Investigating English-Majored Students’ Levels of Satisfaction with Their Internship Experiences: A Case Study at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance

Abstract

This study aims to explore English-majored students’ perceptions of the value of internship and their levels of satisfaction with regard to three workplace dimensions including job characteristics, work environment characteristics, and contextual factors. Fifty interns from the Faculty of English at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance (UEF) participated in this project. Data were collected through questionnaires and then quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. The results indicated that the majority of the interns had positive perceptions of the internship experience and demonstrated their maturity and responsibility. The students also expressed high satisfaction with job characteristics, specifically skill variety, autonomy, feedback, and work-related factors such as co-workers and supervisor support. However, they were somehow dissatisfied with contextual elements such as the working hours and compensation. These findings can assist academic institutions, academic supervisors and host companies in providing students with effective internship experience and enhancing their workplace skills.