FEEDBACK AND INTERNSHIP OUTCOMES: STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF SUPERVISORY SUPPORT, MENTORSHIP, LEARNING AND CAREER PREPAREDNESS

Abstract

An internship is only as good as the guidance that comes with it. These placements are widely valued for connecting classroom theory to real workplace practice, but how much a student actually gains from one appears to depend heavily on the quality of the supervision and mentorship they receive along the way- a link that speaks directly to SDG 4’s goal of quality education. This study examines how management students perceived the supervisory support and mentorship they experienced during their internships, and how those perceptions related to their learning, professional growth, career readiness, and overall satisfaction with the internship. Primary data were collected from 398 management students drawn equally from five public and five private universities in Uttar Pradesh, India. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha, Spearman’s rank-order correlation, and the Mann–Whitney U test. The findings indicate generally favourable perceptions of supervisory support and mentorship, with the five-item scale demonstrating good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.795). Supervisory support was positively and significantly associated with learning satisfaction, real-world preparation, job preparedness, management confidence, professional development, career-goal clarity, and overall internship satisfaction (ρ = 0.480–0.580, p < .001). Mentorship quality also showed significant positive associations with career-related outcomes and overall satisfaction (ρ = 0.426–0.503, p < .001). Public–private differences were limited, with a significant difference observed only in mentorship quality. The study highlights the need for structured supervision, regular feedback, and meaningful mentoring arrangements to enhance internship effectiveness. Taken together, the findings point to a fairly simple conclusion: internships work better when supervision is structured, feedback is regular, and mentoring relationships are genuine.