Enhancing graduate employability through extended internships in vocational higher education: Evidence from Türkiye

Developing countries face significant challenges in bridging the education-employment gap, with youth unemployment remaining a persistent development concern. Traditional short-term internships in higher education often prove insufficient for meaningful skill development and sustainable employment outcomes. Using a quasi-experimental longitudinal design, this study examined the long-term effects of internship duration on graduate employment outcomes in Türkiye, an upper-middle-income developing country. We compared 354 higher education graduates over five years post-graduation from two structurally similar universities: one implementing an extended internship model (3 +1 program with 16 weeks workplace experience) and another maintaining traditional short-term formats (30 working days). A psychometrically validated 11-item scale assessed vocational skill acquisition through internship experiences. Graduates with extended internship experience demonstrated significantly higher skill acquisition scores (Mean Rank = 266.60 vs. 103.18) and employment rates (75.2 % vs. 56.3 %) five years post-graduation. Logistic regression analysis revealed that participation in the extended program increased employment probability by 1.078 times, with each additional internship day contributing 0.196 points to skill development. The sustained employment advantages observed five years later indicate lasting human capital development effects. These findings provide empirical evidence for developing countries implementing educational reforms to enhance graduate employability and contribute to economic development goals. The threshold effect observed suggests that minimum duration requirements are essential for effective work-based learning programs. Results offer valuable insights for other upper-middle-income countries pursuing similar human capital development strategies through educational innovation.