DCU Access to the Workplace provides DCU Access students with a high quality internship during their summer break, hosted by leading Irish companies participating in the programme.
Using their summer break to gain professional experience related to their degree can significantly enhance a student’s future career prospects and social mobility. However, not all students possess the social and professional networks that can help to secure paid, professional summer work experience. This is particularly true for DCU Access students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
In response, DCU Educational Trust and DCU’s Access Service launched DCU Access to the Workplace, to enable Access students to find high-quality summer employment in established workplaces and to generate a modest income during their summer break.
Since its establishment in 2019, the programme has received widespread recognition for its excellence and innovation, winning the Best Business and Third Level Institution Collaboration prize at the Education Awards in 2020. DCU Access to the Workplace is also backed by Rethink Ireland’s Children and Youth Fund, which is supporting the programme’s growth and development over the next three years.
Access students are a part of DCU’s Access Programme, the largest programme of its kind in Ireland, supporting nearly 1,200 students in the 2020/2021 academic year. It makes third level education attainable to talented students from socio-economic disadvantaged backgrounds and provides a range of personal, financial and academic support to enable students to thrive and excel in their studies in DCU.
The commitment of our Access to the Workplace partners is critical in enabling students to save, while also preparing for work in a professional environment and gaining experience in their chosen field.
A&L Goodbody
AIG Europe ltd
Alkermes
Allergan plc
Allied Irish Banks plc
Alltech Bioscience Centre
Aon Ireland
Arachas
Ark Life
Arthur Cox
B.C. McGettigan Limited
Bank of Ireland
Bonnington Hotel
Britvic International and Ireland
BT Ireland
CAE Parc Aviation
Carne Global Financial Services
Citrix
Cityjet ltd
Codex Office Solutions
Colgate Palmolive
Collen Construction
County Monaghan Fund
CRH plc
Deloitte
DWF
eBay
Eirgrid
Elgin Energy
eShopWorld
Fenergo
Fidelity Investments Ireland
Fingal County Council
Fujitsu
General Paints Group
Highfield Hospital Group
IPSEN
Irish Distillers Pernod Richard
Irish Life Group ltd
Jacobs Engineering
Jones Engineering
KPMG
LIDL (Ireland) ltd
Marks and Spencer Ireland
Mason Hayes & Curran
MasterCard Ireland
Matheson
Matthews Coach Hire ltd
McGarrell Reilly Group
McKeon Group
Milliman
Mondelez Ireland ltd
MSD Ireland
MUFG Investor Services
National Recruitment Federation
National Standards Authority of Ireland
National Treasury Management Agency
Neogen
Oracle
Ornua Foods
Pigsback
PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
PTSB
Taoglas
Ulster Bank Ireland ltd
Verizon
Vodafone Ireland
William Fry Solicitors
Willis Towers Watson
Zurich Europe/EMEA
The 2019 pilot of the Access to the Workplace Programme enabled 50 DCU Access students to find high-quality summer employment in 39 established workplaces and to generate a modest income during their summer break.
DCU Educational Trust and DCU’s Access Service were keen to monitor outcomes and to evaluate the impact of the pilot programme for both students and companies. In order to do this, students completed a pre-placement survey and a post-placement reflective log. S3 Solutions were also commissioned to conduct an independent evaluation by gathering additional qualitative data through 25 student and 22 company interviews.
Below is an overview of some of the key findings from the independent evaluation of the 2019 pilot programme. The full pilot impact review can be viewed here.
Student Impact
Company Impact