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Mar 07, 2022The Influence of Social Class on Internship Participation and Outcomes in Higher Education: The case of Hong Kong
- Published Year : 2023
- Authors : Li Ka Ho & Pui Yan Flora Lau
ABSTRACT
Internships have been widely recognized as an effective channel for
enhancing the employability of higher education (HE) students.
Accordingly, any inequality in internship opportunities may lead to
inequality in students’ employability and future social positioning. Using
Bourdieu’s three forms of capital, this study explores how students’ under-
standing and engagement in internship is affected by the differential
resources available in their respective social class position and thus, the
implications for the persistence of social reproduction in the future.
Through in-depth interviews with eight HE students and three alumni
from HE institutions in HK, we found that middle-class respondents
engage in HE with cultural and social capital that motivate and facilitate
their disposition and capacity to involve in internship. For working-class
respondents, while a mismatched cultural disposition curtails their sense
of utility, a lack of social capital limits their capacity to participate in
internship. This study contributes to ongoing discussion on the relation-
ship between social classes and education via the lens of internship
involvement by providing evidence for the unequal playing field of intern-
ship for students of different social class positions.
