Foot in the Door: Developing Opportunities for Computing Undergraduates to Gain Industry Experience

The demand for skilled workers in computing continues to outpace the supply of qualified graduates. Despite the need, hiring can be challenging, both for employers seeking prospective employees and for students who may be unsure where to apply, daunted by technical interviews, and/or feeling the effects of imposter phenomena. In this experience report, we describe a program established to reduce some of these hurdles by pairing (n = 63) undergraduate students with (n = 7) companies to offer short-term computing internships, called a Sprinternship. Sprinternships eliminated the hurdle of technical interviews, provided students with training beforehand to offer foundational knowledge, and placed them in teams to work on challenge projects. We describe the details of the program and our investigation of its impact. Social Cognitive Career Theory guided the inquiry as we took a mixed-methods approach to understand the students' experiences and the potential impact on their self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and career goals. Quantitative analysis revealed a statistically significant increase in students' confidence in computing, something echoed in their open-ended responses. Thematic analysis further yielded that Sprinternships were meaningful in two major areas: Goals and Learning Experiences. The program aided in students' self-discovery, made them feel accomplished, and strengthened their industry ambitions. Responses also revealed positive and negative programmatic aspects to consider for future iterations. We hope that our description of the Sprinternships, findings, and recommendations can be useful to other practitioners looking to engage students with practical learning and enhance their graduate employability.