Global Internships: Insights from the University of Malaya

Global Internships: Insights from the University of Malaya Abstract This paper examines the global internship programme at UM from three angles with a view to obtain a more holistic picture from the main parties involved in this programme: the students, the organisations which hosted the students and UM. Feedback was obtained from 104 UM students who did their internships abroad in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic sessions, and from 81 organisations who hosted UM s interns during this period. Further, feedback was obtained from UM s Centre for Industrial Training and Relations (CITRA) on the financial and administrative challenges of facilitating the students internships abroad. The findings reveal that some of the interns felt that they lacked the latest information and skills in their areas of specialisation and faced problems communicating in English. The organisations generally rated the interns highly in relation to their employability skills, while the administrators of the programme, represented by CITRA, expressed concern, among other things, for the lack of sustained funding for the programme. These findings provide a platform to improve the global internship programme at UM, and are applicable to other institutions of higher education embarking on a similar programme. Keywords: global internship, employability skills, cross-cultural, organisations. Introduction It is estimated that one million Malaysians work abroad with about a third of these being skilled workers (World Bank, 2011, p. 103). Whilst cognizant of the fact that the outflow of domestic skilled workers which is not mitigated with an inflow of equally or more skilled 1

workers from abroad needs to be addressed (World Bank, 2011, p. 83), countries like Malaysia are also aware of the need to prepare their graduates for both domestic and international job markets for their graduates to remain competitive as a workforce (Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, 2011, p. 54). As pointed out by the Commonwealth of Australia (2008, p.104), [t]here is growing demand from employers for tertiary qualifications with a strong international component - both from the perspective of the curriculum content and through exposure to different cultures to develop intercultural and language skills and competencies. This is further reiterated by Holland (2003, p. 201) who says that [i]n today s more interdependent world it is inevitable that cross-cultural understanding and acceptance will be assets employers expect from their employees. In fact, as Orahood, Kruze and Pearson (2008, p. 118) point out, employers perceive that overseas exposure develops essential skills like interpersonal skills, and indeed, such exposure has been shown to encourage change in attitudes, values, and interests (Hannigan, 2001, p. 3). Tayebjee, Broinowski and Eagle (2009), for example, report that interns from the University of Western Sydney who went abroad indicated that the internship improved their personal development, and those who were employed said that the internship was instrumental in getting them their current employment. Bousquet (1997, p. 181-182) also highlights the merits of doing an internship abroad, saying that international interns develop cross-cultural skills that not only enable them to work abroad, but they can also provide the key link to cross-national business ventures. 2

Global internships at UM Given the demand for employees with cross-cultural skills, it is not surprising that a Google search of institutions of higher education around the world shows that many of these institutions have incorporated student exchange activities as well as internships abroad into their academic programmes. The latter is seen as a means to provide their students with the necessary cross-cultural and employability skills to compete at a global level. The University of Malaya (UM) has also begun providing opportunities to support global internships although financial challenges has meant that such opportunities are limited to a small number of students doing their internship in a year, with only 2.3% and 5% of the total number of students who did their internships in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic sessions going abroad. At UM, internships or industrial training refers to supervised on-the job training carried out by undergraduates during their penultimate or final year of study. The internship programme is compulsory for the majority of degree programmes at UM, and is worth two to 12 credit hours depending on its duration and the requirements of the programme. Typically, an average of 2,408 (based on the last five academic sessions) undergraduates carry out their training for a period of between two and six months each academic session (Pillai, Khan, Ibrahim & Raphael, 2012, p. 189). In the 2009/2010 and 2010/11 academic sessions, a total of 158 students did their internships in 60 organisations abroad (e.g. Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America) with the majority of them going to neighbouring Singapore (Table 1). Most of the students who did their internships abroad were from the Faculty of Engineering (Table 2), and the majority of the students spent at least two months and above abroad. 3

