (2024) found that more than two thirds of college students completed an internship.
Though research on paid internships is limited, existing findings indicate that paid interns spend more time on meaningful work instead of administrative tasks compared to unpaid interns (Perlin 2012). Paid interns also receive more job offers than unpaid interns or people who do not complete internships (NACE 2024). Furthermore, college graduates who completed paid internships have a significantly higher starting salary than college graduates who had unpaid internships or no internships (NACE 2024). Internship experiences can differ for everyone, however, and when interns perceive theirinternships as being of higher quality, they are more likely to report significant gains in their career exploration behaviors (Gamboa et al. 2021).
Research on internships for adolescents and young adults indicates that internships can promote career development and transitions to work (Binder et al. 2015; Gamboa et al. 2021; Merlin-Knoblich et al. 2022). For example, in a study of 17 high school seniors who completed workplace internships, researchers found that students described their internships as cultivating both hard skills and soft skills (Kenny et al. 2024). Hard skills included technical and vocational skills needed in their internship sites, such as art skills, business skills, or computer skills. The soft skills they reported learning were interest discovery, awareness of self, awareness of others, career awareness, and self-management (Kenny et al. 2024). In addition, some participants reported that although their internships did not match their career interests, the experience helped to refine their career interests (Kenny et al. 2024). Moreover, in a notable longitudinal study conducted with former interns 6 years after completing a youth work internship, participants (N = 54) rated their internships as important for cultivating both personal and professional career competencies and positively impacting their career development (Silliman et al. 2020).
Research in the last decade on the impact of internships has centered around specific internship experiences for special populations, including individuals in rural areas (Ricket et al. 2023), unattached youth (Hull et al. 2018), formerly incarcerated Black men (Lea III et al. 2023), and autistic young adults (Ashworth etal. 2024). Despite these different populations, researchers found commonality across these studies as interns reported positive experiences and impacts, including the development of soft skills (Lea III et al. 2023; Ricket et al. 2023) and confidence (Ashworth et al. 2024; Lea Ш et al. 2023). For example, when Ashworth and colleagues (2024) studied the experiences of autistic young adults (N = 51) in paid internships, their participants reported that the internships were invaluable and helped to break down employment barriers (Ashworth et al. 2024). Hull and colleagues (2018) also found that workplace skills and career self-efficacy (CSE) were significantly increased among youth participants (N = 785) in a 6-month paid internship program in Jamaica. High school students in rural internships (N = 25) further reported that their internships helped them build social capital through guidance from mentors (Ricket et al. 2023). Overall, these studies demonstrate the potential value of internships on participants, as do related programs like out-of-school enrichment and workforce development programs, described next.
1.2 | Related Programming
Although internships serve as a primary tool for cultivating adolescent career development, additional resources exist for doing so, which have been studied more expansively. Out-of-school enrichment programs and workforce development programs, including those held after school and during the summer, often provide a means for adolescents to explore career interests and develop positive career plans and attitudes. Goerlich Zief et al. (2006) conducted a systematic review of experimental studies about the impact of afterschool programs on youth. They found that such programs result in improved social, academic, emotional, and behavioral outcomes for youth, which can influence positive career development (Goerlich Zief et al. 2006). In more recent research, McCombs and colleagues (2019) conducted a comprehensive review of summer programs for youth and identified that a summer job program in New York City for low-income urban youth resulted in improved participant engagement in school and improved academic performance, which in turn can support career development. Another nonprofit summer jobs program in Chicago was associated with decreased violent crime arrests among its participants, also holding promise for improved career outcomes (McCombs et al. 2019). Researchers have further found that workforce development programs targeting specific careers, such as STEM, improve career readiness among adolescents (Mitchell-Hawkins and Mellon 2022). Research on these afterschool and workforce development programs lends additional support to the value of internships in promoting positive career development for adolescents.
1.3 | Current Study
Despite the promising research findings about internships and related programming, a gap remains in the literature in understanding the experiences of high school students in a city-sponsored paid summer internship program. The citysponsored paid summer internship program is nearly universal. Dozens of US cities host paid summer internship programs at an extensive logistical cost to each city government. Yet, despite the prevalence of the city-sponsored paid summer internship program, minimal research exists on the supposed value of such an internship model.
Only one found research study to date has explored such a program when Merlin-Knoblich et al. (2022) quantitatively examined MYEP participants' (N = 95) CSE and career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) using a retroactive survey approach. Such self-efficacy constructs are important to understand in career development given their associations with other meaningful career development constructs, including positive relationships with emotional intelligence, employability, subjective well-being, and life satisfaction (Yiming et al. 2024; Zhou et al. 2023). MerlinKnoblich and colleagues found that participation in the City of Charlotte's MYEP summer internship was associated with statistically significant increases in CSE and CDSE after internship completion. However, participant CSE and CDSE did not continue to increase significantly six months after internships. These results suggested potential benefits of a large-scale paid summer internship program like the MYEP, but further research is needed to expand confidence in such results. Merlin-Knoblich et al. (2022) called for qualitative research to accompany quantitative research and expand an understanding of the supposed benefits of city-sponsored paid summer internships for adolescents. In this study, we sought to answer this call.
