Open AccessUsing internships to engage social science students in the practice and development of data skills
Author(s) -
Mark G. Brown,
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Jackie Carter,
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Publication year - 2017
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.52041/srap.17505
Subject(s) - internship , economic shortage , curriculum , context (archaeology) , medical education , set (abstract data type) , psychology , mathematics education , computer science , pedagogy , medicine , geography , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , government (linguistics) , programming language
There is growing recognition that good (quantitative) data skills are an essential part of a graduates skill set in an increasingly competitive jobs market. This is the context for the UK’s ‘Q- Step’ programme, a strategic response to a widely reported shortage of these skills among social science graduates. This paper describes an initiative at the University of Manchester Q-Step Centre to pilot the use of internships as an integral part of quantitative training in the undergraduate curriculum, enabling students to apply and practice the skills they have learned in the classroom in a workplace setting. The internships involve students being placed on data led research projects with a diverse range of employers for eight weeks over the Summer. Now in the fourth year of the programme our evaluation is highlighting the potential of internships to help motivate and build confidence in the use of quantitative skills, with a number of interns going on to undertake data led dissertations and specialize further at postgraduate level.