holding power of internships: analyzing retention in a school-to-career program, The

Community College Enterprise, The, Fall 2004 by Ryken, Amy E

The findings of the current study indicate that work experiences contribute to retention in an education-to-career program. The article examines program retention in the context of community college entrance precursor steps and job placement post-completion of the community college certificate by a) identifying retention milestones, i.e., high school completion, community college entrance and completion, and employment in a biotechnology laboratory, and b) analyzing how work-based experiences (e.g., internships and co-op jobs) support student success.

Background

Community colleges are important partners in school-to-career programs. Although the programs are designed to increase the linkages between high school, college and work, in practice many fail to provide internships (Bragg, Layton, and Hammons, 1994; Bragg, Puckett, Reger, Thomas, Ortman and Dornsife, 1997) that help students make the transition to the community college partner (Grubb, Badway, Bell, and Kraskouskas, 1996; Pedraza, Pauly, and Kopp, 1997). Only two percent of students in school-to-career programs experience "a variety of career development activities, school-based career majors, and workplace activity linked to the high school curriculum" (Hershey, Hudis, Silverberg, and Haimson, 1997, p. xviii). The low percentage suggests that community college educators should examine the effect of work-based experiences on retention across transition points in student experiences, e.g., high school to college, and college to work.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study is to track and evaluate student participation in a three-year biotechnology education and training program that linked high school, community college, and work-based learning experiences. Questions guiding the inquiry include:

* What is the role of work-based learning experiences in students' progression on a biotechnology education and career pathway?

* How does relating college retention to a broader pathway and key program experiences give new insights into program effectiveness?

Review of literature

Reforms that highlight the potential of combining academic and occupational education began as early as 1876 with the manual training movement and continued with the formation of co-op education programs in 1906. Since the early part of the 20th century, there has been ongoing interest in connecting school-based and work-based learning. The continuation high schools* described in The National Vocational Education (Smith-Hughes) Act of 1917, the use of internships in the Eight-Year Study schools of the 1930's, the work experience programs of the 1970's, and the 1994 School-to-Work Opportunities Act all called for learning opportunities that linked school-based and work-based learning. Organizing instruction with an occupational focus integrates normally disconnected high school course offerings around a particular career theme (Grubb, 1996b; Stern, Raby, and Dayton, 1992) and helps students clarify preliminary goals for college attendance (Tinto, 1996).

School-to-work and Tech Prep were programs designed to prepare students for employment and/or college. School-to-work programs enhance school instruction by adding a work-based learning component and associated activities that further integrate the school and work experiences. Tech Prep programs focus on linking high schools and community colleges by articulating curricula, training high school teachers and community college instructors, and providing educational pathways that link high school and college occupational programs.

Researchers and practitioners emphasize the importance of building linkages between high school and college and systematically documenting individual students' pathways (Bragg et al., 1994; Bragg et al., 1997; Cooper, 2002; Nippert, 2000). Furthermore, the occupational focus should be envisioned as a life-long journey involving education and employment, rather than as participation in a short-term program during the high school and college years (Hamilton and Hamilton, 1997; School-to-Work Task Force, 1999).

Methodology

The population studied over six years was a group of 256 students participating in a biotechnology education and training program that linked two high school career academies, one community college, and over 40 biotechnology laboratories in the San Francisco Bay Area. In an effort to understand the role of internships and co-op jobs on student persistence, longitudinal cohort analyses were conducted for six cohorts. A case study approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, was used to examine student progression (Miles & Huberman, 1994).

Research site

Students participated in a three-year program with a coherent sequence of work-based and school-based learning activities, including science coursework during two years of high school and one year of community college, paid summer internships as high school students, and paid year-round co-op jobs as community college students.

Program participation was voluntary and targeted to ethnically and linguistically diverse students who may not have otherwise had access to either the community college environment or biotechnology laboratory settings. Fifty-three (53.6%) percent of program participants were African-American, 21.6% Latino, 16.5% Asian, and 8.2% White. Females and males were equally represented. Over 50% of students were the first in their family to graduate from high school, and over 80% were the first in their family to be enrolled in a post-secondary program.