The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of participants in the MYEP. Further, we sought to gain insight into participants' perceptions of the MYEP process and the potential impact of the internship experience on the participants. The guiding research question was: what are the experiences of participants in the MYEP?
2 | Methods
We utilized a qualitative case study methodology for this study. This research approach is used to examine the narrative experiences of one or more individuals related to a specific event or program (Hancock et al. 2021). We chose this method for this study because we explored participants' experiences in a single case, the MYEP, using semistructured narrative interviews. In qualitative case study research, it is paramount to identify the boundaries of the case (Yin 2017). In our study, the case was bounded by time (Summer 2022), place (the Charlotte metropolitan area), and people (MYEP participants). Given the experiences of participants in the single case we sought to study, case study research was the most appropriate methodology to use (Hancock et al. 2021; Yin 2017).
21 | Psychology of Working Theory (PWT)
We used the PWT as the theoretical framework in this study. PWT posits that access to quality, satisfying work is informed by economic inequities, social marginalization, and various conditions across one's lifespan (Blustein 2006; Kenny et al. 2024). When people encounter marginalization and economic limitations, their psychological resources are restricted, which, in turn, negatively impacts their ability to pursue quality work (Blustein 2006; Kenny et al. 2024). PWT further holds that social support, critical consciousness, and proactiveness can serve as protective factors to aid people in finding meaningful work (Kenny et al. 2024; Masdonati et al. 2021). Although PWT was established as a framework for understanding the career development of adults and college students (Blustein et al. 2019; Duffy et al. 2022), recent researchers also validated the approach with adolescents (Kenny et al. 2022; Kenny et al. 2024) and married the relevance of PWT with the school-to-work transition, a key time in adolescent and young adult career development when people move from education toward the labor market (Masdonati et al. 2021).
We chose PWT as the theoretical lens through which we could understand how participants journeyed to access quality, satisfying work amid the economic, social, and lifespan conditions in their lives (Kenny et al. 2024). Although no found research has used PWT to study adolescents in city-sponsored internship experiences, we believe PWT is highly relevant to understanding such experiences, as the adolescents in such internships often face economic inequities and possible social marginalization. Moreover, internships can provide the social support, critical consciousness, and proactive development that serve as protective factors for meaningful work (Kenny et al. 2024; Masdonati et al. 2021).
2.2 | MYEP
Government leaders in the City of Charlotte founded the MYEP in 1986 to support youth in attaining upward mobility (City of Charlotte 2024). The goal of the MYEP is to provide equitable career development opportunities to adolescents, to help participants explore the world of work, to build social capital, and to enhance economic mobility (MYEP 2022). MYEP leaders accomplish this goal primarily through their 6-week summer internship program. Prior to completing their internships, all MYEP participants attend a 1-day training on career development topics, such as résumé writing and professional communication skills, hosted by MYEP staff. MYEP participants rank-order their preferences for work environment categories when they apply to the program, then are assigned to internship hosts in the Charlotte metropolitan area that best align with their career interests and the availability of suitable internship sites. Sites include large banks, small trade businesses, school district offices, nonprofit organizations, marketing firms, summer programs for children, museums, and other settings.
Given the use of PWT to frame this study, it is essential to understand the socioeconomic and social context of the participants in Charlotte's MYEP. Charlotte is the 15th most populous city in the United States and the most populous city in North Carolina (US Census Bureau 2024). Twenty-three percent of Charlotte residents are under 18 years old. Its racial and ethnic demographics are diverse; 34.1% of residents are Black, 17.0% of residents are Hispanic/Latinx, 41.5% of residents are White, 0.4% of residents are American Indian/Alaska Native, 6.4% of residents are Asian, and 8.9% of residents identify as two or more races. Only 51.5% of Charlotte residents live in owner-occupied housing, and 23.4% of residents live in homes in which a language other than English is spoken. Nearly 12% of residents are classified as living in poverty, and the per capita income from 2019 to 2023 was $49,991 (US Census Bureau 2024).
In 2014, Chetty and colleagues' study on economic mobility ranked Charlotte 50th out of the 50 largest US cities for economic mobility, a measure demonstrating the likelihood that someone living in poverty has the ability to leave poverty. This study both exemplifies the economic challenges some Charlotte youth face and was a catalyst for Charlotte leaders to add and renew funding to community resources to improve economic mobility. The MYEP was one such program, revitalized with additional funding in the years after Chetty's study to support adolescents' economic mobility.
2.3 | Researcher Descriptions
The third author (she/her/hers) recruited participants, collected data, and transcribed data for this study. She identifies as a White, heterosexual, cisgender woman, who is a clinical mental health counselor and was a counselor education and supervision doctoral student at the time of this study. The first and second authors analyzed all data. The first author (she/her/hers) identifies as a White, queer, cisgender woman, who is a clinical mental health counselor and current counselor education and supervision doctoral student. The second author (she/her/hers) identifies as a White, heterosexual, cisgender woman, who is a former school counselor and current counselor educator. The second author is well-experienced with qualitative research, having conducted frequent case studies and phenomenological research throughout the last decade. She guided and mentored the other authors in the research process, as this was their first qualitative study as researchers.
