Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused traditional in-person experiences in the arts to pivot to a remote format, vocational internships included. Remote internships not only give students additional opportunities to collaborate within a national and global context, but address typical equity concerns and potential barriers that students may face with an in-person experience. In this mixed-methods study, leadership effectiveness in Davis Shakespeare Festival’s (DSF) Digital Internship Program (DIP) was studied in the context of remote engagement. Four leaders were interviewed individually and seventeen internship participants completed a quantitative survey that measured perceived leadership effectiveness. Additionally, an ethnographic approach was used in order to measure company policies and procedures that promoted diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives. Using triangulation, findings concluded that despite having to pivot from an in-person internship experience to a online format, both company leadership and internship participants perceived leadership effectiveness as either very or extremely effective. Results also indicated that a online internship format did not negatively affect perceived leadership effectiveness or community building, despite the lack of in-person experiences. The value of this study lies in its evidence that internships in the arts can be effective even when operating remotely, thus finding innovative ways to fulfill traditional university internship requirements. As the findings suggest, one path to success is for organizations to continue to facilitate remote internship opportunities that foster collaboration, mentorship, empowerment, openness, diversity, equity, and accessibility and shy away from simply copying their traditional in-person experiences to a digital realm.
Presenters
Thomas AbruzzoArtistic and Community Engagement Coordinator, Davis Shakespeare Festival, United States Brittany Williams
Student, PhD Leadership Studies, University of San Diego , California, United States Susan Flaming Yeats
Family Nurse Practitioner, Family Medicine, TCC Family Health, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus - Transcending Social Distance: Emerging Practices in e-Learning
KEYWORDS
Internship, Leadership Effectiveness, Theatre, Virtual, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility
