The effectiveness of internship programs in the transition from school to work: The case of Sakarya University

The transition from school to work, which took place smoothly in the golden age of capitalism, has become a problem even in developed countries since the 1970s. Growth without employment, which became a current issue with the neo-liberal policies implemented after the 1970s, makes the transition from school to work difficult, while also the lack of functional link between education and the labor market and the inadequacy of active employment policies make the transition from school to work difficult. Internship, which is one of the methods used to facilitate the transition from school to work, both increases the employability of the young individual and also creates a pool of candidates for the employer in order to choose the best employee. On the Turkish labor market, where youth unemployment is high, the transition from school to work is a difficult process. In general, the transition period from school to work is long in Turkey and this process can be more difficult for young women. Also, for young people with low education, the transition from school to work can take a longer time. The internship programs implemented in Turkey show differences in the high school, undergraduate and graduate levels. Since the internships of 30 working days in vocational schools are not sufficient for young people, universities have developed various practices to improve the knowledge and skills of their students. The effectiveness of the "3 + 1" training program, which is one of these practices, has been evaluated in this study. A subject group was formed from the students who graduated from Sakarya University and participated in the "3 + 1" program, while the control group consisted of students who graduated from Kocaeli University and did not participate in the "3 + 1" program. Necessary analyzes were made in LISREL, SPSS and R software and it was concluded that the "3 + 1" program generally facilitates the transition from school to work. It was observed that the "3 + 1" program not only shortened the transition period from school to work, but also affected the method of finding the first job and increased the wage earned in the first job. However, the positive effects of the "3 + 1" program were not limited to the first job. It has been determined that it has also positive effects on labor market outputs such as current employment status, wages, registration with the Social Security Institution and extent of unionization.