Student internships and employment opportunities after graduation: A field experiment. (August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Baert, By Stijn; Neyt, Brecht; Siedler, Thomas; Tobback, Ilse; Verhaest, Dieter
• Is Part Of: Economics of education review. Volume 83(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-08
• Subjects: Internship -- Hiring -- Field experiment -- Human capital -- Signalling; I21 -- J23 -- J24 -- C93; Education -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; 370
• DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2021.102141
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-7757

Abstract

Abstract: Internships during tertiary education have become substantially more common over the past decades in many industrialised countries. This study examines the impact of a voluntary intra-curricular internship experience during university studies on the probability of being invited to a job interview. To estimate a causal relationship, we conducted a randomised field experiment in which we sent 1248 fictitious, but realistic, resumes to real job openings. We find that applicants with internship experience have, on average, a 12.6% higher probability of being invited to a job interview.