Stories of resilience: The internship experiences of students from historically marginalized racial and ethnic communities in a world language program

Over the past two decades, higher education in the United States has experienced significant transformations, with universities increasingly prioritizing career readiness and integrating internships as a fundamental component of academic programs (National Association of Colleges and Employers [NACE], 2021). Moreover, the student population in U.S. universities has become more diverse (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2023), which has drawn more attention to issues of equity and access to career readiness initiatives, such as internships (Greenman et al., 2022). However, limited research exists on the internship experiences of students from historically marginalized racial and ethnic communities, such as Black, Latinx, and Afro-Latinx students, particularly in world language programs. Grounded in the principles of the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (National Standards Collaborative Board [NSCB], 2015), the Career Readiness Competencies (NACE, 2021), LangCrit (Crump, 2014), and community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005), the present qualitative case study investigated the internship experiences of eight college graduates who self-identify as Black, Latinx, or Afro-Latinx. The participants completed internships at four different sites as part of their French major at a Southeastern and urban university with a predominantly Black institution (PBI) designation. The research focused on internship outcomes, challenges faced by interns, and the strategies they employed to navigate their internships effectively. Data collected through internship presentations, internship written reflections, individual interviews, focus groups, and a questionnaire provides valuable insights into the internship experiences of world language students. The participants reported a wide range of outcomes as they relate to the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages and the Career Readiness Competencies, with some standards and competencies being emphasized more than others. Additionally, the participants experienced various challenges, some of which related to race, language, and identity, that were greatly informed by internship contexts. Finally, the study found that the participants were able to navigate their internships by using multiple forms of capital as outlined by Yosso (2005). Findings make unique contributions to the literature on internships and have important implications for internship stakeholders, offering recommendations for designing more accessible and equitable world language internships that cater to an increasingly diverse student population.