{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T05:55:40Z","timestamp":1790920540822,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790899200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Internships connect academic learning with workplace practice, yet the psychological process through which students' academic self-perceptions are associated with internship success remains insufficiently specified. This study examined whether multidimensional internship engagement statistically mediates the association between academic self-concept and internship outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A quantitative, multi-institutional, three-wave time-lagged survey was conducted with 522 undergraduate students from Chinese universities. Academic self-concept was assessed at internship entry, internship engagement at the internship midpoint, and internship outcomes after completion. Established instruments were adapted through forward translation, back-translation, expert review, and pilot testing. Confirmatory factor analysis, latent-variable structural equation modeling, 5,000-resample bootstrap mediation analysis, full-information maximum likelihood, robustness checks, and subgroup analyses were used.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The hypothesized three-factor measurement model fit better than the two-factor and one-factor alternatives. The structural model showed acceptable fit (CFI = 0.958, TLI = 0.953, RMSEA = 0.034, and SRMR = 0.044). Academic self-concept was positively associated with internship engagement, and internship engagement was positively associated with internship outcomes. The indirect association through internship engagement was 0.249 (95% bootstrap confidence interval: 0.184 to 0.319). The proportion mediated was 50.6% (95% bootstrap confidence interval: 39.4% to 62.6%), and the direct association remained statistically significant. The pattern was stable across alternative specifications and exploratory subgroup analyses.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Internship engagement statistically accounted for part of the association between academic self-concept and internship outcomes. The findings support a theoretically ordered, but not causal, pathway in which students' academic self-evaluations are associated with stronger behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement during workplace learning.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1924391","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T05:37:36Z","timestamp":1790919456000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The pathway to internship success: how academic self-concept and engagement shape outcomes in higher education"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yongrui","family":"Cui","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Computer Science and Engineering College, Dalian Minzu University","place":["Dalian, Liaoning, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"512","DOI":"10.23960\/jpp.v16i1.pp512-530","article-title":"Empowering the future workforce: how self-concept and career attitudes shape readiness among undergraduate interns","volume":"16","author":"Alifiana","year":"2026","journal-title":"J. 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