Table 1. Countries where UM students did their internship abroad in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic sessions Countries 2009/10 2010/11 Australia 2 0 Brunei 7 5 China 2 7 Hong Kong 2 0 India 3 12 Indonesia 1 15 Singapore 17 32 South Korea 13 15 Taiwan 5 5 Thailand 1 1 UK 5 5 USA 1 0 New Zealand 0 2 Total 59 99 Table 2. UM interns who went abroad in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic sessions by faculty Faculties 2009/10 2010/11 Academy of Islamic Studies 6 15 Academy of Malay Studies 0 3 Cultural Centre 1 0 Fac. of Built Environment 7 19 Fac. of Computer Science & IT 0 1 Fac. of Economics & Administration 1 2 Fac. of Engineering 34 47 Fac. of Science 1 2 Sports Centre 9 10 Total 59 99 In the 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic sessions, funding was made available for the global internship programme, with a bursary for travel and living expenses provided for the interns. In the 2009/10 academic session, 48% of the interns were funded by UM, while in the 2010/11 session, this rose to 86%. The university also supported travel for the interns university supervisors if there were more than five interns based at a particular location. Otherwise, it was recommended that supervisors maintain contact with their interns through email and Skype. The present study The study reported in this paper examines the global internship programme at UM from three angles with a view to obtain a more holistic picture from the main parties involved in this programme: the student interns, the organisations which hosted the students and UM. The aim was to obtain feedback from (1) the interns about their experience abroad (2) the organisations ratings of the interns skills (3) the administrators of the programme, represented by the CITRA, about the challenges and issues they faced while facilitating the internship programme. 4

Methodology Feedback from the interns and the organisations that placed them in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic sessions were obtained through questionnaires. International students who went back to their home countries for their internships were not considered in this study as the aim was to examine the feedback obtained from interns who were placed in new environments. The questionnaire for the interns comprised three main sections. The first section sought background information such as the intern s name, degree programme and area of specialisation. The second section required the interns to provide information about their internship, such as details of the organisation in which they were placed, level of supervision, the types and suitability of tasks assigned to them during their internship and the challenges they faced during their internship abroad. Part three of the questionnaire consisted of 16 items where the interns rated themselves in relation to employability skills on a scale of 1 (Very poor) to 5 (Excellent). Although there is no consensus on the exact inventory of employability skills, related literature (e.g. CBI, 2009; Commonwealth of Australia, 2002; West, Noden & Gosling, 2000) points towards common skills such as communication skills, teamwork and problem solving. Thus, the 16 items included communication skills in English, teamwork, problem solving, analytical skills, interpersonal skills, leadership, self-confidence, self-motivation, time management, ability to work independently, and ICT skills (see Pillai et al, 2012). The questionnaire for the organisations was divided into three main sections. In the first section the organisations were asked to provide information relating to the interns placement. The second section required them to rate the interns employability skills on a scale of 1 (Very poor) to 5 (Excellent). In the third section, the organisations evaluated the overall performance of the students during the internship period. Feedback was obtained from CITRA via informal 5

interviews with three administrative staff who managed the internship programme in order to obtain information on the issues and challenges of administrating the global internship programme over the two academic sessions. Results and Discussion Feedback from Interns A total of 104 questionnaires were returned by the students for the academic sessions 2009/2010 (42 responses; 71% of the total interns who went abroad) and 2010/11 (62 responses; 63% of the total interns who went abroad). The interns were asked if the tasks assigned to them were appropriate to their area of specialisation. The majority (93.0% in 2009/10; 87.1% in 2010/11) of the interns who responded agreed that the tasks given by the organisations were suitable. The majority of them also said that they were supervised by representatives of the organisations, and were satisfied with the level of supervision they received from the organisations (46.5% very satisfied and 32.6% satisfied in 2009/10; 45.2% very satisfied and 37.1% satisfied in 2010/11). While the number of respondents that indicated that they were not formally assigned any supervisor by the organisation was small (3 in 2009/10; and 7 in 2010/11), this is still an area that needs monitoring given that the internship programme is aimed at providing supervised on-the job training for the students. Without an assigned supervisor, an intern may not obtain adequate guidance and mentoring, resulting in a less productive internship experience. In terms of being prepared for their internship, a high percentage of the respondents (90.7% in 2009/10; 87.1% in 2010/11) stated that they were prepared to go for their internship. The respondents who felt they were not prepared (9.3% in 2009/10; 11.3% in 2010/11) cited the 6

lack of the latest information and skills in their area of specialisation, a lack of relevant work experience and problems with communication in English as the main reasons for not being prepared for their internship. The interns do attend preparatory programmes organised by CITRA before they embark on their internships. However, these programmes tend to be general in nature, covering areas such as workplace communication, thinking skills, developing positive workplace attributes and making the most of an internship programme, and do not specifically target topics concerning internships abroad or subject-specific areas. The lack of the latest knowledge and skills in their area of specialisation is understandable given that for most of the interns this is likely to be their first job experience in their related areas of study. However, the problem of communicating in English is worrying given that Malaysians would have studied English in schools for at least 11 years, and many of the courses at UM are also in English. The interns may have cited this as one of the challenges they faced because they may not communicate much in English beyond the classroom. They may also face problems because of the different variety or varieties of English used abroad, as they are likely to be mainly familiar with and exposed to the Malaysian variety of English (Pillai, 2008). An internship abroad is also one way of enhancing students employability skills, and indeed, more than 70% of the interns in both academic sessions agreed that it did. The majority of the respondents also felt that their internship abroad gave them a better understanding of their subject area (37.2% strongly agreed and 30.2% agreed in 2009/10; 35.5% strongly agreed and 58.1% agreed and in 2010/11). In relation to the self-rating of their employability skills, the respondents generally perceived themselves Good in each of the skills surveyed. For English skills, they rated themselves as Good for oral skills (58.1% in 2009/10; 64.5% in 2010/11) and presentation skills 7

