Let’s talk about unpaid internships, practicums, or whatever fancy name these jobs want to call themselves. These are another relic of the old culture of exploiting free and forced labor on individuals. Who else thinks it a load of crap that people have to work for years for little to nothing while we “acquire our hours for licensure.” Every helping profession that I can think about (social work, psychology, medicine, physical therapy, speech pathology, occupational therapy, nursing, etc.) requires that students acquire training hours free of any material or financial compensation for the providers-in-training. I don’t get it. There may be some trust fund babies who can afford to travel to the inner cities doing charitable work for free and volunteer (work) their time without any compensation. Still, the reality is that most people these days cannot.
Students, especially here in the United States, are saddled with the enormous burden of student loan debts, extra expenses of applications, costs of living, family, and child care, to mention but a few. Yet, interns are held to at least the same standard as full-time paid employees. You do the same amount of work for zero compensation. I say that’s a load of bull!
According to the National Association of Colleges and Businesses, seven out of ten firms want their new employees to have work experience, with more than half choosing internships. People of color have long lacked the social capital and networks required for entry into various industries. These students need both paid and unpaid work and an internship to gain industry experience. Lower-income students who want to work in sectors that rely on unpaid internships, such as politics, research, media, non-profits, or other fields, confront a Catch-22.
Interns have been used as a low-cost labor force, and the system is inefficient and unethical in numerous ways. Every year, tens of thousands of internships are illegal in the United States, and the practice has gone global and is entirely unregulated. Because many people can’t afford to work unpaid, and it’s not just unpaid: you have to be able to afford rent; you have to be able to pay for your food while doing this; and internships are increasingly concentrated in the most expensive cities in the country — New York, D.C., L.A. — there’s clearly a privilege and access issue.
Who stands to benefit from the provision of free services? I know for sure it isn’t the provider-in-trainer who benefits. I believe it is time to make significant changes in this aspect. People can no longer have a substantial quality of life without a livable wage or some resources to keep them from going further into debt and penury. While corporations and institutions rake millions of dollars on the backs of interns and practicum students. These corporations and institutions need to provide some (50% of future income) compensation to the people who provide these services. If providers of healthcare services do not bill insurance companies significantly less than they would for a fully licensed provider, I see no reason why workers should not be worthy of their wages. Let me know your thoughts
Leah Manya 