Seeking diversity? Consider virtual internships
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-12-2018-0100 |
| Date | 10 June 2019 |
| Published date | 10 June 2019 |
| Pages | 133-137 |
| Author | Carina Kraft,Debora Jeske,Leopold Bayerlein |
| Subject Matter | Hr & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
On another note
Seeking diversity? Consider virtual
internships
Carina Kraft, Debora Jeske and Leopold Bayerlein
Abstract
Purpose –The present paper aims to outline the case for diversity gains for employers via virtual
internships,while recognizing the role of governmentand educational support.
Design/methodology/approach –In the context of Australianemployment statistics about people with
disabilities,the actors, key issues and barriersto utilizing virtual internships are explored.
Findings –The results of an online survey with 24 career, access and inclusion service officers at
Australian universitiessuggested that the large majority were unfamiliarwith virtual internships, as many
shared concerns about what kind of learning and mentoring opportunities such computer-mediated
internshipsmay provide to their students.
Practical implications –Employers embracing new e-HR developments may be particularly well
situated to adopt virtualinternships and combine these effectively withexisting diversity initiatives, many
of which alreadyinclude mentoring and learning opportunities.A closer dialogue with career, accessand
inclusion services may further support a fruitful knowledge exchange and reduce the concerns of
educational representatives about virtual internships and their usefulness to increase the employment
prospectsof people with disabilities.
Originality/value –At present, virtual internship programs remain the exception, and are often not
connected with diversity initiatives, nor are virtual internships well known among student services.
However, virtual internships represent a promising opportunity for employers who wish to access
untapped national (or even international) talent pools and thus candidates that would benefit from and
contributeto their diversity initiatives.
Keywords Diversity, Recruitment, e-Internship, Virtual internship,Disability, e-HR
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
The transition from school to work is often facilitated by internship schemes. These enable
students to gain work experience with an employer while simultaneously learning more
about their chosen or prospective profession, the employers and industrial sector(van Dorp
et al.,2011
). New opportunities emerged with the arrival of e-HR and the emergence of
various diversity initiatives to support, benefit and help retain individuals with different
backgrounds, skill levels and disabilities. A particularly interestinge-HR-derived opportunity
includes virtual internships.These usually computer-mediated internships initially appeared
10 years ago, and have since become more popular and widespread (Jeske and Axtell,
2013, 2016;Bayerlein and Jeske, 2018a). Virtual internships (or e-internships) are one form
of computer-mediated internships (Jeske and Axtell, 2018). Another form relies on the
simulation of internship experiences without interactions with a real employer (Bayerlein,
2015). Both formats aim to provide studentswho have previously found it difficult to engage
with traditional face-to-face internships with an alternative to obtain work experience
Carina Kraft is based at the
Department of Psychology,
Lund University, Lund,
Sweden. Debora Jeske is a
work Psychologist and
former Lecturer at the
School of Applied
Psychology, University
College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Leopold Bayerlein is based
at the Business School,
University of New England,
Armidale, Australia.
This research was not funded
by any agency or grant.
DOI 10.1108/SHR-12-2018-0100 VOL. 18 NO. 3 2019, pp. 133-137, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jPAGE 133
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