Unpaid Internships Enable Privilege To Shape Important Fields | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Politics and Activism

Unpaid Internships Enable Privilege To Shape Important Fields

Minorities and working-class students pay the price for unpaid internships.

669
Unpaid Internships Enable Privilege To Shape Important Fields

Unpaid internships are often considered a crucial entry point for starting one's career, especially in the fields of journalism and politics. To get a paying job, you need experience–but to get experience, you'll need to have had a job. This impossible situation is easily remedied by unpaid internships, which provide opportunities for job seekers at no cost to the organization. However, unpaid internships are not the cure-all that they may appear to be.

For students who need to work and earn money to support themselves, an unpaid internship may be out of the question. However, those working-class students who can't afford to take on an unpaid internship are usually the ones who would most benefit from the networking and experience.

It's important to recognize that unpaid internships can be beneficial for many students in helping them to kickstart their careers, but they are also enabling privilege to shape key fields like journalism and politics which would benefit from diverse voices.

On the Working-Class Studies blog, Alyssa Lenhoff and Tim Francisco noted that if fewer working-class and minority students enter a profession it means that there will be fewer people within that profession attuned to the complex issues that face working-class and minority people–and this is a huge problem. In the journalism field, for example, it means fewer stories about the issues working-class and minority populations face. In the medical field, it could mean fewer people who understand the specific medical issues associated with minorities and poverty. It is a significant problem in any field or profession.

I'm not asking that all companies pay all of their interns. But I am suggesting that companies recognize the many benefits that are associated with paying interns. Paid interns also tend to be happier and more productive. Paying interns could help to close the wealth gap, and studies have shown that paid interns are significantly more likely to receive job offers than unpaid interns and paid interns are usually offered more money for these jobs.

And if companies are hesitant or unable to pay their interns, then I suggest that they work on being more equitable with the way that they offer these opportunities. Internships should be about what you know, not who you know, and a student who is more well connected should not receive preferential treatment in the hiring process.

Additionally, unpaid internships should not waste a student' time. An unpaid internship should be worth a working-class student giving up an opportunity to make money that could relieve their financial situation. If the internship only has them doing menial tasks that don't give them experience or skills in their field, then that internship is a waste of time. Companies that hire unpaid interns have a responsibility to provide a meaningful job experience.

In order for journalism, medicine, politics, and other fields to become more representative of the people that they serve, it's vital that internship opportunities are made accessible to those who can't afford to work for free.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

300640
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments