The EnterMode experience of Pegaso Online University

Between February and April 2021, six students enrolled at the Pegaso Online University carried out their one-month internship within the pilot experimentation of the EnterMode project.

Internships took place exclusively in virtual mode due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

Two students, Davide and Nicole, respectively enrolled in pedagogical sciences and in economics, were hosted by Astra, a Slovakian company dealing with the design of international projects and cooperation. With the support of their company mentor, Iveta Orbanova, the students had the chance to address a specific company challenge concerning the preparation of an international project proposal and enhance their entrepreneurial skills, such as working together, planning and management and financial and economic literacy.

A third student, Angelica, enrolled in the Faculty of Law, was hosted as intern in another Slovakian company, Ezus Via Carpatia, also dealing transnational and interregional cooperation. The main challenge in this case was the preparation of material concerning GDPR. She made an analysis of the European regulations and created both templates for business stakeholders and a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate to company employees’ their duties and responsibilities in this area. Dr. Tomas Malatinec, the company mentor, supported Angelica in improving her practical skills concerning her specific field of study, while enhancing her entrepreneurial competences such as creativity and mobilizing others.

Servizi Universitari, an Italian company based in Turin, hosted three students at the same time. Giovanna is enrolled in the faculty of pedagogy, while Federica and Giuseppe are studying economics. This internship gave to students having different study background, the chance to interact and collaborate on a comprehensive challenge that included elements of pedagogy and marketing science. Giovanna mainly focused her activity in providing relevant insight to help students in choosing their university field of study, taking into account their personal attitudes. Moreover, she defined a questionnaire aiming at evaluating whether the student’s profile is better suited for enrollment in a traditional university or an online university. Giuseppe and Federica provided a marketing plan for the company, including market segmentation and the definition of the promotion budget and channels. Students of course had the possibility to work together and to enhance their entrepreneurial competences such as valuing ideas, ethical and sustainable thinking and planning and management.

The company mentor, Dr. Claudia Pintus, stated: “It was my first virtual internship experience. I am really excited to have participated. It was a very productive teamwork in which I have tested concretely the possibility to implement entrepreneurial skills with a new model of internship that I highly recommend!”.