The Impact of Internship on Undergraduate Psychology Students’ Ethical Sensitivity and Reasoning

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a year-long internship on undergraduate psychology students’ ethical sensitivity and reasoning using a repeated-measures design. Students’ ethical sensitivity was measured by the Quick Racial and Ethical Sensitivity Test and ethical reasoning was measured by the Defining Issues Test -2. Based on the analysis, the internship experience had a positive effect on students’ ethical sensitivity, whereas the effect on ethical reasoning was not as expected. Examination of the internship experiences has the potential to inform curricula design, especially with the national interest in assessing students learning outcomes in higher education. o most college students, the transition from college to work place is a significant challenge. As undergraduates, individuals usually get frequent feedback for their performance through grades and comments from faculty members and one’s peers. The programs they major in typically are highly structured and provide detailed directions. They have flexible schedule which give them more control over their time and the interests they purse. The focus is their own development and growth. However, as employees, the feedback individuals receive at the workplace is usually less frequent and detailed. They usually work in less structured environments and multi-task with fewer directions. More importantly, they usually encounter complex problems or situations which often do not have a single right answer. Internships, which are structured and supervised professional experiences in an approved organization or agency where students earn academic credit upon completion of the experience (Inkster & Ross, 1995), as one form of experiential learning, has the potential to enhance undergraduates’ development and growth. While students are still in college, internships provide them the opportunities to develop skills (better time management, better communication skills, better self-discipline) that will improve their college performance (Knouse, Tanner, & Harris, 1999). On the other hand, internships also provide students the opportunities for them to focus on their career choices and hone their job skills (Knouse et al., 1999). As Brown and Murphy (2005) stated, in the last two decades, college and university internship courses have been cited as being vital to securing satisfactory job placement in a variety of fields including psychology, sociology, business, journalism, mass communication and librarianship. Consequently, T 109 Psychology Journal, 2014, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 108-117 internships are one way that undergraduates can be more effectively prepared for the transition to the workplace. Given its importance, different professionals have investigated the impact of undergraduate internships from multiple aspects. For example, how valuable is the internship experiences according to the students? What is the relationship of internship experiences and subsequent job opportunities? How valuable is the internship experience from the employer’s perspective? What is the impact of internship experiences on students’ ethical sensitivity? What is the impact of internship experiences on students’ ethical reasoning? Some researchers have evaluated the impact of internships from the students’ perspective. Williams and Alawiye (2001) sought teacher education undergraduates’ feedback on their year-long internship experiences (N = 13). Based on the participants’ comments, it appeared that the students got a better grasp of the course content from the internship experiences and the majority of the students also thought that they improved significantly in social interactions (e.g., ability to work as a team member, ability to speak publicly). However, more than 60% of the students didn’t believe they received adequate feedback from their supervisors. In addition, nearly 50% of the students didn’t think their journal writing promoted their self-assessment and reflection. According to the students, what promoted self-assessment and reflection was the conference and planning with the mentor teachers. Ross and Elechi (2002) explored criminal justice students’ views and attitudes regarding their internship experiences. The internship experiences involved about 100 hours in the field, a daily journal that recorded the activities they engaged in, and a research paper. Based on the analysis of self-report surveys, the findings indicated that students regarded internship as invaluable in preparing them for their careers. For example, students believed that they benefited tremendously from the internship experiences because they had come to understand the requirement for the profession and consequently they were able to make an informed decision on their career choices. Many students developed an appreciation of the workings and challenges of a particular job. In addition, student interns developed enhanced appreciation of knowledge they learned in the classroom after applying the knowledge in a professional setting. Brown and Murphy (2005) interviewed undergraduate students majoring in Information Studies after they completed their 135 hours internship. The researchers investigated the importance to the internship of the participants’ prior knowledge, communication and interpersonal skills, and ability to work independently. Based on the feedback from the participants, student interns believed that courses in the area of communication, speech, and psychology were critical to the success of the internship experiences because those courses improved their interpersonal skills. Rothman (2007) examined business students’ evaluation of their internship and based on the analysis, it seemed that students held very positive views of their internships. Some researchers have explored the relationship between internship and subsequent job opportunities. Knouse, Tanner, and Harris (1999) looked at the relation of internship and college performance as well as subsequent job opportunities and based on the results, compared with students without internship experiences, students with internships had a significant higher overall grade point average and were more likely to be employed upon Psychology Journal, 2014, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 108-117 110 graduation. The researchers concluded that internships are associated with both better college performance and improved opportunities for finding a job upon graduation. Gault, Redington, and Schalger (2000) conducted a study of internship experiences and career success. Based on the feedback provided by about 500 undergraduate business alumni, the researchers found that alumni with internship experiences got job offers sooner, had a higher starting salary, reported higher degree of job satisfaction, and received faster promotion compared to