Educators and parents have long recognized the need for gifted students to have program options available that match student interests with opportunities to gain in-depth knowledge through interactions with professionals in real-life settings. Through internships, described in this entry, students are able to work side by side with professionals in a field of interest. The purpose of an internship is to explore an area of interest as well as to gain experience in a field that might become a future career.

Internships during the junior or senior year in college have been quite common for many years. At the college level, internships are viewed as a way for students to see the knowledge gained in courses taken earlier in their college career translated into the world ...