With the continuous growth of tourism, there is an increased need for qualified human resources. High turnover rates of employees working in tourism and hospitality have been reported in the literature, occurring frequently in the first years working in those industries. Career expectations and work conditions have been indicated as possible causes for this. For many undergraduate students, internships are the first professional contact and can play a role in shaping career expectations. The aim of this study is to perform a bibliometric analysis of scientific production dealing with these issues, namely internships or career expectations in the context of undergraduate students in the areas of hospitality and tourism. The Scopus database was used to search and collect papers and R Studio software, with the Biblioshiny platform, was used in the analysis. A total of 270 scientific articles were exported, and content analysis was applied to the 10 most cited articles. It was verified that there has been an increased interest in these topics since 2018, with 50% of the production being from this period. The top production country was USA, followed by China. The journals that published the most were Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, and Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education. The keyword used with more frequency was internships. Positive and negative points are mentioned about working in the hotel and restaurant sector, and it becomes clear that knowing students’ expectations makes it easier for them to be welcomed by the employer. The importance of internships is highlighted, although a lack of enthusiasm among the students is noticed. A number of future studies are indicated by various authors. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.
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