A spokesman for the Innovation and Technology Commission said today (June 2) that since the regularisation of the STEM Internship Scheme last year, the Scheme had attracted over 3,000 university students and more than 1,500 companies or organizations in the summer and winter of 2021-22, representing a year-on-year increase of more than 80 per cent and close to 50 per cent respectively.
According to the findings of surveys conducted by participating universities after the completion of the internships, among the students who joined the Scheme in 2021-22, most of them (98 per cent) upon completion of their internship gained a better understanding of the innovation and technology (I&T) field, while 97 per cent would consider pursuing careers in I&T in the future. Furthermore, almost all participating employers considered that the job performance of their interns had met or even exceeded their expectations and planned to join the Scheme again. The findings reflect that the Scheme has met the expectations of students and companies or organizations, and its effectiveness is recognized by the universities and business community.
The participating companies were mostly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or start-ups. About half of them were from the information technology sector with the rest from various sectors, including biotechnology, electrical and electronic engineering, financial services, construction, environmental protection and import and export trade. The internship positions offered covered various I&T elements, such as program coding, web design, big data analytics, user interface/user experience design, digital marketing, machine learning, robotics, artificial intelligence, engineering and biotechnology.
The STEM Internship Scheme provides university students in STEM disciplines with internships of at least four consecutive weeks with a monthly allowance of HK$10,500 for up to three months in every academic year. To enhance the flexibility of the Scheme to cover a broad spectrum of business sectors, an internship place is regarded as I&T-related as long as its actual work contains I&T elements. The universities that will continue to participate in the Scheme this year are the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University and the Education University of Hong Kong. Interested students and employers may contact the participating universities. Details are available at the website of the Innovation and Technology Fund.
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