Search

Internships are a growing, yet controversial, labour market phenomenon. In particular, the issue of unpaid internships has been the source of legislative, judicial and ethical debate. Some have criticised colleges and universities for promoting an expansion of internships for undergraduate students – with little regard for internship characteristics such as compensation, quality of supervision and work activities. Meanwhile, there is a paucity of research examining the role internship characteristics, such as compensation, supervisor behaviours and work design have on internship efficacy. Based on a survey of undergraduate students in the US, the results showed that supervisor mentoring, the developmental value of the internship and the job pursuit intentions of the intern with the host employer were lower for those reporting on their unpaid internship vs. paid internship. Meanwhile, supervisor support and supervisor mentoring are significant predictors of internship efficacy regardless of internship compensation, while work design has much less of an impact on internship efficacy. The implications of the findings for educators, employers and prospective interns are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article focuses on the experiences of predoctoral interns supervising the clinical work of less experienced externs in psychology and social work as part of a training program in a large university counseling center. After 4 years of running a relationally based supervision of supervision group, the authors believe that providing supervision during internship year to less advanced trainees and being supervised on the experience is a viable approach to develop supervisory competence and a highly valued aspect of internship training. However, we have also noticed that some well-known hindrances to effective supervision may be significantly exacerbated as intern and extern struggle with their new roles as supervisor and therapist. Several examples of these interns’ supervisory struggles are presented in the context of the concepts of resistance, identification, and countertransference. Naming and working through these obstacles to supervision, including feelings of rivalry that emerge between trainees who are close in professional development, are crucial to the success of these supervisory pairings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]