A Qualitative Study of the Association between Internship Activities and Development of Soft Skills for Accounting Intern

The topic under study was the skills gap and how participation in an internship program helps those students develop the soft skills desired by employers. The problem is that the skills gap continues to exist even though initiatives have been put in place to reduce the gap. Employers and accounting graduates are both impacted by this problem because accounting graduates are not contributing immediately as needed by employers. The purpose of the study was to gather information from employers about the tasks interns complete during formal internships to assess which tasks help develop specific soft skills. The grounded theory qualitative study incorporated activity theory as the guide for the research procedures. The interviews were semi-structured and conducted at the participant's location of choice. The research design was a qualitative grounded theory method along with activity theory. After the interviews were completed the interview notes were typed and imported in to NVivo for analysis. Research question No. 1 was regarding the activities performed by interns and the skills they develop on-the-job. The data from the interviews were analyzed and it was determined hierarchical structure and forced interactions were two key themes that influenced the development of soft skills. For research question No. 2, it was determined corporate culture was a common influence for interns and had a significant effect on the development of soft skills. The intent of research question No. 3 was to gather information about employers' perceptions of soft skills gained during internship and employers indicated they noticed changes in the skills developed in interns from the start of the internship to the end. Accountants require various skills to be successful in the profession and employers of interns rated the nine soft skills in this study at 4.17 or higher on a 5-point Likert scale. The potential implications of the results may cause educators and professionals to reconsider need to incorporate on-the-job training as part of the curriculum or to provide more internship opportunities. A recommendation for future research would be to compare internships at public accounting to those in industry to determine if there are any differences in the findings.