Rethinking Internship Experiences Following the COVID-19

The third mission of the university corresponds to a varied set of activities and initiatives that characterize the academic life of the institutions. In fact, the pursuit of third mission initiatives has become of crucial importance for university structures, also due to the decrease in resources available to institutions. It also includes a series of other initiatives of a socio-cultural and educational nature. We can refer to a wide range of initiatives that range from continuing education to job accompaniment, from the production and management of cultural heritage and archaeological excavations, from clinical trials to public engagement. With the third mission is therefore also defined the social role of the University and its civic engagement, which is realized in a series of activities that concern consultation and dissemination of content, collaborations and partnerships. The third mission therefore can also be understood as a form of social responsibility of the universities, or a form of social engagement or social dimension, precisely because it is believed that universities can actively contribute to the social, cultural and institutional development of a territory. However, the third mission activities related to this field have taken on very particular connotations due to the sudden changes that have occurred as a result of the pandemic that has profoundly transformed educational contexts, territorial contexts, the labor market and the traditional routines of carrying out professional activities. The present contribution, in line with other research experiences conducted both nationally and internationally, aims to present an analysis of the ways in which internship relationships have been redefined as a result of the pandemic, taking into account both students’ perspectives (perceptions of change due to the pandemic, evaluation of the ways in which work is carried out remotely, supervisor support) and the opinions of some stakeholders (host institutions that have had to redefine the ways in which traditional internships are carried out). All this because it is believed that the idea that the university can play an important social function, provided it is able to initiate actions of stakeholder engagement, can be established. The analysis follows a qualitative methodological framework and refers to the criteria adopted for the evaluation of the third mission (effectiveness of the actions implemented by universities within the local area of reference, comparison with national and international experiences, consultation with stakeholders involved in various ways).