The Rise of Remote Global Internships: Promising Practices and the Implications for Career Readiness

This paper provides insight into the role of remote global internships in providing experiential educational opportunities for university students and the potential role these internships have in developing students’ skills acquisition, global citizenship, and career readiness.  The first section provides an overview of the definitions used to describe in-person and remote global internship experiences including relative benefits and challenges.  It then outlines the three analytical frames of remote global internships: skills acquisition, global citizenship, and career readiness. Through an analysis of recent findings from global internship program providers as well as others, we describe promising practices for supporting remote global internships applicable to all members of the international education community – universities, employers, and third-party providers alike. This paper aims to contribute to the conversation on the possible role of remote global internships to widen the space of availability for students to gain international work experiences while remaining in their home country and the relative benefits of these experiences both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.