Duksung Women's University expands customized internships and industry-academia cooperation to strengthen job placement

[Financial News] Duksung Women's University will strengthen cooperation with industry to provide students with hands-on work experience and significantly expand early job placement opportunities. In response to the youth employment crunch, the university is moving ahead with training talent tailored to companies by reflecting the demand for more field training, which was requested by more than half of its members, in its mid- to long-term development plan.
According to DSWU on the 26th, the university has set "strengthening the ecosystem for cooperation among local governments, industry, universities, and research institutes" as a key strategic goal in its draft "2035 Mid- to Long-Term Development Plan" and will focus on fostering field-oriented industry-academia cooperation programs.
The overhaul is based on strong demand from members of the university community for more practical field experience. In a recent survey of 894 members, 58.8% of respondents, or 526 people, chose "expanding field training internships and industry-academia projects" as the top priority. "Expanding overseas field training for exchange students" also accounted for a significant share at 39.7%.
Accordingly, the University Job Center at DSWU plans to steadily expand work-experience programs that can strengthen students' major-related and job-specific capabilities through cooperation with industry. Through these efforts, the university aims to establish a "university-company win-win model" that gives students practical experience and career exploration opportunities before graduation, while helping participating companies identify proven talent at an early stage.
The university will also promote joint projects involving local governments, public institutions, and industry, and further strengthen support for employment and entrepreneurship by linking research and practice, including the creation of clusters in specialized research areas that combine Artificial Intelligence (AI) with other fields.
Meanwhile, DSWU held the "Industry-Academia Cooperation Meeting for the 2026 Academic Year" on the 25th at Locaus in Yongsan District, Seoul, with about 30 representatives from internship partner institutions and family companies in attendance, and gathered feedback from industry on the development plan and field training operations.
President Min Jae Hong said, "We will actively reflect the needs of industry in university education and build a foundation for growing together with companies." He added, "We will expand cooperation with industry in many areas, including joint research and industry-academia projects, as well as field training and internships."  

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter