Obstacles and Challenges for the Implementation of Internship in Bachelor of Psychology

Abstract Introduction: Internship is an important approach in connecting the theoretical world of the university and the practical world of students to complete their knowledge and skills. The purpose of the research is to investigate the Obstacles and challenges for the Implementation of Internship in undergraduate psychology. Methods: This study adopted a mixed approach. In the qualitative section, interviews were conducted with 28 experts, faculty members, psychologists and graduate students who were selected using a purposive random sampling method. The statistical population of the quantitative section of this study was 5th-8th grade students in 2017-2018 and graduates of 2014-2017 in psychology, 150 of them were selected by stratified random sampling method. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and researcher-made questionnaires. Content validity was used to determine the validity of the interview and the questionnaire, and to determine the reliability of the questionnaire, Cranach’s alpha coefficient was used. Results: The results of a Quantitative part of the research showed that the most important obstacle in the successful implementation of internship is the lack of attention of academic authorities to the practical lessons and the lack of cooperation between universities and non-academic centers for conducting internships. Participants in the interview also emphasized on the lack of seriousness of internship and inconsistency between the university and society as the most important barrier. Conclusions: Identifying the barriers and challenges of implementing internships can help design and develop appropriate programs, solve the problems, and ultimately lead to better student achievement in professional capacities.