The reality of unpaid internships

America’s interns deserve compensation for their work

Jackie Marquez / Asst. Opinion Editor / The USD Vista

As I scroll through listing after listing for internships, many catch my eye. Every time I click on what seems to be the perfect internship, there is one detail at the bottom of the listing that turns me away: “This is an unpaid position.”

In our current job market, many employers are looking to hire college graduates with previous work experience in the field. For college students, the traditional way of getting that experience is through internships. However, unfortunately, unpaid internships are becoming more common. According to TIME, both paid and unpaid internships are increasing in number. For negligible compensation, these unpaid internships take up valuable time. They are also less accessible to low-income students, and they perpetuate the racial wealth gap. As it is, the internship market is unfair and inequitable, but it can be changed.

According to Zippia, 39.2% of all internships, including positions at both nonprofits and for-profits, are unpaid. The National Association of Colleges and Employers reports that of these internships, nonprofit internships are more likely to be unpaid, as 43% of them fail to provide compensation.

The history of unpaid internships goes back to the 1970s, when college graduates were becoming more common, TIME explains. As more and more students recieved bachelor’s degrees, the job market got more competitive.

Internships were becoming more desirable, so companies stepped up to provide more intern positions. Because the internship was intended to benefit students rather than employers, many of them were compensated with college credit.

In 2011, two FOX spotlight interns attempted to secure payment. They sued FOX saying that the work they did should have been paid, because it was essential to film production. They won, and their victory led to other interns demanding payment. However, the ruling was overturned in 2015. The New York Court of Appeals stated that interns are only entitled to compensation if their work benefits their employer more than themselves. Today, many of these businesses continue to offer college credit.

 Sometimes, they offer nothing more than a résumé boost or an inside understanding of a student’s potential career field. This is unfair for students.

Time is a limited resource for college students. With 24 hours in a day, students have to balance classes, assignments, extracurriculars, social lives, jobs, sleep and other personal needs. Adding an internship into the mix during the semester is challenging enough: to do so without getting paid is irrational. According to an internship guide by Hire Scholars, interns may work five to 20 hours part-time during the semester or 20-35 hours a week during summer. With such a shortage of time, college students have to adjust their schedules to fit in internships. Having an internship means cutting out things like extracurriculars, study time, time with friends or even sleep.

Even during the summer when students have more time available, internships take time away from their lives outside of school. It is unfair that students have to do so without a paycheck to make up for it.

For students without a financial safety net, working without compensation isn’t just unfair, it’s untenable. Being able to afford to work an unpaid internship is a

privilege. The students who take these positions often have external support from parents or financial aid. According to an article by Nasdaq, an American stock exchange, common ways to afford an unpaid internship include staying with parents, splitting housing costs among roommates, or earning scholarships. As such, these students are able to pursue opportunities that do not pay, because they don’t need to worry about factors like rent. Students who come from low-income families do not always have this same support. Without the backup, students must work through school to pay for their education and put a roof over their head.

The lack of payment for internships ultimately acts as a gatekeeper, preventing low-income students from taking unpaid internships. This means they aren’t receiving the same experience that their wealthier peers are. In a job market seeking experienced applicants, these low-income students are going into their job searches with a disadvantage.

Low-income students aren’t the only demographic of students who face inequity at the hands of unpaid internships. Students of color are more likely to be unpaid for their internships than white students.

According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, African-American students are more likely to be unpaid interns, whereas their white counterparts are more likely to be paid. Non- white Americans are already more likely to be making less money than white Americans.

According to the federal reserve, average black and Latino households earn half as much as the average white household. Unpaid internships do nothing to end this income disparity. Rather, they perpetuate it.

Ridding the internship market of unpaid jobs would not only compensate students for the time they lose, but also uplift low-income students as well as students of color.

Previous legal decisions, such as the 2015 decision by the New York Court of Appeals, enable companies’ exploitation of their student workers. To counteract this, the legal standard for unpaid internships must change. Legislation protecting the rights of interns is necessary to protect them from money-hungry corporations.

When companies, like non- profits, cannot afford to support interns they should receive external aid. Some universities have taken the initiative to subsidize internships for their students. By providing stipends

or even hourly pay, these schools allow students to gain job experience without taking as great of a financial risk.

Here at the University of San Diego, we have an internship grant program that does something similar. The Summer Internship Award is an award that students can apply for that is intended to “offset living, transportation or other expenses associated with participating in a summer internship.” This award is up to $3,000.

These types of programs are a great start to closing the gap between those who can afford unpaid internships and those who cannot. But, the disbursed monetary amount can always be greater, and there can always be more of these types of programs. Apartment List reports that the current median rent in San Diego for a one-bedroom apartment is already $2,016 a month. A $3,000 award is better than nothing, but if a student’s position is longer than a month, then they’re still having to pay out of pocket.

With a rise in unpaid internships, companies must first and foremost pay their interns. When they lack resources though, the solution should not be withholding wages from interns. Rather, universities should step up to support their students.