Young people today often complete several internships before starting their full-time careers. Although there are various perspectives on internships based on different academic traditions, the specific topic of motivation in internships from a sociocultural perspective is rarely examined. This study explores the internship experiences of 18 students and graduates in the UK, using the concept of motive from cultural-historical activity theory. It identifies two main motivational orientations among interns regarding their work in internships (i) an orientation towards exploring professional practice to gain insights into personal aspirations and preferences, often described as ‘tasters’ or ‘try before you buy’ experiences; (ii) an orientation towards learning to work as a novice professional and preparing or competing for full-time roles, commonly referred to as ‘a foot in the door’ in a chosen profession. The study discusses the implications of these findings for vocational learning literature such as the limitations of the apprenticeship model of learning when researching young people's aspirations and internships.

I draw on focus group and interview data from a mixed methods study on internship experience (Popov 2019). In total 18 participants were recruited through the University Careers Service. Among them, sixteen participants participated in five focus groups and two participants were interviewed separately. The sample was varied in terms of the degrees, career aspirations and pathways of students at London universities (See Table 2 in annex). There was high attrition over the course of arranging a suitable date for focus groups. For gender, degree, internship sector and year of studies breakdown see Table 2 in the annex. Participants were ‘self-selecting’ for the study by responding to an email advertising the research, the other selection criteria were that: (i) participants had had experience of at least one internship in the UK they had independently secured and that (ii) they were either current students or recent BA or MA graduates. This provided a common basis for discussion or what is referred to in the literature as ‘group homogeneity’(Bloor et al. 2001). Homogeneity of experiences vis-à-vis different degrees, universities, gender and student status was important to facilitate group interaction and ease with which participants could discuss the topic together. The focus group discussions were 2 hours long and interviews were one hour. The discussion was semi-structured using a list of predetermined prompts for discussion. The study followed the ethical guidance (e.g. anonymity, confidentiality, verbal code of conduct) in line with the ethical principles of focus group and interview research (Bloor et al. 2001) and was approved by the student research ethical committee.

Examining motivation in internship using a CHAT lens enabled me to distinguish (i) two motive orientations in internships and (ii) conceptualise motivation in internship as a process of aligning motives, refining long-term projects and constructing and instantiating aspirations. This suggests that internships have a versatile function for young people that will presuppose different types of support and scaffolding by educational and workplace institutions. Additionally, the paper argues that the extent to which internship activity can be conceptualised using the analogy of the apprenticeship model of learning or as an ‘apprenticeship in miniature’ will depend on interns’ motive orientations - or how interns orient towards the occupational and organisational goals and values.

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