Summer Experience Survey 2013 Abridged Version

Prepared December 2013 in partnership with the Vanderbilt Institutional Research Group

1 ❚ SUMMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY 2013

Table of Contents Overview ............................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. 3 Participants & Summer Activities .......................................................................................... 4 Activity Comparison .............................................................................................................. 4 Internship Locations ............................................................................................................. 5 Popular Internship Sites ....................................................................................................... 5 Internship Compensation ...................................................................................................... 6 Methods for Finding Internships ........................................................................................... 7

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Overview The Summer Experience Survey (SES) is generated annually by the Center for Student Professional Development to determine what types of activities Vanderbilt undergraduates were engaged in during the summer. These activities include: internships, jobs, study abroad, academic research, academic coursework and musical training/performance. The primary focus of this abridged report is to provide information regarding internships to Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff. For a full breakdown by school, email [email protected] to request an unabridged version of the report.

Executive Summary The 2013 survey was conducted during August and September and was distributed to students entering either their second, third, or fourth year of study in one of the four undergraduate colleges: Blair School of Music, College of Arts & Science, Peabody College, and the School of Engineering. In compiling the data for each individual school, many students chose multiple summer activities. Please note that if a respondent logged two of the same activity, the number of respondents or majors was not double counted, but the information from their activity (i.e. internship pay rate, respondent graduation year, top location) was counted separately. Key findings include:  A total of 1,648 (33.3%) students responded to the survey this year, compared to the 1,684 (33.9%) in 2012.  Internships (defined here as a position taken for the purpose of “exploring a given career field” or “preparing for future studies or employment”) were the most common summer activities for students followed by summer jobs (positions that are not “career focused”).  When asked how they obtained their internships, the majority of students said they used personal networking via family and friends primarily (53.4%), visiting employer websites (17.6%), networking with work/professional contacts (17.2%), directly through The Center’s events/contacts (13.1%) and faculty (9.9%). Personal networking was the most common means for finding internships from 2008-2013.  Compensation varied; 61.1% of internships were paid, 30.8% were unpaid, 6.3% were for academic credit, and 1.8% chose not to respond.  Top locations for internships were Nashville, New York, Washington D.C., Houston, and Chicago.

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Participants & Summer Activities In total, 33.9% (1,684) of all Vanderbilt sophomores, juniors, and seniors completed the 2013 SES. Of the 1,648 respondents, 44.1% indicated completion of an internship during the summer, while 37.8% held jobs. The table below shows the breakdown of summer activities. Please note: students completing their HOD internships required for graduation are removed from the compiled data. Activity*

# of Students

% of Respondents

Internship

727

44.1%

Summer Job

623

37.8%

Traveling (not study abroad) or Time Off

523

31.7%

Volunteer Service

283

17.2%

Study Abroad

165

10.0%

Academic Research

159

9.6%

Classes at Another Institution

139

8.4%

Classes at Vanderbilt

106

6.4%

Other or None of the Above

105

6.4%

Musical Training/Performance

43

2.6%

Summer Activities* Comparison 2011-2013 900

Number of Students

800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Internship

Summer Job

Travel/Time Off

Volunteering

Study Abroad

Academic Research

Summer Classes

Other

Musical Training/ Performance

2013

727

623

523

283

165

159

245

105

43

2012

836

585

524

258

182

175

255

96

33

2011

750

691

604

344

203

205

325

138

44

*Respondents were able to select multiple activities.

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Internship Locations Students interned at a variety of locations, including locations outside the U.S. The table below outlines the number of internships by geographic region. Region

# of Students

Percentage

Southeast

258

35.5%

Northeast

141

19.4%

Midwest

85

11.7%

Southwest/West

81

11.1%

International

50

6.9%

Mid-Atlantic

46

6.3%

Northwest

15

2.1%

No Response

51

7.0%

Regions are broken out as follows: Southeast: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN Northeast: CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, RI, VT Midwest: IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI Southwest/West: AZ, CA, HI, NM, NV, OK, TX Mid-Atlantic: DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, WV Northwest: AK, CO, ID, MT, OR, UT, WA, WY International locations include: Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Peru, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, Togo, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Vietnam. Popular Internship Sites* Alvarez & Marsal Baker Hughes NBC Universal Microsoft Morgan Stanley

Procter & Gamble Schneider Electric Target Tennessee Dept. of Education U.S. Senate

Vanderbilt University Viacom Media Networks Warner Music Group YMCA

*Employers with 3 or more interns.

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Internship Compensation Of the 44.1% of respondents who completed an internship, 61.1% interned for pay, 30.8% interned for no pay, and 6.3% interned for academic credit. Almost 90% of the School of Engineering respondents who had internships received pay for them, about 10% were unpaid, and 1% received academic credit. The College of Arts & Science, Peabody College, and Blair School of Music respondents each had an approximate average of 52% paid, 42% unpaid, and 11% who received academic credit. The average salary for a paid internship was $16.47. Some students received stipends of varying amounts on a weekly, monthly, or bimonthly basis. This may have resulted in the averages being slightly lower than in reality. Furthermore, not all the students with internships reported their compensation status, which is reflected in the lower overall number of internships in the following chart. Compensation Type

# of Respondents

Average Wage/Hr

Percentage

464

-

61.1%

Senior

211

$15.50

27.8%

Junior

161

$22.74

21.2%

Sophomore

92

$8.88

12.1%

Unpaid

234

-

30.8%

For Academic Credit

48

-

6.3%

No Response

14

-

1.8%

Grand Total

760

$16.47

100%

Paid

The chart below shows the percentages of paid, unpaid, and academic credit internships by class (students graduating in the fall of 2013 and the spring of 2014, 2015, and 2016) for those respondents who provided their compensation information.

Internships By Class & Compensation Type 45.0% 40.0% 35.0% 30.0% 25.0%

Academic Credit

20.0%

Unpaid

15.0%

Paid

10.0% 5.0% 0.0%

Senior

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Junior

Sophomore

Methods for Finding Internships

How Students Found Their Internships* Family/Friends

388

Employer Website

128

Work/Professional Contacts

125

The Center**

95

Faculty

72 64

Online Job Posting Other Resource

58

Social Networking Sites

25

Alumni

25

*Students could select multiple responses. **This includes the following Center for Student Professional Development resources, listed in order of their frequency, as possible sources for finding an internship: DoreWays, employer on-campus recruiting, Center staff, the Internship Database, Center programs, and UCAN postings (an internship exchange between 22 of the top private colleges and universities in the U.S).

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