During the data analysis, the first and second authors journaled about their potential biases toward the study topic. They also discussed their biases both initially and throughout their analysis in an attempt to bracket them and prevent influence on the study findings (Hays and Singh 2023). The first author named biases related to her clinical work with high school-aged students in the mental health field and her prior experience providing counseling related to career and higher education decisions. Though this counseling was not with MYEP students, she identified that this work may influence her perceptions of adolescents and bias her toward the perceived benefits of the MYEP program, as well as the economic and social factors that may impact their career development, as outlined in PWT (Kenny et al. 2024). The second author disclosed her familiarity with the MYEP program and previous research with its participants. She named a potential bias related to suspected benefits of the program, but also named a potential bias related to her skepticism regarding whether positive findings would manifest in qualitative research, as they did in quantitative research. She also named that her experience as a high school counselor provided a basis of knowledge for adolescent career development, but noted that her counseling experience was not with MYEP participants.
2.4 | Participants and Recruitment
The third author recruited participants for this study via a separate survey research study regarding career resources (Marciniak et al. 2021) among MYEP participants. At the conclusion of the questionnaire used in that study, she invited participants to share their contact information if they were willing to participate in a qualitative case study about their experiences in the MYEP. Fortyfive participants expressed interest in participating in the current study, and after emailing them to schedule interviews, 19 people completed interviews 1-2 months after the end of their MYEP internships.
All participants were between the ages of 16 and 18, and the majority of participants were 17 years old. Table 1 provides participant demographics and pseudonyms. The participants self-reported their gender, with six identifying as male and 13 identifying as female.
Regardless of gender identification, in describing the participants in the findings in this report, we use the pronouns they/them/theirs and assigned pseudonyms to protect anonymity. Participants received a $10 gift card at the conclusion of their interview for their time.
2.5 | Data Collection
The primary intent of case study research is to collect participants' descriptions and interpretations (Stake 1995). Thus, to collect our study data, we used individual semistructured interviews to discover multiple perspectives of the case from eligible participants (Stake 1995), as they are best suited for case study research (Hancock et al. 2021). These interviews were held via video conference to increase privacy and decrease distractions (Hancock et al. 2021) and lasted between 40 and 60 min in length. During the interviews, the third author used a prescribed interview protocol with 12 primary questions. We designed this protocol to include exploration questions about participants' experiences in the MYEP and reflect themes from PWT, including proactiveness, critical consciousness, and limitations and protective factors from one's life context that influence the process of finding meaningful work (Kenny et al. 2024).
During the interviews, the third author added clarifying questions to increase the breadth and scope of the participants' answers. Interview questions addressed the nature of participants' MYEP experiences, including what they liked and disliked, and how, if at all, their MYEP experiences influenced their career development. Example questions included, "What, if anything, do you think that you will take away from this internship?", "What, if anything, are the strengths of this program?", "Were there any elements of participating in this program that were challenging for you? If so, what were they?", and "Has your participation in this experience changed the way you think about your future job and/or career? If so, how? If not, why do you think that is the case?"
2.6 | Data Analysis
After completing the 19 interviews, the third author transcribed all recordings and reviewed transcriptions for accuracy, creating a case study database, as recommended by Yin (2017). Next, the first two authors began analyzing the data according to Yin's (2017) guidelines. First, they read through all transcriptions twice, which allowed them to become familiar with the content of the interview (Hays and Singh 2023). While reading and re-reading through the transcripts, they journaled about their experiences reading the transcripts, including any feelings or thoughts they had regarding the participants and their answers to the interview questions, as well as how concepts in PWT (critical consciousness, proactiveness, and social support) might influence participants (Kenny et al. 2024). They then journaled about any potential assumptions or biases noticed while reading the transcripts. Additionally, they kept note of initial potential themes or patterns noticed in the interviews. These initial memos are valuable in providing initial suggestions for interpretations of the data (Yin 2017). They then met to discuss experiences of the initial read-through, including potential biases regarding coding the transcripts (Hays and Singh 2023).
Next, the first two authors followed Yin's (2017) recommendation to analyze data "from the 'ground up"" (р. 136). They separately open-coded all transcripts, initially generating 452 open codes. They then met and compared the generated codes, discussing each one in terms of its consistency across participants and relevance to the research question. Given the goal in case study research to understand similarities in a case (Flyvbherg 2011), they excluded perspectives that only reflected a minority of participants" experiences in favor of themes reflecting the full case studied. Yin (2017) recommended this approach for high-quality analysis in order to address "the most significant aspect" of case studies, rather than "detours to lesser issues" (p. 168).
