Towards Post-study Employment in Australia: Do International Students Make the Most of Internships?

Abstract

Internships can effectively develop employability skills for students and foster their education-to-work transition. Internships are particularly beneficial for international students, who often choose to study overseas to enhance their employability and seek migration opportunities. This chapter reports findings from a systematic literature review that examines the empirical evidence on internship experiences of undergraduate international students (UIS) in Australia. Thematic analysis revealed insights into UIS’s perspectives on internship benefits, internship satisfaction/dissatisfaction, and factors influencing their experiences. Findings indicated that UIS faced challenges such as access to internships and support to work and learn in the internship. While the internship experiences varied between international students, they were significantly associated with their international student status. We discuss ways to improve the internship experiences of international students, as a contribution to developing quality skilled immigrants. We also recommend future research directions. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2026.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Internship Higher education Systematic literature review work-integrated learning International students Skilled migration Transition to work

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Mitchell Institute, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

ANU College of Business & Economics, Canberra, ACT, Australia

Faculty of English for Specific Purposes, Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Viet Nam

REK Institute for Research on Education and Knowledge Transfer, Thanh Do University, Hanoi, Viet Nam

Funding & Acknowledgements

No funding information

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Towards Post-study Employment in Australia: Do International Students Make the Most of Internships?

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