‘Internmaxxing’ in Singapore ‘puts academic performance at risk’

A more competitive job market in Singapore is pushing undergraduates to stack up internships, but too much of a focus on job preparedness risks compromising academic performance, according to experts.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority, a statutory board responsible for Singapore’s digital transformation, has announced that 3,000 year-long internships will be rolled out over the next three years in partnership with Singaporean universities and polytechnics.

The renewed push to offer internships comes amid recent comments by Singapore prime minister Lawrence Wong that AI risks breaking the “bottom rung” of the career ladder by automating entry-level tasks, such as note taking, which young people would previously have done to gain experience.

According to the Ministry of Education, an undergraduate student in Singapore completes an average of two internships during their studies. But observers in the sector have said it is not uncommon for a student to do as many as six internships, many of which also carry academic credits that count towards their degree.

However concerns are growing that students are overlooking their studies in pursuit of practical work experience.

Linda Lim, professor emerita of Corporate Strategy and International Business at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, argued that “the more internships” a student secures “the less useful they are”.

This is because of the time it takes to find one, and because “they make you appear like a job-hopper, someone who is just collecting internships and perhaps neglecting their studies to do so”, Lim explained.

“For potential employers, you look like you don’t know what you’re doing, are ‘all over the place’ instead of focused.”

“It’s what you learn in an internship which is important – not how many internships you manage to get.”

According to Lim, employers pay attention to grades, and it is therefore “self-defeating” to let academic performance slide by “overinvesting in multiple internship searches”.

This is especially true if the internship does not convert into a full-time position on graduation. 

Pak Tee Ng, associate professor at the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), said some internship experience is “good” but added that “it is important to focus on education holistically, rather than to pursue the number of internships as a kind of ‘qualification’”.

Tee endorsed Lim’s view that student pursuit of internships should “shift from quantity to quality”.

“But this is not a question just for the young people or the universities but for the employers and the whole society as well, to recognise the worth of a person holistically.”

Gan Chee Lip, deputy provost (education) and professor at NTU, said internships can be helpful to students who want “a more experiential learning environment” and feel they can “learn more through the working environment rather than taking more courses”.

NTU started embedding internships as part of the formal curriculum for all degree programmes since 2021 and completing one internship is a graduating requirement.

Gan underscored the importance of internships offering “meaningful experience” and highlighted that many employers prefer taking students for “year-long internships”. He said shorter internships can be helpful for students who are not yet “clear” about what industry or job they wish to pursue. 

Eason Liu, a master’s student at National University of Singapore, said students’ desire to secure multiple internships stems from “a tough job market, limited employment opportunities and early career anxiety”.

“Many students feel they have to keep stacking internships if they aim for top employers or competitive postgraduate programmes, especially for business-related majors. We are even seeing things like unpaid internships yet many students still rush to take them.”

Liu added that, in Singapore, “many internship roles require prior internship experience”.

He said: “I do feel the pressure. I would worry about my job prospects if I had no internship experience at all, though I am also cautious about blindly collecting internships without clear direction.”

rosalind.skillen@timeshighereducation.com