They engaged in robust discussions regarding the inclusion and exclusion of each code and ultimately collapsed the initial list of codes into 32 refined codes. They then returned to the transcripts and individually investigated if all 32 codes were evident in the data. Following this step, they met and discussed findings, considering Yin's (2017) guideline to consider plausible rival explanations, again screening out tentative themes that did not align with the research question or appear consistent across a majority of participants (Flyvbherg 2011; Yin 2017). They defined a majority of participants as at least more than half-that is, 10 or more participants in this study.
They had 10 codes remaining, then divided up the list of codes to verify once more if they were present in the majority of 19 transcripts. Lastly, they met to discuss confirmations of each of the codes, now tentative themes. They determined that four of the tentative themes were present in a minority of the participants" transcripts, but not a pervasive majority, and so removed these themes. They further collapsed two of the tentative themes into a larger, subsuming theme. This step resulted in five final themes and three subthemes. Throughout this iterative analysis process, the first two authors attended to Yin's (2017) four principles of quality analysis: attending to all the evidence, addressing rival interpretations of data, determining the most significant aspects of the case, and considering prior expert knowledge related to the case. Lastly, they compared the findings to PWT's core concepts and reflected on how participants" descriptions of social support, critical consciousness, and proactiveness emerged in their experiences (Kenny et al. 2024).
2.7 | Trustworthiness
We employed four strategies to address trustworthiness in this study. First, to address reflexivity, the first two authors drafted subjectivity statements about potential biases and shared them with each other prior to beginning data analysis. They also continually named their biases throughout the analysis process to reduce the potential influence of biases on the study. Second, all research team members were unaffiliated with the MYEP. This feature may have especially allowed participants to feel comfortable being honest about their MYEP experiences during their interviews, knowing that neither the researcher conducting the interview nor those analyzing the data were part of the MYEP. Third, we used two research team members to engage in a rigorous analysis process and used triangulation, building credibility. Lastly, we maintained a detailed audit trail throughout the study, including during the analysis process. This task helped to further create credibility (Hays and Singh 2023).
3 | Findings
Following our analysis of the data, we identified five themes that consistently represented participants' experiences in the MYEP summer internship program across the majority of participants. Next, we describe each theme and provide participant quotes to support their meaning.
3.1 | Internship Experience Was Beneficial
The first theme we identified in the findings was that the internship experience was beneficial. Notably, we identified this theme in all 19 of the participant interviews. When asked about the MYEP, all participants described their experiences as valuable, particularly emphasizing the benefit of gaining realworld experience. Participants described a range of facets of the MYEP that they viewed as beneficial. The first category of benefits described was specific, valuable skills while on the job. Many participants named job-specific skills they learned that will help them in the future, such as teaching children, using marketing tactics, knowing how a small business payroll works, and understanding how HVAC machines work.
Other participants named more globally valuable skills to use in the workplace in general. For example, Elliot shared, "What I would take away from this internship experience is probably the amountofnew things that T had learned, which consisted of, like, organizational skills, time management skills, professionalism skills, communication skills." In this way, Elliot highlighted macroskills that can be used across work settings, which they had not developed prior to the internship. Participants also vocalized that the real-world experience provided by the internship aided in their development of skills such as communication, networking, organization, and time management.
Alex provided a specific example to illuminate how their custodial services internship helped build teamwork skills. They said:
I think it did help with interacting with other people like in a professional manner. Obviously I wasn't wearing like a suit tie to work or anything, but especially in custodial services, it's very important that you work together cause you're often having to like lift heavy stuff or clean a large area. Or one time we had to like move a bunch of cans of floor stripper, which are like really heavy, and we had like an assembly line. And I think it's good to practice, like just human interaction, like how to interact effectively. How to communicate effectively is always important. So, I think the [internship] did that and did well preparing me for that.
The internship experience also appeared to be helpful to participants with internal self-development skills. Participants voiced that having real-world experience increased their self-awareness. They noted that it allowed them to recognize both their strengths and areas for improvement. Additionally, participants noted that their internship experiences increased their confidence and gave them a sense of accomplishment. Lupe vocalized, "I've learned to communicate better, be more independent and manage my time, and just grow as a person, I guess. Like, I can now speak up more and communicate my ideas to team members." Similarly, River explained:
I learned a lot of skills that I didn't know what to do with before, and I learned my strengths and my weaknesses, and I kind of got an idea of what it would be like working as an adult in the future. And having that sense of learning that youre going to have bigger responsibilities in the future makes you kind of scared as to what, or how, to prepare yourself for that. So I think if I keep on exposing myself to opportunities like MYEP or other internships in the future, I think I'll be more prepared to function as an adult in the future.
3.2 | Career Training Was Helpful
A second theme that emerged in the findings was that the career training portion of the MYEP program was helpful. Each of the participants acknowledged the value of this training experience in their interviews. For example, Journey voiced, "it was a really good training because they [training leaders] taught me a lot of valuable skills that I would use later in my career." The participants noted that the career training was helpful because it provided information pertinent to their professional development. Additionally, some participants reported that the training also aided in their preparation for the internship portion of the program.