in English (58.1% in 2009/10; 54.8% in 2010/11). However, less than ten respondents rated themselves as Excellent in these two English skills. This may be a reflection of the respondents lack of confidence in their English proficiency and English language skills. As discussed in Pillai et al (2012, p. 202), the English language competency of graduates is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed as it is among the most cited reasons for the inability of Malaysian graduates to obtain employment. For the other 14 items under employability skills (see section on Methodology), the respondents rated themselves mainly as Good followed by Excellent as shown in Table 3. Internships are also an opportunity for interns to secure employment even before they graduate, and for organisations to use the internship period as a means to assess whether an intern has the potential to be employed, and thus, it is not surprising that some of the interns were offered jobs at the organisations in which they were placed. In the 2009/10 academic session, 16 (37.2%) of the respondents indicated that they had been offered jobs, while 17 (27.4%) of them in the 2010/11 session said they were offered jobs by their organisations. The interns were offered jobs in countries like Singapore (where Malaysians form the largest workforce), Brunei, China, India, New Zealand, Thailand and Taiwan the United Kingdom. Table 3. Self-rating of employability skills by UM interns who did their internship abroad Excellent Good Skills 2009/10 % 2010/11 % 2009/10 % 2010/11 % 1) Teamwork 34.9 30.6 58.1 56.4 2) Problem solving skills 25.6 35.5 65.1 48.4 3) Analytical skills 27.9 33.9 58.1 43.5 4) Interpersonal skills 25.6 22.6 65.1 61.2 5) Creativity and innovation 30.2 22.6 48.8 46.8 6) Self-confidence 34.9 35.5 53.5 53.2 7) Self-motivation 34.9 37.1 55.8 54.8 8) Time-management skills 32.6 43.5 60.5 43.5 9) Leadership skills 18.6 24.2 58.1 46.8 10) Ability to work independently 34.9 43.5 58.1 41.9 8

11) Ability to work with people of different nationalities 37.2 38.7 41.9 54.8 12) Intercultural awareness 23.3 34.0 48.8 47.0 13) Self-presentation 32.6 24.2 60.5 54.8 14) ICT skills 32.6 33.9 58.1 51.6 As expected the interns faced particular challenges while doing their internship abroad, with financial and language problems being the most cited ones. The former was a challenge faced by interns who were living in developed countries, where the cost of living is high and the exchange rate is unfavourable, and thus, the financial help from UM was insufficient to cover the students actual expenses during their internship. The fear of being unable to support their stay during an internship abroad does result in some students rejecting an offer to do their internship abroad. Other challenges that the interns faced were dealing with cultural differences, and fulfilling religious obligations such as finding halal food and appropriate prayer areas at the workplace. Feedback from Organisations A total of 81 questionnaires were returned by the organisations the over the two academic sessions. This amounted to approximately 51.3% of the interns who were placed abroad. The feedback received from the various organisations indicated that most of the interns they were evaluating were placed in the area of engineering in both academic sessions. Many of these interns were also placed in research institutes and educational sectors in the 2009/2010 academic session and also in the area of construction in the 2010/11 session (Table 4). The latter reflects the increase in students from the Faculty of Built Environment and Faculty of Engineering in the 2010/11 session who interned in the construction industry (Table 2). The ratings of the interns across these different industries were generally the same. There was no observable difference in 9

the way, for example, the engineering sector evaluated the interns compared to the research and educational sectors. The organisations were asked to rate the interns employability skills on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (excellent). For communication skills in English, all but three (2009/10), and two (2010/11) organisations that responded rated the interns as Excellent (40.5% in 2009/10; 41.0% in 2010/11) and Good (52.4% in 2009/10; 53.8% in 2010/11). In terms of people skills (teamwork, interpersonal and leadership), the interns were evaluated as Excellent and Good by the majority of the organisations in both academic sessions. The organisations rated the interns similarly for their thinking skills (problem-solving, analytical and creativity and innovation), personal qualities (self-confidence, self-motivation, time management, ability to work independently and self-presentation), and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills as presented in Table 5. Table 4: Area of trainees internship placement abroad Area 2009/2010 Session Frequency (%) 2010/11 Session Frequency (%) Construction 2 (4.8) 11 (28.2) Education 5 (11.9) 1 (2.6) Engineering 15 (35.7) 10 (25.6) Environmental services - 1 (2.6) Laboratory testing and inspection Services 3 (7.1) - Manufacturing 3 (7.1) - Power - 1 (2.6) Real estate 2(4.8) 2 (5.1) Research institutes 6 (14.3) 10 (25.6) Sports 2 (4.8) 1 (2.6) Others 4 (9.5) 2 (5.1) Total 42 (100.0) 39 (100.0) 10

