Navigating workplace realities: A sector-specific analysis of administrative internship challenges in South Africa

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Internships serve as an important bridge between academic learning and professional practice. However, their effectiveness varies across organizational settings. This exploratory study examines the sector specific challenges faced by administrative interns in South Africa, drawing on Human Capital Theory (HCT), Organizational Socialization Theory (OST), and the Job Demands-Resources model (JDR). Semi-structured interviews with seven interns revealed four dominant themes; bureaucratic and resource constraints, performance pressure and onboarding gaps, mentorship quality and learning curve, and cultural adaptation complexities. Public sector interns grapple with rigid hierarchies and slow decision making, while those in the private sector face high performance demands with limited support. Additionally, graduates interning in non-profit sectors, though exposed to diverse tasks, contend with resource scarcity and emotional fatigue. Across all sectors, inadequate mentorship, poor task-role alignment, and difficulty translating academic knowledge into practice emerged as critical barriers. The study advocates for structured, theory informed internship models that promote effective onboarding, inclusive cultures, and sustained mentorship. By addressing these systemic issues, higher education institutions and host organizations can enhance internship outcomes and better prepare graduates for workplace realities. This research contributes a multi-theoretical, sector specific perspective to the underexplored domain of administrative internships in South Africa.

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