Many participants reported that the training helped them to learn skills necessary for seeking employment. Specifically, several participants voiced that they found the information they learned regarding résumé construction helpful. To that end, when asked what they liked about the career training, Casey explained:
1 would 1000% say, say the resumé building skills. Because as I said before, it actually has come in handy. Even though it was like a long sense of process of like, okay, do this part, then turn it in, and then the person would review it and give you back your work so you can work upon on your resumé more. But now in my senior year, I see how helpful that is, especially when you're getting into jobs. And colleges also love looking at resumés, so I think that part of the training was the most beneficial for me.
Others noted that learning about "elevator pitches" and practicing interviews was valuable, as well. Alex illuminated this point when describing how the interview practice was helpful. They said:
It was like an online interview, which I guess are pretty popular nowadays. So I think that was also a good experience. Cause I know a lot of companies nowadays, they let you do it online, which can be even more stressful cause you get in your own head. But, what 1 thought was a good strategy was like, don't make like a script, but kind of like have a few key points in this arsenal of yours. And then based on the question, you can kind of like, utilize certain weapons in your arsenal to like scope the question, scope the answer to, to answer the specific question. But don't like, make a script, cause then it will come off as like kind of superficial or snot genuine.
In this quote, Alex demonstrates how specific strategies learned in the career training stayed with them and suggests they intend to use such strategies in future job interviews.
Beyond skill-building for seeking employment, participants also noted that training was beneficial in their preparation for occupational success. Participants vocalized that the training provided them with information that aided in their development of soft skills, defined by participants as skills that supported their career functioning but were not task related. They voiced that the training portion of MYEP aided in the development of soft skills such as communication, professionalism, and networking. As Blake shared:
1 remember there was like a soft skills part of the thing [training], which I really liked, cause I'm really awkward when it gets to like meeting new people, especially in person, so that one really connected with me. And the main thing that I really got away from that was like how to like network and like get connections.
Altogether, the participants reported finding the training helpful because it prepared them for both their internships and their future employment.
3.3 | Positive Supervisor and Coworker Relationships
The third theme we identified was the experience of positive supervisor and coworker relationships. Participants reported enthusiasm regarding their interactions with staff members at their internship sites. As Kai exclaimed, "I just, I loved everyone there. Everyone was so friendly!" In total, 14 of the 19 participants identified with this notion. Many participants reported positive interactions with both their internship supervisors and coworkers, which aided in their overall positive experience with the program.
Although internship supervisors did not complete any training through the MYEP to serve in their roles, participants did not report any deficiencies in their supervisory skills. Rather, they shared praise for the support they felt from supervisors. Most participants described their supervisors as helpful in acclimating them to their sites and providing clear instructions about their roles. Charlie said about their internship supervisors at a children's camp, "They were really thorough about telling us the steps and other parts to the program. They didn't really leave anything out." Participants further described their supervisors as reliable, friendly, and valuable in teaching them about their internship professions.
Participants described feeling positive about their coworker relationships, as well. For one, participants reported that they felt supported by the colleagues at their internship sites. This support seemed to be exemplified by Asher, who noted, "it was very good because you could rely on your teammates whenever you needed." These positive relationships seemed to aid in participants' overall satisfaction with the internship. Additionally, several participants noted that these relationships assisted directly in their development of teamwork and networking skills. For example, River shared, "I met a lot of cool people, and from there I established kind of a bigger network." In this way, positive supervisor and coworker relationships appeared to benefit participants not only in their internships but also, potentially, in their careers to come. Several participants noted that they gained a network of adults to call on in the future if needed for references, recommendation letters, or mentoring.
3.4 | Impacted Career Decisions
The fourth theme we identified was that the MYEP experience impacted participants' career decisions. АП19 of the participants in this study vocalized this experience, a strikingly consistent theme. Participants provided varying descriptions regarding the impact of the experience on their career decisions, and two subthemes emerged regarding the specific impact participants felt.
The first subtheme was that the experience confirmed participants' career interests. Thus, the program did not change most participants' career plans but instead confirmed that these paths were still of interest to them. As Avery vocalized, "I wanted to do marketing, I tried it out, and I still wanna do marketing. If anything it [the internship] just affirmed it like yeah this is what I wanna do." In this way, Avery explained that their marketing internship validated that the field was one they enjoyed and felt effective working in. Many participants shared that the internship experience strengthened their affinity toward their desired career path. As Asher noted in their interview, "I feel like I do have a stronger leaning towards this career because I learned more about it."
Some participants also clarified nuances about the career plans they intended to pursue. For example, Casey expressed how the MYEP internship shaped their career plans. They said:
1 was going on a pathway where I wanted to do psychology and like, specifically clinical and counseling psychology. And I got put into [name of internship; a youth educational site], which was working with kids. So I was never thinking about mental health with kids. But now [having worked at internship site] with low income families. ... I definitely want to work with kids now cause I previously wanted to be in the office and talk to adults and teenagers.
