Critical Qualifications for Students Looking for an Internship in Therapeutic Recreation: Evaluated by Agency Supervisors and Academic Supervisors

Abstract

This research study was conducted to ascertain what qualities agencies seek when selecting interns in relation to the qualities higher learning institutions stress. To date, academic and agency internship supervisors in Therapeutic Recreation (TR) have done no study to identify the critical attributes necessary for successful student internship placement. Because these attributes have not been identified, gaps exist between what agencies expect and what schools teach. To fill these gaps, data collected from both agency and academic supervisors were analyzed using importance by performance analysis (IPA) techniques. The findings of the study showed that both commonalities and differences were present in the actual perception of importance between agency and academic internship supervisors. This study provided recommendations to practitioners, educators, and researchers based on the study findings.