The New American Dream
BY GRACE PORTELANCE
On the surface, the unpaid internship is an insane prospect for a college student: why would anyone, particularly someone who is likely garnering large amounts of debt, choose to work unpaid? You don’t need to be an econ major to see that this is a terrible deal for the student. So, why are there so many unpaid internships out there, and why do students continue to accept them? These jobs use the false pretense of eventual promotion to keep these no-cost laborers in the market, catering to students’ desperate desire to gain “experience.”
Taking on an intern is an undeniable risk for a company—while intelligent, college students are untrained and untested. This uncertainty makes paid employment, particularly in competitive industries like fashion, photography, and journalism, unwise and ultimately unnecessary. There will always be more aspiring journalists than journalism jobs, and this excess encourages organizations to offer unpaid internships. And these jobs aren’t enjoyable. It is most beneficial for a company to work their unpaid employees the longest and hardest—after all, they are far from being in a bargaining position and are likely replaceable. Students take on this uncompensated responsibility in the hope that the unpaid internship will pay off, a misguided and potentially harmful assumption.
A recent student survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that paid interns have a significant advantage over unpaid interns once in the real job market. Among seniors graduating with a bachelor’s degree, those with paid internship experience were more than 50 percent more likely to receive a job offer than those who had only worked an unpaid internship, a group that barely outperformed those who worked no internship. If these internships do not help you get a job, what purpose do they serve?
Businesses are looking for capable young people who have meaningful experience, and while that may be found in an unpaid setting, it is certainly not guaranteed. No pay incites low expectations from both the employer and employee. A salary reflects the worth one brings to the company, as well as the opportunity cost of the laborer’s time, what that person’s next best alternative is. If you make no salary, what statement are you making about your own worth?
All of this is not to say that unpaid internships are a complete waste; if you are able to go a short period of time without income and wish to gain personal experience in a specific field, or are in a financial situation where this debt can be easily borne, an internship of any kind is definitely more useful than doing nothing at all. However, those who believe that an unpaid internship will pay for itself in the long run must confront the reality that the value of an unpaid internship is usually low, and extremely variable. This is particularly important for those who have already taken on massive amounts of debt in order to finance a college education—they should not be digging their holes deeper and deeper waiting for an internship to turn into a job. If you are capable and willing to volunteer your time, go right ahead. But know you are doing exactly that: volunteering.
At a college like Wash U there can be immense pressure to find a meaningful internship, relevant to your major, each summer until you graduate. Unpaid internships, however, are luxuries that not all students can afford. In such cases, richer students are given a clear and unwarranted advantage. The failure to utilize all talented students, not just the wealthy ones, is both anti-meritocratic and inefficient.
We have a minimum wage for a reason, and regulations should be tightened to deny businesses the chance to effectively force students to work for free. In essence, we – as driven, educated college students – are worth payment. It is not unrealistic to expect it from internships, and perhaps, in light of this recent study about unpaid vs. paid internships, we should start to demand it. Otherwise, we can go back to the good old summer job.