How COVID-19 Affected the Academic Internship Experience
Abstract
My research paper examines the accounting interns’ perceptions of working in a remote
environment due to COVID-19, and how the employers demonstrated and/or showed interns the
firm’s or company’s culture. Specifically, I surveyed accounting students who participated in an
academic internship during the COVID-19 pandemic about their perceptions of their internship
firm’s culture, coaching and mentoring, networking opportunities, and positive and negatives
about their overall experience. My findings are important because internships are a key part of
firm’s talent acquisition and provides both interns and their respective firms an opportunity to
see whether the prospective employee or firm is a good fit. I find that interns had a generally
positive experience working in a remote environment. They expressed how they felt part of the
firm and were able to learn about and experience the firm’s culture, particularly through social
events and professional development opportunities. However, this positive experience was not
universal as some interns felt they needed more opportunities to network with professionals and
fellow interns, and more proactive career coaches. These findings could benefit firms as they
consider the future of remote work in their organization.