The conventional model of summer internships that business schools follow is to provide an internship during the summer break, for six to eight weeks between the first and second year. This model was introduced in India by the ivy-league business schools, led by Indian Institutes of Management (IIM’s) and emulated by the tier-2 and 3 B- schools.
This traditional model of internship works well only for the top B-Schools, where majority of the students have adequate and meaningful prior work experience. However, it has major limitations for students of tier 2 and 3 B-Schools because:
– More than 70% of the student population in these institutes lacks adequate work experience, as compared to the ivy-league schools.
– Business Management cannot be learnt and appreciated till it is applied to real life. Thus a student with work experience is able to assimilate and apply concepts better than those who have no work experience.
– Also, the duration of the summer internship is too short for both the students and the companies and does not benefit either.
Ask the current IFIM students about their internship experiences.
It is apparent that the conventional model does not work effectively for majority of the B-Schools and there is a need to reinvent the internship model.
When you look at educational disciplines such as Medicine, Chartered Accountancy and Engineering, they all have longer duration of internship which provides a better learning platform for students in the real-world.
The key insights from these proven internship models that the B-Schools can adopt are:
-Longer duration internships enhance employability, by creating industry-readiness and are more meaningful for both the intern and the company.
– Internships must be an integral and substantial part of academic credits, to ensure that students take it seriously and the desired learning outcomes are delivered.
– The internships need to be scheduled at the end of the academic work on campus, for the students to have the adequate knowledge & skills and for the companies to get ‘almost-ready’ graduates.
Authored by:Prof. Anand Narasimha is Dean-Planning & Development and Professor of Marketing at IFIM Business School, Bangalore. He is an alumnus of BITS, Pilani and IIM-Kolkota, with over 25 years of experience in Brand Marketing, Training & Consulting and Academics. He can be reached at anand.n@ifimbschool.com
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