Learning to labour: an evaluation of internships and employability in the ICT sector

• Author: Laura Galloway,Shiona Chillas,Abigail Marks
• Date: 01 March 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12041
• Published date: 01 March 2015

Learning to labour: an evaluation of

internships and employability in the

ICT sector

Shiona Chillas, Abigail Marks and Laura Galloway

The employability of graduates is often reduced to lists of

de-contextualised skills that graduates may or may not have

and which may or may not translate to prized graduate posi-

tions. Recently, internships have become the way in which

graduates acquire and demonstrate work-readiness to poten-

tial employers. This article examines a particular type of

internship in the ICT sector, namely placements incorporated

in degree education. The findings suggest that while internships

can enhance employability and indeed be a mechanism for

accessing permanent jobs, more often, instead of ‘learning to

labour’, interns are expected to be productive workers. A mini

labour market operates at the undergraduate level that advan-

tages those already possessed of the required soft skills. The

emphasis on soft skills signals a shift in the nature of ICT work

with attendant implications for education of workers in this

sector, revealed by anchoring employability to particular

labour process(es).

Keywords: ICT work, internships, employability, skills

acquisition, graduate labour market, social class.

Introduction

In the context of a graduate labour market, employability represents the aspirations

of a number of parties concerned with the transition from higher education to work.

Policymakers are keen to realise the knowledge economy vision by increasing the

supply of graduates, and less keen to intervene in demand for graduates (Ashton and

Sung, 2011); universities are interested in graduate destinations, used as a measure-

ment criterion in rankings (Marginson, 2006); educators consequently become

involved in including transferable skills into curricula (David, 2011). Meanwhile,

Shiona Chillas (sac30@st-andrews.ac.uk) is Lecturer in Management in the School of Management,

University of St Andrews. Her research interests are in skills acquisition and deployment, graduate

employability, creative industries. She has published in Organization, Employee Relations. Abigail

Marks (a.marks@hw.ac.uk) is Professor of Work and Employment Studies and Director of the Centre

for Work and Wellbeing at Heriot-Watt University. Her areas of research interest are around identity,

social class and stratification, wellbeing at work, ICT work and employability. She has published in

many journals including Human Relations, British Journal of IndustrialRelations, Work, Employment

and Society and Critical Perspectives on Accounting. LauraGalloway (l.galloway@hw.ac.uk) is Profes-

sor of Business and Enterprise at Heriot-Watt University. Her research interests are entrepreneurship

and small businesses including motivationsand the diversity of the entrepreneurial experience. She has

published in International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, International Small Business

Journal, Journal of Small Business & Enterprise.

New Technology, Work and Employment 30:1

ISSN 0268-1072

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd ICT sector internships and employability 1