Universities subsidizing unpaid internships
Unpaid internships are common in many fields and are especially notorious in “passion” fields. Passion fields may be described as a “dream job” of many. I commonly hear lines such as “As a child I wanted to be a marine biologist.” or “I have a passion for helping animals.”. As an ecologist1, I have seen the impact of unpaid internships as both a student and faculty member. As a student, I had a range of internship experiences. I was privileged enough to only participate in one unpaid internship. I managed to score several paid internships and jobs related to my field throughout the rest of my undergraduate career. As a faculty member, when I review applicants for graduate school or jobs, it is clear that some students have gained an edge over others in terms of experience because of their ability to afford unpaid internships.
In general, I think we need to move academia towards a culture where unpaid internships are not necessary for one to advance in their career. Yet, in the short term, unpaid internships are still present. Some students can afford to take unpaid internships that may benefit their careers. In turn, some students may be left behind. There is plenty of evidence2 that the current importance of unpaid internships can hold back students from underserved communities.
How do we solve this problem? I see at least three possibilities.
Pay students for their work
Provide credits toward a student’s degree
Subsidize unpaid internships
The first solution is obvious. I think we should be paying people for their work. I think we should move towards this solution in general. The second solution is fairly common for students working towards a degree. In place of other credits, or as required by the degree program, students can complete internships. There are usually policies against students being paid and receiving course credit for completing an internship.
For this post, I want to turn my attention to idea three: subsidize unpaid internships. Here, the idea is that a student identifies an unpaid internship that they feel may benefit their career. Then, the student can apply for funds through their university, or sometimes a separate foundation, to receive a salary or offset the costs of an unpaid internship. I did not have access to this type of funding as an undergraduate, so I was unaware this was an option. I have now found that this approach is not uncommon. My own college has a fund set aside specifically so that students can participate in unpaid internships. A quick Google search shows that these types of funding mechanisms are common.
Many universities already do this: https://www.thedialogue.org/unpaid-internship-resources/
Foundations https://www.entitymag.com/scholarships-for-unpaid-internships/
Guide on how to find funding for unpaid internships https://blog.nwf.org/2017/01/how-to-find-funding-for-unpaid-internships/
I think the idea of helping students afford unpaid internships is important for those individual students. However, I am also concerned about the long-term consequences of this approach. Essentially, universities are subsidizing other institutions that cannot or will not, pay interns. We are communicating to students that unpaid internships are so valuable that we are willing to pay for them to participate in one. We are helping institutions avoid paying interns for their work.
I think there is an argument that subsidizing internships at small non-profits may be okay. However, the thought of subsidizing large non-profits or businesses makes me uneasy. A common retort is that some non-profits may not be able to afford to pay an intern. I would respond with “tough”. If you can’t afford to pay someone for their work, you can’t afford to do the work.
I think we should be doing everything possible to eliminate unpaid internships or the advantages that only certain students may gain from acquiring one. Instead, we perpetuate several issues of unpaid internships by subsidizing other institutions that do not pay their interns. Even if subsidizing unpaid internships may help level the playing field for some students, the approach doesn’t address any systemic issues.
I don’t want to create a culture where unpaid internships are okay or that they are so valuable as to be necessary for the careers of students.
Here, I have focused on how to address unpaid internships directly. There are additional approaches to address the systematic inequities that they produce. For example, we could remove unpaid internships from resumes when evaluating candidates for various positions. This would remove the incentives for unpaid internships.
Are there other solutions to solving issues related to unpaid internships? Should universities provide funding for students to participate in unpaid internships?
https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/wsb.603
https://louisville.edu/career/news/minorities-overrepresented-unpaid-interns