ft.com/alphaville All times are London time
News
FT Alphaville occasionally volunteers at a non-profit which, amongst other things, helps first-generation college students from migrant families apply for internships and jobs. They, like their peers, often want to intern at banks. Some of the best moments for staff are when students get an internship on Wall St.
These positions are often well paid and involve a multi-stage interview process. Thatâ??s where the non-profit comes in: offering CV and cover letter advice, mock interviews, and mentoring. Getting one of these gigs is a tough yet largely meritocratic process.
But this is far from the norm.
On Saturday the New York Times published an op-ed by Ross Perlin criticising US colleges for aiding and abetting studentsâ?? participation in unpaid, unprotected and unrewarding internships:
Three-quarters of the 10 million students enrolled in America's four-year colleges and universities will work as interns at least once before graduating, according to the College Employment Research Institute. Between one-third and half will get no compensation for their efforts, a study by the research firm Intern Bridge found. Unpaid interns also lack protection from laws prohibiting racial discrimination and sexual harassment.
The United States Department of Labor says an intern at a for-profit company may work without pay only when the program is similar to that offered in a vocational school, benefits the student, does not displace a regular employee and does not entitle the student to a job; in addition, the employer must derive "no immediate advantage"? from the student's work and both sides must agree that the student is not entitled to wages.
In a few cases, colleges actually charge students for the privilege:
To meet the credit requirement of their employers, some interns have essentially had to pay to work for free: shelling out $2,700 to the University of Pennsylvania in the case of an intern at NBC Universal and $1,600 to New York University by an intern at "The Daily Show,"? to cite two examples from news reports.
Now, FT Alphaville would gladly pay for a weekend job at the Daily Show, but this doesnâ??t seem fair to others who are poorer, hungrier and funnier. (Nor does it seem in keeping with Jon Stewartâ??s politics, but thatâ??s another matter.)
Thereâ??s a bit more in Perlinâ??s piece and presumably in his forthcoming book, but hereâ??s the rub:
Colleges shouldn't publicize unpaid internships at for-profit companies. They should discourage internship requirements for graduation "â? common practice in communications, psychology, social work and criminology. They should stop charging students to work without pay "â? and ensure that the currency of academic credit, already cheapened by internships, doesn't lose all its value.
Good ideas. However, this focus on the colleges misses a wider point: unpaid internships obtained through unadvertised recruitment are a barrier to social mobility and further inequalities of opportunity and income.
Theyâ??re mere tips of icebergs, of course, but they still matter: the major professions should not be closed to those without contacts and financial support.
On Tuesday the current UK government said it would crack down on unpaid internships, which are also a problem across the pond. Its social mobility document covers a wide range of social policy, repeats a lot of the evidence used by the last government and pledges to â??encourageâ? a lot of nice things from private employers.
The document also notes that the worst culprits can be the very ones that complain the most, such as politics and (ahem) journalism. And before you ask, weâ??re not sure about FT policy but we assume that itâ??s a combination of paid and unpaid internships.
Looking at the US, however, what else could be done?
Weâ??re not experts in this field, especially in the US context, but here are some off-the-top-of-the head ideas:
Like with other labour market regulations, thereâ??s a trade-off here: discouraging unpaid internships would reduce opportunities for some to test jobs and prove themselves to employers, and this is important in a slack market.
In essence, and this may be an unpopular thing to say, finance (and law) has it somewhat right: now, we suspect the recruitment pool is too narrow, some applicants have easy access to coaching, and itâ??s certainly easier when you have lots of cash and big HR departments, but as a model itâ??s worthy of some respect.
Thereâ??s a reason, outside the normal benefits associated with banking, that the students mentioned above apply in droves: the process is clear and, at least on face value, appears hard but fair.
Which is more than can be said for a lot of journalism and politics internships, we suspect.
Related links: Unpaid Interns, Complicit Colleges â?? NYT Peter Martin Fellowship â?? FT Nico Colchester Fellowship â?? FT
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.
Or select a previous briefing:
© The financial Times Ltd 2011 FT and 'Financial Times' are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.
var oob = new Advert(AD_OOB);oob.init(); var adPop = new Advert(AD_CORPPOP);adPop.init(); var adRefresh = new Advert(AD_REFRESH);adRefresh.init(); clientAds.fetch(AD_MACROAD); clientAds.render(AD_MACROAD); clientAds.fetch(AD_MARKETINGRIB); clientAds.render(AD_MARKETINGRIB); clientAds.fetch(AD_TLBXRIB); clientAds.render(AD_TLBXRIB); clientAds.fetch(AD_DOUBLET); clientAds.render(AD_DOUBLET); clientAds.fetch(AD_INTRO); clientAds.render(AD_INTRO); clientAds.fetch(AD_HLFMPU); clientAds.render(AD_HLFMPU); clientAds.fetch(AD_HMMPU); clientAds.render(AD_HMMPU); clientAds.fetch(AD_TRADCENT); clientAds.render(AD_TRADCENT); clientAds.fetch(AD_MARKETING); clientAds.render(AD_MARKETING); clientAds.fetch(AD_BANLB); clientAds.render(AD_BANLB); clientAds.fetch(AD_MPUSKY); clientAds.render(AD_MPUSKY); clientAds.fetch(AD_MPU); clientAds.render(AD_MPU); clientAds.fetch(AD_WDESKY); clientAds.render(AD_WDESKY); clientAds.fetch(AD_NRWSKY); clientAds.render(AD_NRWSKY); clientAds.fetch(AD_ARTBOX); clientAds.render(AD_ARTBOX); clientAds.fetch(AD_FTHBOX); clientAds.render(AD_FTHBOX); clientAds.fetch(AD_TLBX); clientAds.render(AD_TLBX); clientAds.fetch(AD_FMBUT2); clientAds.render(AD_FMBUT2); clientAds.fetch(AD_LHN); clientAds.render(AD_LHN); clientAds.fetch(AD_MKTBX); clientAds.render(AD_MKTBX); clientAds.fetch(AD_OOB); clientAds.render(AD_OOB); clientAds.fetch(AD_POP); clientAds.render(AD_POP); clientAds.fetch(AD_BXBAR); clientAds.render(AD_BXBAR); clientAds.fetch(AD_DKTALRT); clientAds.render(AD_DKTALRT); clientAds.fetch(AD_DSKTICK); clientAds.render(AD_DSKTICK); clientAds.fetch(AD_PRNT); clientAds.render(AD_PRNT); clientAds.fetch(AD_INV); clientAds.render(AD_INV); clientAds.fetch(AD_MBATOP); clientAds.render(AD_MBATOP); clientAds.fetch(AD_MBABOT); clientAds.render(AD_MBABOT); clientAds.fetch(AD_MBALINK); clientAds.render(AD_MBALINK); clientAds.fetch(AD_SBHEAD); clientAds.render(AD_SBHEAD); clientAds.fetch(AD_FTNT); clientAds.render(AD_FTNT); clientAds.fetch(AD_1x1); clientAds.render(AD_1x1); clientAds.fetch(AD_CURRCON); clientAds.render(AD_CURRCON); clientAds.fetch(AD_CURRBOX); clientAds.render(AD_CURRBOX); clientAds.fetch(AD_CORPPOP); clientAds.render(AD_CORPPOP); clientAds.fetch(AD_REFRESH); clientAds.render(AD_REFRESH); clientAds.render(); setCurrentTime(1232358020000) Assanka.wp.processClipThis(); var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-1874623-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {} if (typeof Inferno == 'undefined') { var eid = (document.cookie.match(/EID=(\d+)/)) ? document.cookie.match(/EID=(\d+)/)[1] : 'unknown'; pageTracker._trackEvent('Debug events', 'sr23715', 'Load failure for '+eid); setTimeout(function() { var d = new Date(); document.getElementById('infdebug23715').innerHTML = (''); }, 1000); } Read Full Article »