Work-integrated learning in non-professional degrees: evidence from twelve cohorts of social sciences internships in Hong Kong

This study examines how credit-bearing internships embedded in social sciences programmes can foster career readiness and improve graduate employability among undergraduates in Hong Kong’s performance-driven higher education system. Drawing on thematic analysis of longitudinal data from five sources across twelve cohorts (2012–2023), comprising student evaluation surveys, internship partner feedback, faculty reflective records, programme committee minutes, and internship operation documents, we trace how internship experiences evolved across four developmental phases: formative implementation, consolidation and expansion, pandemic disruption, and post-pandemic adjustment. Guided by Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning theory and Holmes’ (2013) graduate employability model, the analysis identifies five recurring thematic categories: expectation alignment, skill development, theory-practice integration, supervision and assessment, and institutional mediation, whose relative salience shifts across phases rather than remaining stable. Our findings demonstrate that internship effectiveness depends not on placement alone, but on sustained tripartite collaboration among students, faculty, and partner organisations, and on active institutional mediation. The study further shows that internship provision can generate unequal learning conditions where placements differ in task quality, supervision, and financial support. The study contributes to international debates on work-integrated learning in non-vocational degree programmes and offers transferable insights for practitioners in comparable higher education contexts.