Cooperative Education and Internships at the Threshold of the Twenty-First Century

Work-based education is at a critical juncture. Both the popular press and management texts claim that the notion of career as it has been historically known, where worker loyalty was repaid with a lifetime job with a single firm, is gone forever (Goleman, 1998; Lewis, 2000; Tulgan, 1995). Rather, young workers find they need skills to manage their own careers. Many are discovering that the traditional college setting of classrooms plus dorm life may not prepare them well to become successful workers in a competitive new environment. Students, colleges, and employers are all asking how young people can be prepared better for these challenges.