TRAINING IN THE WORKPLACE: STUDENTS' PERCEPTION OF THE BENEFITS AND OBSTACLES DURING INTERNSHIPS

Internships have been widely used in higher education in different scientific fields, which presupposes the training of students in a work context. There are some studies on the usefulness of internships undertaken at undergraduate and graduate levels. However, to the best of our knowledge, literature has been disregarding short-cycle higher technical courses (TESP). This paper aims to fill this gap, describing and presenting results of perceptions of students enrolled in the internship subject of one TESP. More specifically, the objectives for this paper are: (i) to identify the obstacles students face; (ii) to explore students' perceptions of internship benefits; and, (iii) to examine the skills students consider to have improved as a result of their internship. A survey comprising both qualitative and quantitative questions was conducted with the students enrolled in the internship subject of the Sales, Management and Marketing TESP course at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, in the second semester of 2018/2019. 25 students accepted to participate in the study (89%). Despite some difficulties pointed out by students in adapting to a work context in the first weeks, the results show that they considered having improved their learning outcomes, and some interpersonal skills, such as autonomy, ability to take initiative, ability to conduct research, collaboration, flexibility, time management, personal organization, task planning, responsibility, and decision making. Additionally, students stressed that the internship facilitates their future employment. Thus, this study provides relevant cues for teachers and course directors in order to minimize weaknesses and maximize strengths of internships, aiming at a better articulation between HEI and companies.