117 Outside the classroom: An evaluation of equine internships

Abstract

Internships give students the opportunity to work for an organization and gain real-world experience. They have been shown to be beneficial in other fields, but equine internships have been lightly researched. This study explored student perceptions of equine internships. We hypothesized that participants would report equine internships were valuable and relate that value with compensation, skill acquisition, networking, and job offers. An online survey widely distributed to equine and animal science programs included demographics and questions to determine respondents’ perceived value of their equine internship. Participation in an equine internship within 10 years and completion of 75% of questions were the criteria for inclusion. Of 228 respondents, 186 met criteria for inclusion. Data were examined using frequency counts, correlations, and chi-squared contingency tables (SAS 9.4). Internships categorized as breeding (29%) were most common with western training and performance (18%) the second highest. Participants reported 53% had an internship requirement for their undergraduate degree; this did not affect perceived internship value ( P = 0.76). Most indicated their internship was paid (77%) and housing provided (70%). Housing and compensation did not affect whether respondents would recommend their internship ( P = 0.61), but internship value tended to be rated higher when housing ( P = 0.075) or compensation ( P = 0.057) were included. Most (91%) believed what they learned during their internship added to their classroom experience and 71% felt academically prepared for their internship experience. Further, 81% gained new horse-related skills (e.g., grooming, horse handling) and 83% gained soft skills (e.g., communication, teamwork). Respondents gained skills in business management (51%), customer relations (63%), and administrative skills (33%). Over 2-thirds (67%) said they use the skills gained during their internship in their current job or career, and 83% stated they were able to network and make connections within the equine industry. When asked about career opportunities, 47% percent said their internship resulted in a job offer from that organization and 50% said their internship resulted in a different job offer in their area of interest. Overall, 91% of the respondents felt their internship was a valuable experience and 87% would recommend their internship to other students. The perceived value of the internship positively correlated with gaining new equine skills (R = 0.49; P < 0.0001), networking (R = 0.75; P < 0.0001), and job offers (R = 0.24; P < 0.002). These results suggest that equine internships are positive experiences and valuable for students.