Internships with Portuguese Speakers: Leadership, Organisational Culture and the Current Brain Drain

Matilde Macedo (), Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira, Cicero Eduardo Walter and Ana Moreira
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Matilde Macedo: Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira: INESC TEC—Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Cicero Eduardo Walter: GOVCOPP—The Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies, Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Ana Moreira: School of Psychology, ISPA-Instituto Universitário, 1149-041 Lisbon, Portugal

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-17

Abstract: Doing internships is increasingly common in Portugal, often being regarded as a prerequisite for entering the labour market. This trend reinforces the need to understand the interns’ perception of the ideal characteristics for this type of experience, in order to stop (or at least slow down) the brain drain that is currently felt. This exploratory research aims at reflecting on how organisations can contribute to successful internships. Themes such as the leadership and organisational culture of the host entity are addressed, areas which have been debated less often in the current literature. Our quantitative research was based on a survey, which obtained 143 responses from individuals with internship experience. Data were analysed using descriptive, reliability, inferential, and multiple linear regression analysis. The results from this study showcased a tendency toward servant leadership (in detriment to paternalistic or autocratic leadership) as being the most appropriate leadership style for an internship. It was also possible to emphasise some important points in an internship experience, including remuneration (desired by the interns) and the tasks performed (the interns want to be given responsibilities and meaningful work during their internship). Some of the results obtained are according to the state-of-the-art, however, others diverge.

Keywords: survey; interns’ perceptions; servant leadership; horizontal culture; brain drain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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