alumni without internship experiences. Gault, Leach, and Duey (2010) conducted a study to examine the perceived value of the internship experience, the effects of intern performance on internship value perceptions, and on employment selection and compensation from the employers’ perspective. The results indicated more full time opportunities for undergraduates with internship experiences. Moreover, while even average-performing interns were significantly more likely to receive full-time job offers than non-interns, high-performing interns were more likely to receive higher starting salaries and high intern performance also resulted in enhanced employer-perceived value of the internship program. Duckett and Ryden (1994) examined the impact of internship on students’ ethical sensitivity. They suggested that a student’s ethical sensitivity can be enhanced through internship when internship fosters perspective taking and empathy. Other researchers examined the impact of internship on students’ ethical reasoning development. Watson (1995) investigated the effects of an early internship experience on ethical reasoning abilities of undergraduates who are considering teaching as a profession. The curriculum is based on cognitive-developmental theory, perspectivetaking, and guided reflection. For the first six weeks, students met for 75 minutes twice a week and after that students began their internship and met once a week in a seminar for the rest of the semester. In the seminar class, students engaged in reflection and roletaking. There was also a weekly journal requirement for the students to engage in further self-reflection. The researcher proposed that through role-taking experiences, opportunities to reflect with the field supervisors and instructors, and with support and challenge from the instructor and peers, ethical reasoning development will occur. Results indicated that there was a significant gain of ethical reasoning ability among the participants. Watson concluded that when an early internship was designed based on a cognitive developmentally theoretical framework; undergraduates are expected to grow ethically to be able to understand the profession in an ethical context. Porco (2003) investigated the relationship between undergraduate accounting students’ cognitive ethical development and internship experiences and based on the self-reported survey, the researcher found that students with more than one year internship experience achieved higher stage of cognitive ethical development compared with students with short-term internship experiences. Craig and Oja (2013) investigated ethical reasoning changes among undergraduates in a recreation management internship experience utilizing DIT-2. The participants were 33 interns enrolled in the 14-week internship. Based on the results, there was a significant decrease in personal interest schema score and a significant increase in post-conventional schema score, which indicated that at the end of the 14week internship, participants tended to reject the more simplistic and biased judgments and they prefer judgments based on ethical purposes. These studies provide evidence that 111 Psychology Journal, 2014, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 108-117 ethical development, especially ethical sensitivity and reasoning, can be an expected outcome of programs where internship is mandatory. Although the impact of internship on undergraduate students has been explored in various fields, in psychology, internship is not mandatory for undergraduate students. Consequently, there is a paucity of research that specifically addresses the impact of internship on undergraduate psychology students. Prentice-Dunn and Roberts (1985) described an intensive 6-week summer internship which was intended to more effectively prepare minority undergraduates for graduate study. They concluded that due to the extensive feedback the interns received, the research internship would provide valuable experience to all undergraduates considering pursuing advanced degree in psychology. Arnold, Auburn, and Ley (1995) investigated the effects of internship on psychology undergraduates’ personal development (self-esteem, career decidedness, and self-rated abilities). The average internship experience was 43 weeks with students reporting working 30 to 40 hours per week. The results did not provide evidence that the internship had a significant positive impact on students’ self-esteem or career decidedness and there was modest impact of the internship on students’ self-rated abilities. Arnold proposed that internship must be carefully designed if it is to enhance students’ personal development. Specifically, a) the internship experiences have to be viewed by the students as challenging; b) the internship experiences provide work autonomy which will be a sign that the student is being trusted and respected at the placement organization or agency; and c) students experience support from staff in the placement organization or agency. Within the existing literature of the impact of internship on psychology undergraduate students, no study has been specifically focused on students’ ethical sensitivity and reasoning. Rest’s (1982) Four Component Model of moral development, a cognitivedevelopmental model, served as the theoretical framework guiding the current study. The four components are: ethical sensitivity, ethical reasoning, ethical motivation, and ethical character. Ethical sensitivity is a psychological process in which one needs to make interpretation of a particular situation, decide on what actions are possible, and understand how all the involved parties will be affected. Ethical Reasoning is a psychological process in which one needs to decide what is ethically right and what is ethically wrong in a particular situation. Ethical motivation is a psychological process in which one needs to prioritize ethical values over personal interest. Ethical character refers to one’s ability to follow through with one’s ethical choice (Rest, 1982). Rest (1982) pointed out that each component is developmental in nature. The internship experience, as an intentional educational intervention, offers an ideal opportunity for the interns to experience ethical issues and practice ethical decision-making. Therefore it is reasonable to speculate that both ethical sensitivity and reasoning will be responsive to educational intervention. Prior research has studied the impact of internship in different fields, but there are no studies specifically focused on the impact of internship on undergraduate psychology students’ ethical sensitivity and reasoning. A major contribution of the current study is to extend what we know about the impact of a year-long internship on undergraduate psychology students’ ethical sensitivity and reasoning as well as the implication for internship as an educational intervention tool. 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