Table 5: Evaluation of employability skills of UM s interns abroad by organisations 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic sessions Ratings Poor Fair Good Excellent Session 2009/2010 2010/2011 2009/2010 2010/2011 2009/2010 2010/2011 2009/2010 2010/2011 Skills Teamwork - - 5 (11.9%) 3 (7.7) 12 (28.6%) 19 (48.5%) 25 (59.5%) 17 (43.6%) Interpersonal - - - 1 (2.6%) 20 (47.6%) 19 (48.7%) 22 (52.4%) 19 (48.7%) skills Leadership - - 10 (23.8%) 7 (17.9%) 21 (50.0%) 17 (43.6%) 8 (19.0%) 12 (30.8%) skills Problemsolving 1 (2.4%) - 9 (21.4%) 5 (12.8%) 15 (35.7%) 23 (59%) 16 (38.1%) 11 (28.2%) skills Analytical 1 (2.4%) - 7 (16.7%) 6 (15.4%) 19 (45.2%) 22 (56.4%) 15 (35.7%) 11 (28.2%) skills Creativity and - - 9 (21.4%) 3 (7.7%) 18 (42.9%) 24 (61.5%) 14 (33.3%) 10 (25.6%) innovation Self-confidence - - 5 (11.9%) 1 (2.6%) 19 (45.2%) 26 (66.7%) 18 (42.9%) 12 (30.8%) Self-motivation - - 6 (14.3%) 2 (5.1%) 15 (35.7%) 20 (51.3%) 21 (50.0%) 17 (43.6%) Timemanagement - - 5 (11.9%) 2 (5.1% 15 (35.7%) 24 (51.5%) 22 (52.4%) 13 (33.5%) Ability to work - - 5 (11.9%) 5 (12.8%) 18 (42.9%) 17 (43.6%) 19 (45.2%) 17 (43.6%) independently Selfpresentation - - 3 (7.1%) - 22 (52.4%) 20 (51.35) 17 (40.5%) 19 (48.7%) ICT skills - 3 (7.1%) 3 (7.7%) 20 (47.6%) 18 (46.2%) 18 (42.9%) 17 (43.6%) None of the interns were rated as Very poor for any of the skills by the organisations, and the organisations rated the interns as Excellent (54.8% in 2009/10; 49.7% in 2010/11) and Good (38.1% in 2009/10; 49.7% in 2010/11) for their overall performance during their internship. However, areas of concern are leadership skills, thinking skills and the other skills where a small number of interns were rated only as Fair by the organisations. No comparison was made between the self-rating by the interns and the evaluation by the organisation as there was not a 100% match between the interns and organisations which responded. Feedback from CITRA The Centre for Industrial Training and Relations (CITRA), with the help of the International Students Centre and other relevant departments at UM, work together to facilitate these internships. The results of the informal interviews of three of the administrative staff from CITRA who handle the global internship programme at UM revealed a number of issues. The 11

first relates to financial support for the interns. Whilst there was a budget for the two sessions reported in this paper, there is no guaranteed annual budget for the global internship programme, and is was felt that an annual allocation must be secured to ensure the sustainability of the programme. More stringent measures need to be put into place to ensure that only students who fulfil particular criteria are selected for the global internship programme. It was suggested that these criteria include the grade point average of these students, active participation in other activities, adequate language skills depending on their chosen country, and successfully getting through an interview session organised by CITRA. The second issue relates to the pre-departure preparation of the interns which tends to be done by the faculties and CITRA when they were groups of interns going to the same organisations at the same time, but tended not to be done with individual students who were being placed abroad. This meant that despite disseminating the guidelines for internships abroad, the interns were not always aware of the procedures involved or fully prepared to encounter a different work and cultural environment. The former has resulted in the potential interns not getting their travel documents in time thus having to withdraw from the programme. The latter can lead to a high level of frustration, thus, totally defeating the aim of obtaining cross-cultural skills. Thirdly, it was also felt that more importance needed to be placed on the monitoring of the interns by their faculty supervisors. Supervisors should keep in touch with the interns via email or Skype so that any issues that arise can be quickly resolved, and they can continuously monitor the interns progress abroad, whilst providing advice and consultation to the intern when needed. 12

