Date of Defense

4-18-2019

Date of Graduation

4-2019

Department

Communication

First Advisor

Mark Orbe

Second Advisor

Julie Apker

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to gain insight on the young, female intern experience specifically within the business industry. In order to be interviewed, all participants had to identify as female and have had a business internship while they were between the ages of 18 and 24. Potential participants were invited to be interviewed for this project via word of mouth or social media. Once they agreed to the terms of the study, they took part in a 30 to 45 minute interview and were asked to share experiences about their internship and how their coworkers shaped their intern experience. The results include that young, female interns felt they had been treated differently due to their age and gender in one instance or another. But they also described the importance of internships being educational experiences as well as coworkers providing interpersonal support to their interns. These two things contributed to intern satisfaction and the what they felt was gained by their experience. The implications of this study are that while young women who are interns in business might face challenges due to their age and gender, if they have a supportive coworkers where the education of the internship is equally important as the work, they will still perceive their internship experience as a positive one.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Open Access

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