Another common subtheme in participants' reported experiences was that the MYEP experience aided in career decision-making by supporting in their decisions regarding higher education. Participants reported that the MYEP experience impacted their higher education decisions based on their desired career paths. Some participants reported that their experience provided more information on the types of schools and majors that supported their career path journey. Cameron stated, "I think the MYEP will impact my educational choice. It let me know like what being a dentist or a medical physicist or radiologist requires. So I can know what step [to take] after high school, and stuff like that." Another participant, Alex, said of their internship, "it made me more confident and more inclined to pursue higher education in hopes of getting a career because I know I'm capable of it."
The majority of participants reported that the MYEP experience aided in their career path decisions by way of confirming careers or higher education decisions. However, some participants provided alternative explanations and voiced that the experience ruled out a career or provided information about other career options. For example, River completed an internship in health informatics. Reflecting on how it shaped their career plans, they explained:
1 [now] know for a fact that I don't wanna do a laid a laid back job where I'm sitting at my desk from 9 to 5. Just typing away at my computer. So it's for some people like that. And that's for them. But for me specifically, 1 don't think it would benefit me in any way, because 1 would probably go insane. I think I know for a fact that I wanna be hands-on, and I want to be in the field. I don't know creating, making, helping, just doing something not at my desk. So I know that so far.
Altogether, participants reported that both the career training and internship aided in their career path decision-making. They consistently indicated that the experience helped to facilitate higher education decisions as a byproduct of assisting in making career path decisions.
3.5 | Poor Communication
The final theme we identified in the interviews was participants' reported experiences of poor communication. Fifteen of the 19 participants reported challenges with communication as participants in the MYEP program. They described unsatisfactory communication experiences primarily with program leadership, including the MYEP staff who processed their internship applications, made placement assignments, and communicated with them about the parameters of the program. Examples of poor communication included long wait times to hear back from program leaders after expressing interest in the program, as well as a lack of follow-up after the internship experience had concluded. Given their evolving cognitive development as adolescents, this poor communication appeared to present a mismatch for the participants and their developmental needs. Ellis voiced, "I feel like with just confusion of the next step and also when we were waiting for internship, [leaders] said that we'll reach out to you in the next couple of weeks, and it took 'em like two to three months for them to respond back after that email." The participants expressed that these challenges led to confusion regarding the logistics of the MYEP program and their internship experience. Further, when discussing their perceptions of the program's communication, participant Taylor noted, "I mean the lack of communication. I should say it really impacted sort of my, my trust."
One subtheme that arose within the theme of poor communication was lack of clarity regarding internship. Parker spoke to this idea as they stated, "I wasn't aware of what exactly I was gonna be doing until basically the day of." The participants remarked that the lack of clarity caused confusion and nervousness regarding their internship placement. Specifically, some participants vocalized that they were not aware of the hours they would be working, what they would be doing, and the attire they would need to wear. Alex conveyed the emotional stress that accompanied the poor communication in the program. When asked for needed improvements in the MYEP, they said:
Maybe, maybe a little more information on what I [be doing], where I would be placed prior to it. ... Like I didn't know what to wear or, uh, like what area I was working at. And they kind of just told me that like with not a ton of notice. Um, so I guess maybe a little bit more information prior to starting the internship would've been helpful for me.
Participants noted that they would have appreciated if MYEP had provided prompt and specific information regarding these aspects of the internship experience. Such information would have improved their internship experiences and likely met their developmental needs as they entered the professional workforce.
4 | Discussion
In this study, we examined the experiences of 19 participants who completed the MYEP paid summer internship through the lens of PWT. Our findings provided insight into participants" perceptions of the experience as a whole, in addition to reactions toward specific elements of the program. They also illuminated how participants" process of seeking meaningful work is informed by PWT (Blustein 2006; Kenny et al. 2024). One key idea in PWT is the notion that economic inequities and marginalization influence access to satisfying work because it limits psychological resources (Kenny et al. 2024). However, participants' experiences in the MYEP did not explicitly reflect how their life conditions, like inequities or marginalization, shaped their career development. Only subtle indicators of how these factors influenced them were present. For example, all participants spoke to the value of the career training prior to beginning their internship because the training taught them specific skills like resumé writing and interview protocols, which may have been lacking due to marginalizing factors in society. Participants also reported experiencing poor communication in the MYEP but did not describe how they overcame insufficient communication by reaching out to program leaders or advocating for their needs. Such advocacy may be considered a Westernized or Eurocentric practice that is not intuitive to all people, including those in marginalized groups (Salla et al. 2023). A minority of participants also noted challenges with reliable transportation to commute to their internships, reflecting potential economic inequities.
