Purpose – A central aim of higher education is employability, in order to enable graduates to act in dynamic working environments. Internships as the prevalent work-based learning (WBL) settings offer such an opportunity during the studies; they are commonly used and broadly researched as interventions to improve students’ skills and competences. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influencing factors on students’ skills and competences that lead to employability in WBL settings. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a synthesis of relevant international empirical research on beneficial effects of the very common WBL setting, internship, to create a research framework across disciplines. Findings – The current research is characterized by a search for “best practices,” rather than a holistic and systematic view, acknowledging and taking into account different perspectives and their influence. It cannot sufficiently explain why employability in some WBL settings is enhanced more than in others. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the current understanding and evaluation of WBL as an experiential and situated learning experience. It is essential to take promotive factors from the university, the practical partner and the student perspective into account to understand employability enhancement. Based on these findings, a research framework for a holistic perspective on influencing factors of students’ employability is designed. Research limitations/implications – There is no empirical proof for the findings yet. Future empirical research may, therefore, be directed toward empirical testing of the impact of WBL settings. Originality/value – It is possible to infer recommendations for improving WBL settings from the three parties involved by interlinking situated and experiential theory.

Equipping students with competences which enhance employability is a central aim of higher education that can be reached through work-based learning (WBL) settings. However, the research in higher education on individual and contextual enabling factors of WBL settings is still fragmented. In order to contribute to a systematic design approach, we widen the higher education perspective towards organisational studies, especially the construct of "empowerment". This approach systematically captures the characteristics of enabling working environments, and also emphasises the individual's perception of being empowered. In this paper, we deduce eight influencing factors for competence development, which are, concerning the student's perspective, meaningfulness, selfdetermination, impact, and self-efficacy, and, regarding the university, respectively practical partner perspective, facilitative leadership, sociopolitical support, access to information and resources, and opportunities for mobility and growth. Based on these factors, we infer recommendations for designing WBL settings which enhance employability.

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