The impact of internship experience on the employability of vocational students: a bibliometric and systematic review

Abstract

Employability is a primary priority for vocational students in the competitive labor market, as it is essential to meet the demands of globalization and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. However, there is still limited research on the trends and developments, as well as systematic reviews available on this topic. This study aims to examine research trends and develop a conceptual framework related to the impact of internship experiences and employability, including its dimensions and indicators. This study reviews 23 articles published between 2009 and 2023 in the Scopus database, which appeared in 15 international journals. The research was analyzed using bibliometric and systematic review methods, employing Biblioshiny and VOSviewer software. The findings indicate that the highest publication trend occurred in 2022, with 5 published articles. The most productive country is the United States, with a total of 229 documents. Meanwhile, the most cited journal is Education and Training from Emerald Group Publishing. The author with the most citations is Irwin, Ami, with a total of 220 citations. The most developing topics, based on the thematic map, are student satisfaction, experiential learning, employers, and internship programs, which are dimensions of internship experience impacting the employability of vocational students. The implications of this research will assist stakeholders, industries, vocational education, the government, and researchers in policy formulation and curriculum development that are relevant to the needs of the labor market.

Keywords

• Internship experience
• employability
• vocational students
• student satisfaction
• experiential learning
• employer