{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T21:46:05Z","timestamp":1778017565226,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]],"date-time":"2021-10-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1634774400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Education Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>An essential aspect of higher education institutions\u2019 academic curricula for engineering courses is the students\u2019 industrial internship programs. In the literature, it is well accepted that such programs provide valuable learning outcomes and increase the graduates\u2019 employment prospects. Thus, it is paramount to evaluate the internship programs\u2019 quality to identify opportunities to improve their design and implementation. However, that evaluation typically depends on self-designed academic assessment surveys of questionable validity. The purpose of this paper is to assess engineering students\u2019 perceptions of their internship experiences. For that purpose, the validation of a recently adapted version of the Work Experience Questionnaire (WEQ) was carried out on a sample of 447 engineering students that participated in industrial internship programs offered by Portuguese public universities and polytechnic schools. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to confirm the suitability of the model proposed by the WEQ\u2019s authors on this study\u2019s sample. The psychometric qualities were evaluated through convergent and discriminant validity. The results showed that the model fit the sample well, and convergent and discriminant validity was established. The general competencies subscale was the most important for the participants\u2014specifically, the competency of solving problems. Differences concerning the WEQ and gender, company size, and compensation were found and discussed. This study provides researchers in the field with a new tool validated explicitly for engineering students.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/educsci11110671","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]],"date-time":"2021-10-21T14:37:48Z","timestamp":1634827068000},"page":"671","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Engineering Students\u2019 Industrial Internship Experience Perception and Satisfaction: Work Experience Scale Validation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9904-7527","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Teresa","family":"Nogueira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of Porto (P. Porto), R. Dr. Ant\u00f3nio Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Center for Innovation in Engineering and Industrial Technology (CIETI), Polytechnic Institute of Porto, R. Dr. Ant\u00f3nio Bernardino de Almeida 431, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2835-3169","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jos\u00e9","family":"Magano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Higher Institute of Business and Tourism Sciences, Rua de Cedofeita, 285, 4050-180 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Higher Research Center in Business and Economics (CICEE), Universidade Aut\u00f3noma de Lisboa, Rua Sta. Marta 47, 5\u25e6 Andar, 1150-293 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3304-7967","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eunice","family":"Font\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of Porto (P. Porto), R. Dr. Ant\u00f3nio Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Interdisciplinary Studies Research Center (ISRC), R. Dr. Ant\u00f3nio Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3997-3251","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marina","family":"Sousa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of Porto (P. Porto), R. Dr. Ant\u00f3nio Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Interdisciplinary Studies Research Center (ISRC), R. Dr. Ant\u00f3nio Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0560-1756","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"\u00c2ngela","family":"Leite","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Human and Social Sciences (ECHS), University of Tr\u00e1s-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.1080\/03075079.2016.1144181","article-title":"The million-dollar question: Can internships boost employment?","volume":"43","author":"Silva","year":"2018","journal-title":"Stud. High. Educ."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"(2021, September 15). INE Statistics Portugal. 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