BEYOND THE INTERNSHIP CERTIFICATE: A VERIFIABLE MICRO-CREDENTIALING MODEL FOR RECOGNIZING COMPETENCIES ACQUIRED IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Abstract

Considerable progress has been made in organizing, digitalizing and assessing student internships, yet the way their outcome is recorded has changed little: most internships still conclude with a single, coarse certificate of completion that conveys almost nothing about which competencies were actually demonstrated. This study reframes the problem as one of recognition rather than assessment and proposes a verifiable micro-credentialing model that converts internship activity into granular, portable and independently verifiable evidence of competence. Drawing on a conceptual-analytical methodology supported by expert appraisal, the model specifies a five-stage credentialing pipeline and a three-party trust architecture linking issuer, holder and verifier through a credential registry. Comparative expert assessment indicates that verifiable micro-credentials substantially outperform the conventional certificate in transparency, portability, granularity and resistance to fraud, and that their recognition value decays far more slowly over the years following graduation. The findings suggest that the principal untapped value of an internship lies not in confirming attendance but in producing trustworthy, fine-grained credentials that the labour market can read directly. The model offers a transferable framework for institutions seeking to modernize the recognition of work-based learning.