The fourth issue that was raised by the staff members that were interviewed were health and safety issues at the organisations abroad. Since not all the organisations were visited by faculty supervisors or other UM representatives to check on these issues, it was felt that feedback from the interns must be obtained early in the internship period to ensure that they are not placed in an appropriate working environment. It was also suggested that UM can partner universities in the vicinity of the organisations to obtain placements, check on the suitability of the organisation and also to help supervise the interns. To this end, several partnerships have already been formed with institutions abroad. Conclusion The findings revealed that some of the interns felt that in terms of being prepared for their internships, they lacked the latest information and skills in their areas of specialisation, and also perceived that they needed better communication skills in English. Some of the interns also raised challenges they faced adapting to new cultural environments. More focused research needs to be done in this area to ascertain which intercultural issues need to be addressed. Nevertheless, the consensus among the interns was the global internship programme enhanced their employability skills, and this can be attested by the ratings by the organisations and the job offers the interns received. The feedback from the three parties highlights several issues which can in turn be used as platforms for strengthening UM s global internship programme. First, the bottom line towards a sustainable global internship programme which covers a bigger number of students from a variety of disciplines is an annual budget dedicated to the programme. Additional sources of funding should also be sought by the administration by forging partnerships with multinational 13

industries and institutions abroad which can then also provide support in terms of supervision and pastoral care for UM s interns. Second, in relation to the interns skills, academic programme providers should make use of the feedback from the interns and the organisations that placed them to identify and address knowledge and skill gaps: that is, between what the interns have and are taught at UM and that required by industry. This is also a mechanism to keep the curriculum relevant to industry s needs. Further, the employability skills of the interns need to be developed throughout their tenure at UM, so that their skills are not just rated as Fair but are considered to be Excellent. There should also be an increased focus on improving their English language skills and encouraging students to do additional languages, in general, to enhance the employability skills of the students and in particular, to develop their communicative skills. Third, the monitoring process needs to be improved. The feedback from the interns reveals that they were not always assigned an industry supervisor, and this needs to be addressed to ensure that the organisations formally assign supervisors for interns, with a clear statement of their roles and responsibilities towards the interns. University supervisors must also keep in touch with the interns who are abroad as well as with the industry supervisor to ensure that the tasks assigned to interns are appropriate and that they are getting adequate training at the organisation. Fourth, the interns must be clear about the learning outcomes of their internship programme in general, and more specifically, what they can expect from their internship abroad. As Bousquet, (1997, p. 175) maintains, the key to a successful business internship in the foreign country lies in the capacity for the student-intern to adjust, in a short period of time, to a different business environment and to become productive with often minimal guidance. These expected outcomes must also be communicated to the organisations so that both the interns and the 14

organisations are aware of the purpose and expectations of the internship programme. They must be briefed about the procedures involved in the programme and the travel documents they need to obtain prior to departure and upon arrival (if relevant). These measures can help to enhance the global internship programme at UM, and provide UM students with increased opportunities for such internships as global work experience will definitely equip UM graduates with better employability skills and give them an edge in the jobmarket. Acknowledgment I would like to acknowledge all the staff at CITRA for their help in conducting the study reported in this paper. References Bousquet, G. (1997). Beyond appearances: Cross-cultural analysis in a business internship program with France, GlobalBusiness Languages 2, Article 15. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/gbl/vol2/iss1/15. Accessed 10 February 2012. CBI (2009). Future fit: Preparing graduates for the world of work. Retrieved from http://highereducation.cbi.org.uk/uploaded/hre_091_future%20fit%20aw.pdf. Accessed 31 December 2010. Commonwealth of Australia (2002). Employability skills for the future. Retrieved from http://dest.gov.au/ty/ /employability_skills/final_report.pdf. Accessed 18 December 2009. 15

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Canad. Retrieved from http://www.waceinc.org/papers/vancouver/australia/tayjebee,%20broinowski,%20eagle.pdf. Accessed 10 January 2012. West, A., Noden, P., & Gosling, R. (2000). Quality in higher education: An international perspective: The views of transnational corporations. Clare Market Papers No. 17. London: Education Research Group, LSE. World Bank. (2011). Malaysian economic monitor April 2011: Brain drain. Retrieved from http://wwwwds.worldbank.org/external/default/wdscontentserver/wdsp/ib/2011/05/02/00035616 1_20110502023920/Rendered/PDF/614830WP0malay10Box358348B01PUBLIC1.pdf. Accessed 15 January 2012. 17