Contrastingly, study findings more prominently reflected the protective factors identified in PWT, like social support (Kenny et al. 2024; Masdonati et al. 2021). For example, a consistent theme was positive supervisor and coworker relationships. These relationships stood out to participants as exciting and satisfying elements of their internships. They also reflect critical social support, which can support adolescents in pursuing meaningful school-to-work transitions and pursuing quality work (Kenny et al. 2024; Masdonati et al. 2021). In addition, adaptability and proactive coping are protective factors in PWT (Duffy et al. 2022). Multiple participants noted that their internships shaped their career plans by ruling out work environments they disliked, which may reflect their adaptability and proactive coping, which can serve as valuable moderating variables as they seek to find satisfactory work (Blustein et al. 2019). Ricket and colleagues (2023) identified a similar finding among their participants, who also reported building social capital through their internship mentors. Although the current study reflects findings like these previous studies, it stands out for identifying benefits of internships and social capital developed in a city-sponsored paid summer internship program, a common internship model used across the United States. The internships studied by Kenny et al. (2024) and Ricket et al. (2023) were small-scale internship programs hosted by schools or local nonprofit organizations.
Overall, study findings compliment benefits of the program identified in a prior quantitative study (Merlin-Knoblich et al. 2022). In that study, researchers found that MYEP participants perceived that their CSE and career decision-making self-efficacy increased after completing their MYEP internships (Merlin-Knoblich et al. 2022). Findings in the present study expand upon this prior study as they provide more in-depth information regarding the benefits of the paid summer internship experience for participants, as well as perceived areas for growth in the program. Though the previous study focused solely on self-efficacy instruments to measure program benefits, current findings illuminate value in the social support participants experienced in their internships, a key protective factor in PWT. Additionally, this study provides new information that emphasizes the value of the career training and impact of the internship on career decisions, neither of which concepts were captured in Merlin-Knoblich et al.'s (2022) study on the MYEP.
Overall, participants found the training and internship elements ofthe program helpful. Specifically, they seemed to appreciate the career preparation provided by the program. This appreciation was both in terms of skill development as well as in aiding career path decisions and overall confidence in ability. These findings align with previous research on high school and college student experiences in internships (Binder et al. 2015; Gamboa et al. 2021; Hull et al. 2018; Kenny et al. 2024). In particular, participants in the current study named the benefits of learning soft skills and hard skills in their internships, which are benefits also noted by participants in Kenny et al.'s (2024) study.
One notable insight from the current findings is what participants did not say. Participants did not express a deep appreciation for access to a city-sponsored paid internship like the MYEP. Rather, their perspectives conveyed enjoyment in the program but general lack of awareness regarding if their internship program was hosted by the city they lived in, was hosted by another entity, or did or did not include pay. This nontheme may reflect Jacobson and Shade's (2018) description of modernday internships as "the obligatory norm" rather than a novel or gifted experience for adolescents. It is reasonable to presume that without MYEP internships, many of the participants in the MYEP would not otherwise have access to paid summer internships that cultivate career development. However, given the ubiquitous nature ofinternships in the 21st century, and the lack of current participants reflecting deep appreciation for their MYEP opportunities, the presumption warrants further exploration. Moreover, researchers have criticized the use of unpaid internships and identified their lack of benefits compared to paid internships (Grant-Smith and McDonald 2017; Jacobson and Shade 2018; Leonard et al. 2016; NACE 2024; Perlin 2012). However, current study participants did not consistently acknowledge the benefits of paid internships, which may indicate perceptions that paid internships are the current standard or expectation for the next generation of interns. Alternatively, participants may not have valued the pay incorporated in their internships and thus did not remark on it; however, this notion appears doubtful given the socioeconomic challenges many youth encounter in Charlotte (Chetty et al. 2014; US Census Bureau 2024).
4.1 | Limitations and Implications
Several limitations exist in this study. First, recall bias may have affected the amount and nature of what participants shared in their interviews. The third author conducted all interviews 1-2 months after the end of participants' MYEP summer internships. As a result, participants may have forgotten some details about their experiences or only remembered selectively positive or negative elements of their experiences. Second, social desirability may have informed participants' narratives in their interviews. Although the third author, who is unaffiliated with the MYEP, conducted all interviews, participants may not have understood this nonaffiliation and may have felt socially obligated to share more positive reactions to their summer internships than they experienced. We sought to remedy this limitation by explaining in the interview protocol the confidentiality of the interview process, but social desirability may have emerged regardless. In addition, we only used one data source in this study- semistructured interviews. Although case study research often includes multiple data sources (Yin 2017), to focus our study solely on the perspectives of the MYEP participants, we only used participant interviews. Additional data sources could have contributed different perspectives and answers to our research question. Lastly, 19 participants joined this research study. Although this sample size is considerably large for a qualitative research study (Hays and Singh 2023), it leaves out the 310 participants who chose not to participate in the study. This participation bias means that we could not include the voices of the other participants in the MYEP who did not participate and whose experiences may or may not have changed the study findings.
