Can Industry Introductions Lead to Internship Increases?

By Dr. Heather Lindberg -- 

Internships are a great opportunity for students to bridge the gap between classrooms—which emphasize theory with minimal practice and application—and industry, which focuses on applying theory and solving problems in real time with real consequences. Internships can help to address this gap. Research indicates that internships can help to ease this transition for students—from the classroom to the workforce—by providing dedicated mentorship, training, and experience within the industry setting (Veenstra, 2014).

Roanoke Valley, VA and surrounding areas are encouraging innovation related to agriculture, life sciences, and the biotechnology industry. Programs, such as Regional Acceleration and Mentoring Program (RAMP), a regional business accelerator, help to support STEM-related startup companies.  Some of these startups will turn into companies, increasing employment opportunities in the region.  With these developments, there will be more opportunities to build education/industry relationships—and to create internships.

While internships are valuable learning experiences, many students do not take advantage of them. Often, students will not even apply for an internship that is within their field of study. This apparent lack of interest may be due to other factors.  Many barriers can affect a student’s ability to participate in an internship: lack of transport, financial support, and confidence in their own skills, to name a few. 

The Biotechnology program at Virginia Western Community College (VWCC) is combating some of these barriers. We are adjusting some of the classroom protocols, workflows, and benchwork to parallel with internship opportunities. We want to create a safe, familiar space for students to explore both internship opportunities and real-world applications. Hopefully, this alignment will pique students’ interest in internships and encourage them to learn how the technology they work with in the classroom can be bridged into a commercial, industry setting.

For more information about the Biotechnology Program at Virginia Western community college, you can reach me at hlindberg@virginiawestern.edu. 




Acknowledgments

Hora, M. T., Wolfgram, M., & Chen, Z. (2019). Closing the doors of opportunity: How financial, sociocultural and institutional barriers intersect to inhibit participation in college internships [WCER Working Paper No. 2019-8]. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED603922.pdf

NCI. (2020, February 26). DNA Genotyping and Sequencing [image]. Unsplash License.  https://unsplash.com/photos/rb8hr3cXD4A

NCI. (2020, March 11). Chanelle Case Borden, Ph.D.  Unsplash License.  https://unsplash.com/photos/s6JDpyMpZ9g

Petska, A. (2022, September 25). Game changers: Regional effort links academics and entrepreneurs with economic development. Roanoke Times. https://roanoke.com/business/local/game-changers-regional-effort-links-academics-and-entrepreneurs-with-economic-development/article_f6eeb6f6-329b-11ed-8fc1-bf17b8dbd3d9.html

Veenstra, C. (2014). The collaborative role of industry in supporting STEM education. Journal for Quality and Participation, 37(3), 27–29. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cindy_Veenstra/publication/301337477

Yancy, D. (2022, July 14). How the life sciences cluster in the Roanoke and New River valleys stacks up. Cardinal News. https://cardinalnews.org/2022/07/14/how-the-life-sciences-cluster-in-the-roanoke-and-new-river-valley-stacks-up/



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