MORE THAN JUST COFFEE & COPYING: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF INTERNS’ FRUSTRATION
Abstract
Located within the fields of motivation and coping, this report examines
the phenomenon of internship frustration to explore its major causes and
consequences. The qualitative study relies on 181 internship reports and 10
in-depth interviews. The subjects are students of the department of Politics
and Administration at the University of Konstanz (Germany). A combined
analysis reveals that major triggers of internship frustration are insufficient
supervision and unchallenging, repetitive tasks as well as an adverse organizational
culture. Subsequent consequences of interns’ frustration are
resignation and intention to turnover, but also increased levels of learnings.
In contrast to employee frustration, it is shown that interns’ reactions to
frustration are more likely to be carried out mentally. Therefore, acts of violence
and aggression are a rare phenomenon, due to incipiently lower levels
of self-consciousness of the intern in the working world. Furthermore,
implications for employers, HR departments, universities and students are
outlined, accompanied by theoretical insights concerning stage models of
internships and ideas for future research.
Degree
Student essay
View/ Open
Date
2015-01-13Author
Helminger, Michaela
Keywords
Frustration
Internship
HRM
Supervision
Language
eng