This internship helped me better understand myself. I discovered a passion for this field, immersing myself in research data.

Your internship project and responsibilities

As a Research Assistant intern, I completed a 100-hour internship at the Sheffield Students' Union. Under the guidance of the Director of Student Community Development, and Director of Data, Digital, and Marketing, I conducted research on the participation, perspectives, and suggestions of mature students and Chinese international students regarding Students’ Union activities.

I was responsible for designing the project plan, research methodology, and execution. I created surveys targeting mature students and Chinese students separately at the university, receiving responses from over 100 students. From the survey respondents, I selected 6 individuals for one-on-one interviews to gain deeper insights into their views on union activities.

Additionally, I conducted research with Students' Union event organisers (through surveys and interviews), society leaders, to analyse why participation among mature students and Chinese students is low, the challenges society leaders face in recruiting these groups, and the feasibility of proposed improvements to activities.

How did the skills and experiences you’ve built during your degree help you be successful in the role? 

My degree included several practical courses. For example, in the Managing Digital Projects module, I learned how to manage projects efficiently and how to clearly present project plans using Gantt charts. This was valuable in my role, as I needed to collaborate with others, schedule interviews with participants, and keep my managers informed of the project’s progress.

The analytical skills I acquired in the Language Analysis module, such as context and word frequency analysis, allowed me to identify common issues mentioned by interviewees. I highlighted these recurring themes in my final report.

Additionally, I took an Intercultural Communication module, which provided valuable insights. If the Students' Union needs to address barriers to recruiting ethnic minority students, it’s essential to consider how to foster better communication between students from different cultural backgrounds. This knowledge was directly applicable to my role, as I was able to draw upon what I learned in intercultural communication to enhance my work.

How will the organisation benefit from the work that you’ve done? 

On the one hand, I provided several recommendations to optimise activities based on the insights gathered from stakeholders. For example, multiple mature students expressed a desire for a physical space dedicated to socialising. I highlighted this feedback and noted, through research, that many other universities already offer such social spaces for mature students with positive outcomes. The Students' Union might consider exploring ways to meet this need.

On the other hand, I tailored different surveys for various student groups, and their responses could inform future focus group question design. For instance, I included open-ended questions in the survey for Chinese students, but of the 50+ responses, only 2 provided answers to these questions, which were very brief. This suggests that future surveys for Chinese international students might benefit from reducing open-ended questions and instead offering more predefined options.

How do you see this experience benefiting you in your future career? 

From a personal perspective, this internship helped me better understand myself. I discovered a passion for this field, immersing myself in research data to uncover the "what" and hypothesise the "why" and "how" behind it, then testing methods to address existing issues. I believe I’ll seek similar roles in the future. This experience also demonstrated that the skills I developed in China are transferable to the UK workplace.

Molly Hanson took on this intership alongside Huiting. Read about her experience 

About your student experience

Why did you choose to study Digital Humanities at Sheffield? 

I chose a program related to Digital Humanities because I recognize that digital technology is transforming the world and human behaviour. I want to understand digital technology and view it from a critical perspective, so I can better navigate how I interact with it.

What have you enjoyed learning about the most on your course?

What I enjoy most is when I find that the issues discussed in class or in the papers I read align with topics I’ve noticed before. For example, the “double charge” of social media or whether technology is truly neutral. Seeing these critical perspectives in class or in research helps me develop my own value system, which I find very exciting.

Additionally, I particularly enjoy learning how previous scholars have identified, analysed, and synthesise existing societal issues. For instance, in the Language Analysis course, we read an article that analysed word choice in Chinese newspapers to explore whether China is shifting from collectivism to individualism. I find that these kinds of studies offer new perspectives for viewing social issues.

What do you plan to do after graduation? Do you have a career goal in mind?