Summer Experience Survey 2014 Abridged Version

Prepared December 2014 In partnership with the Vanderbilt Institutional Research Group

1 ❚ SUMMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY 2014

Table of Contents Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................... 3 Participants & Summer Activities ...................................................................................................... 4 Internship Locations .......................................................................................................................... 5 Popular Internship Sites .................................................................................................................... 5 Internship Compensation .................................................................................................................. 6 Methods for Finding Internships ........................................................................................................ 7

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, musical training and performance, traveling and time off, and volunteer service. The primary focus of this abridged report is to provide information regarding internships to Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff. To request an unabridged version of this report by school, send an email to: [email protected].

2 ❚ SUMMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY 2014

Executive Summary The 2014 Summer Experience Survey (SES) was conducted during August, September, and October and was distributed to students entering 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. Many students chose multiple summer activities. If a respondent chose two of the same activity (i.e. two internships or two research positions), the number of respondents or majors was not double counted, but the information from their activities (i.e. internship pay rate, respondent graduation year, top location) was counted separately. Key findings include: •

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”).

•

Students participating in academic research increased from 159 (9.6%) students in 2013 to 246 (15.2%) students in 2014.

•

When asked how they obtained their internships, the majority of students said they used personal networking via family and friends (54.3%), the Web (37.2%), The Center’s events/contacts (21.6%), previous internships (13.2%), alumni (9%), and faculty (7.4%). Usage of the Web for means of finding internships increased from 29.8% in 2013 to 37.2% in 2014. Additionally, the percentage of students using the Center’s resources rose 8.5 percentage points from 2013 to 2014.

•

Compensation varied; 65.3% of internships were paid, 25.1% were unpaid, 4.6% were stipends, 3.8% were for academic credit, and 1.2% chose not to respond.

•

Top locations for internships were Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, and Philadelphia.

SUMMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY 2014 ❚ 3

Participants & Summer Activities In total, 31.1% (1,634) of all Vanderbilt sophomores, juniors, and seniors completed the 2014 Summer Experience Survey. Of the 1,634 respondents, 47% completed an internship during the summer and 30.8% held jobs. The table below represents the breakdown of summer activities. Activity*

# of Students

% of Respondents

Internship

760

47.0%

Summer Job

498

30.8%

Traveling (not study abroad) or Time off

355

22.0%

Academic Research

246

15.2%

Volunteer Service

204

12.6%

Study Abroad

129

7.9%

Academic Coursework at Another Institution

110

6.7%

Classes at Vanderbilt

89

5.4%

Other or None of the Above

69

4.3%

Musical Training/Performance

42

2.6%

*The activity question was multiple response, students were allowed to choose more than one summer activity. It is possible for a student to have held an internship and a summer job during the summer.

Respondents could select multiple activities.

4 ❚ SUMMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY 2014

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

South

267

35.1%

Northeast

246

32.4%

Midwest

90

11.8%

West

74

9.7%

International

46

6.1%

Multiple Locations

2

0.3%

No Response

35

4.6%

Regions are broken out as follows: South: AR, AL, GA, FL, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV Northeast: CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT Midwest: IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI West: AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, HI, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA WY International locations include: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Liberia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, The Bahamas, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vietnam. Popular Internship Sites* AIG/American General AT&T Services, Inc. Baker Hughes Bank of America Merrill Lynch Citi Deloitte Deutsche Bank Epic Goldman Sachs Google HCA Healthcare Hospice Compassus JP Morgan

KIPP KPMG Microsoft Morgan Stanley NBCUniversal Nissan Raymond James & Associates St. Jude’s Research Hospital UBS U.S. House of Representatives Vanderbilt University Viacom Media Network

*Employers with three or more interns.

SUMMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY 2014 ❚ 5

Internship Compensation Of the 47% of respondents who completed an internship, 65.3% interned for pay, 25.1% interned for no pay, 4.6% interned with a stipend, and 3.8% interned for academic credit. The average wage per hour varied widely by type of work and within industries. Student interns working in finance had the largest variance in hourly wage, reporting $9.00 as the lowest hourly wage and $34.00 as the highest. Interns working for nonprofits and community organizations had the smallest variance with the lowest hourly rate at $9.00 and the highest at $12.00. A more in-depth analysis of internship wages by industry is available upon request through the Center. Compensation Type

# of Respondents

Average Wage/Hr.

Percentage

496

$15.85

65.3%

Senior

259

$17.93

34.1%

Junior

169

$13.70

22.2%

Sophomore

68

$12.83

8.9%

Unpaid

191

-

25.1%

Stipend

35

-

4.6%

For Academic Credit

29

-

3.8%

No Response

9

-

1.2%

Paid

The chart below shows the total paid, unpaid, stipend, and academic credit internships by college (Arts & Science, Engineering and Peabody) for those respondents who provided their compensation information. Blair School of Music was not included because only four Blair students completed internships. Very few respondents interned for academic credit. Over 90% of the respondents from the School of Engineering who interned had paid internships during the summer of 2014.

Internships by College and Compensation Type 450 400 350 300

Academic Credit

250

Stipend

200

UnPaid

150

Paid

100 50 0 Arts & Science

6 ❚ SUMMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY 2014

Peabody

Engineering

Methods for Finding Internships How Students Found Their Internships

Percentage of Students

60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0%

Family/ Friends

Web

The Center*

Previous Internship

Other Resources

Alumni

Faculty

2014

54.3%

37.2%

21.6%

13.2%

10.5%

9.0%

7.4%

2013

53.4%

29.8%

13.1%

17.2%

8.0%

3.4%

9.9%

2012

52.5%

26.4%

13.4%

22.1%

8.5%

5.7%

9.1%

Respondents 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, Center staff, Industry Career Days, information sessions, on-campus interviews, and UCAN postings (an internship exchange between 22 of the top private colleges and universities in the U.S.).

Center Resources Used To Find Internships Doreways

Center Staff

Industry Career Days

Information Sessions

On-Campus Interviews

UCAN 54.9%

34.1% 26.2% 24.4% 21.3% 3.0% 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

SUMMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY 2014 ❚ 7

Our Mission The Center for Student Professional Development helps students effectively develop their professional capabilities, define their identities, and build resilience as they prepare for employment in a rapidly changing world. To learn more about our services, visit us online at vanderbilt.edu/career.

Vanderbilt University Center for Student Professional Development PMB 407780 310 25th Avenue South, Suite 220 Nashville, TN 37240-7780 P: 615-322-2750 E: [email protected]