4.2 | Future Research
Researchers have published minimal studies on internship experiences in general and even less research on city-sponsored paid summer internships for adolescents (Merlin-Knoblich et al. 2022). Thus, despite the valuable contributions of this study, we encourage researchers to conduct many more studies to help expand the counseling profession's understanding of internships and adolescent career development. We recommend that researchers consider using longitudinal research to address both of these topics. By measuring or exploring the impact internships may have on adolescent career development over time, we can better understand the potential value of internships. In addition, we suggest that researchers consider replicating this qualitative study or Merlin-Knoblich et al." (2022) quantitative study with adolescent city-sponsored summer internship participants in different regions of the country to understand the nuanced differences in their experiences or confirm if findings are similar. We also recommend that researchers consider conducting future case studies with multiple data sources, such as internship personnel interviews or participant journals during internships to answer research questions about the impacts of adolescent internships. Moreover, researchers would benefit from studying the perspectives of internship supervisors and program directors to understand how they differ or align with existing research findings. Lastly, given the current findings, we encourage researchers to further explore the impact that positive relationships with supervisors and coworkers may have on adolescent career development. This aspect of the summer internship experience was salient for most of our participants, and the topic may prove valuable to explore further in future studies, given the value of social capital in career development (Ricket et al. 2023).
4.3 | Implications for Practice
We identify several implications resulting from the study. First, we recommend that city governments hosting internship programs offer career development training prior to participants' summer internships. Adding such training before internships begin can help to cultivate interns' skills and knowledge. Further, findings suggest the importance of internship programs to sustain meaningful partnerships with internship sites that employ strong supervisors and coworkers. Programs ought to collect program evaluation data from interns regarding the quality of their supervisors and coworkers, then recycle the best sites for continued use for internships. Additionally, our findings indicated the need to strengthen communication between MYEP staff and MYEP participants, an idea that other internship programs may consider if they are serving adolescents, which generally represent a population early in cognitive development who need high levels of structure, including frequent communication (Steinberg 2005). For example, internship programs may benefit from implementing a weekly newsletter or virtual office hours for participants to attend and ask questions.
5 | Conclusion
In this study, we used a qualitative case study approach to understand the experiences of participants in the MYEP, a citysponsored paid summer internship program. Findings indicated that all participants found the overall internship experience beneficial and considered the career training prior to their internship useful. Participants reported valuing their positive supervisor and coworker relationships and described their internships as impacting their career decisions, despite describing poor communication during the program. Overall, these findings suggest value in a city-sponsored paid summer internship program, bolstering the case for using internships to support adolescent career development (Binder et al. 2015; Merlin-Knoblich et al. 2022).
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
References
Ashworth, M., B. Heasman, L. Crane, and A. Remington. 2024. "Evaluating a New Supported Employment Internship Programme for Autistic Young Adults Without Intellectual Disability." Autism 28, no. 8: 1934- 1946. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231214834.
Binder, J., T. Baguley, C. Crook, and F. Miller. 2015. "The Academic Value of Internships: Benefits Across Disciplines and Student Backgrounds." Contemporary Educational Psychology 41: 73-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.cedpsych.2014.12.001.
Blustein, D. L. 2006. The Psychology of Working: A new Perspective for Career Development, Counseling, and Public Policy. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Blustein, D. L., М.Е. Kenny, К. Autin, and В. Duffy. 2019. "The Psychology of Working in Practice: A Theory of Change for a New Era." The Career Development Quarterly 67, no. 3: 236-254. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq. 12193.
Chetty, R., N. Hendren, P. Kline, and E. Saez. 2014. "Where Is the Land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States." Quarterly Journal of Economics 129, no. 4: 1553-1623. https://doi. org/10.1093/qje/qju022.
City of Charlotte. 2024. "Youth Programs." https://www.charlottenc.gov/ City-Government/Initiatives-and-Involvement/Youth-Programs.
Damodar, P., A. Shetty, M. P. Dsouza, A. Prakash, and N. Gudi. 2024. "Crafting Careers Through Theory-Driven Interventions: A Scoping Review of the Utility of Social Cognitive Career Theory and Career Maturity Inventory." International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 29, no. 1: 2308081. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2024.2308081.
Downs, C., F. Mughal, U. Shah, and M. Ryder. 2023. "Are Undergraduate Internships Worth the Effort? Time to Reconceptualize Work-Based Learning for Building Protean Meta-Competencies." Studies in Higher Education 49, no. 1: 84-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2222147.
Duffy, R. D., H. J. Kim, G. Perez, C. G. Prieto, C. Torgal, and M. E. Kenny. 2022. "Decent Education as a Precursor to Decent Work: An Overview and Construct Conceptualization." Journal of Vocational Behavior 138: 103771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2022.103771.
Flyvbherg, B. 2011. "Case Study." In The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. 4th ed., edited by N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln, 301-316. Sage.
Gamboa, V., M. P. Paixäo, J. T. da Silva, and M. do Céu Taveira. 2021. "Career Goals and Internship Quality Among VET Students." Journal of Career Development 48, no. 6: 910-925. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0894845320902269.
Goerlich Zief, S., S. Lauver, and R. A. Maynard. 2006. "Impacts of AfterSchool Programs on Student Outcomes." Systematic Review. https://doi. org/10.4073/csr.2006.3.
Grant-Smith, D., and P. McDonald. 2017. "Planning to Work for Free: Building the Graduate Employability of Planners Through Unpaid Work." Journal of Youth Studies 21, no. 2: 161-177. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 13676261.2017.1357804.
Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2025