Stepping into the Workforce: Exploring the Work Immersion Experiences among Humanities and Social Sciences Students

The work immersion program for senior high school students in the Philippines is a crucial bridge between academic learning and practical application, equipping students with essential skills and experiences for future professional endeavors. However, there is a limited understanding of how students, particularly those in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), ascribe meaning to their work immersion, highlighting the need to explore their unique experiences. Thus, this study employed a qualitative descriptive phenomenological design to capture the shared experiences of HUMSS students during their work immersion in Leyte. Ten participants were selected through purposive sampling, and data were gathered via in-depth, semi-structured interviews, contextual field notes including participant background profiles, and reflections taken during and after the interview sessions. Thematic analysis by Clarke and Braun revealed five key themes that encapsulate the participants’ collective experiences: acquiring practical skills and knowledge, making self-adjustments to fit into the workplace, balancing enjoyment and learning in a professional setting, feeling pressured and work constraints, and valuing fairness in task assignments. These findings offer insights into educational institutions and partner industries, promoting equitable and skill-enriching work immersion programs that provide HUMSS students with diverse opportunities to acquire practical knowledge and skills aligned with real-world professional demands and their pursuit of higher education.