Unpaid internships perpetuate wealth inequality
By Emma Lane, Asstistant Opinion Editor, The Los Angeles Loyolan
Since the beginning of college, I’ve been told time and again the importance of internships. They can help you discover a passion in the professional world, give you valuable work experience and even connect you to a post-grad job. The value of internships is undeniable but their accessibility leaves something to be desired. Paid positions are more common than they used to be, due to a string of lawsuits that claimed companies’ internship programs violated minimum wage laws. While this is a step in the right direction, unpaid internships are still common among undergrads.
While some argue that the professional knowledge and experience companies provide to interns suffices as compensation, I disagree. Providing unpaid internships disproportionately benefits those wealthy enough to work for free, which in turn harms students who need paid jobs to afford tuition, rent and food. Those who are able to afford higher education, particularly at a private university, already experience some degree of privilege. But there is variation within that — some students have substantial scholarships that allow them to go to school, and others take out numerous loans. On top of these costs, families have to find ways to pay for rent and groceries along with books and school supplies. Often, these costs fall on students, who must find paid work during the summer and school year in order to provide for themselves. Others are taking significant class loads in hopes of graduating early and saving a semester’s — or year’s — worth of tuition. For these students, unpaid internships are not an option — there’s simply not enough time in the week.
As an upperclassman, the pressure to do more has increased substantially. We need industry connections, concrete skills and proven experience. There’s no longer time to daydream about our future careers; we now have to decide what we want to do and how exactly to get there. This is overwhelming for many reasons. We have to find time to stress about our futures while stressing about the present, we need to sort out our true passion and translate it into a paying job, all while trying to come to terms with graduating. The coveted internship is the ultimate answer — it gives us skills and connections and helps us understand the working world. As I’ve waded through the sea of applications I’ve struggled to find opportunities I can afford to take. The internships I want the most — at non-profits or literary magazines — are all unpaid, so I’m curbing my interests to find paying jobs. Isn’t this what we’ve been warned against? Aren’t we supposed to follow our passions, not money? But, as it turns out, not everyone has this luxury.
The fight to make college affordable is important to many Americans — voters lauded Bernie Sanders for his push to make college tuition debt free. We want to make higher education accessible because we all recognize its role in increasing social mobility. But if one of the most important steps to gainful employment involves sacrificing paid work, we’re perpetuating the problem. If we truly want to understand educational inequality, we need to look at both big picture policies and individual experiences. Forgoing an internship may seem like a minor hiccup on the path to professional success, but it’s indicative of a larger issue — there are barriers to social mobility weaved into the fabric of this country. To change the institutional problem, we need to pay attention to its manifestations.
This is the opinion of Emma Lane, a junior English major from Portland, Oregon. Article originally appeared on the Los Angeles Loyolan.
