Secondary Research
The following are scholarly studies which examine impacts of internships, both for students as well as field sites. This is a working document and we would love more input.
You might also be interested in exploring the following:
OxFam's thoughts on wage gap in care work: https://www.oxfam.org/en/not-all-gaps-are-created-equal-true-value-care-work
Unpaid Care Work: https://www.businessinsider.com/care-economy-unpaid-work-minimum-wage-jobs-labor-infrastructure-bofa-2021-5
Economic Cost of Devaluing Women's Work: https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2019/10/15/blog-the-economic-cost-of-devaluing-women-work
We matter. YOU matter. Let's join in solidarity against these unjust practices!
‘THIS UNPAID PLACEMENT MAKES YOU POOR’: Australian social work students’ experiences of the financial burden of field education
Abstract
While there is growing evidence about the financial burden of com-pleting long, compulsory (mostly unpaid) placements for social work students, this Australian study contemporizes existing research by exploring this issue in the current context (2020–2022), during which time we have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, the related economic problems, and modified ASWEAS standards. The data is drawn from 372 undergraduate and Masters (qualifying) students across four universities in different states and explores their experi-ences of financial stress associated with current placement arrange-ments; their sources of income and employment arrangements; and how they navigated balancing paid work around placement, or how they supported themselves if they did not work alongside placement. The study evidences no improvement in the situation facing social work students in Australia despite modest ASWEAS modifications that offered limited flexibility around placement requirements during 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings con-tribute to an expanding body of research that indicates the current model of field education is unsustainable for both social work stu-dents and the profession and confirms that urgent changes are required for the social work profession to consider our student population in its social justice mandate.
Exploring correlates for paid versus unpaid internships or co-ops for graduating business students
Abstract
Using a complete data sample of 579 graduating business seniors, this study successfully created separate items for measuring paid internships/cooperative education (co-ops) and unpaid internships/co-ops. Students reported lower frequencies for self-reported paid and especially unpaid internships/co-ops. Several correlates were found to be differentially related to these types of internships, including securing full-time employment by graduation being more positively related to having paid internships/co-ops, while being self-employed by graduation being more positively related to having unpaid internships/co-ops. Completing a professional development course earlier in one’s college program was found to be positively related to both types of internships/co-ops. Study limitations and future research issues are discussed.
The intern economy in the cultural industry: an empirical study of the demand side
Abstract
Internships are work-based learning experiences, but when they are unpaid and become the standard after formal education, they imply an opportunity cost and could add to the formation of obstacles to the socio-economic mobility that (public) education should seek to attenuate. The present study consists of an evaluation of the intern economy in the French-speaking part of Belgium. Based on data of over 900 available positions in the cultural industry, we examine the demand for internships by organisations and address issues such as substitution and efficacy in the intern economy. We discuss our findings in light of some proposed misconceptions regarding the education-based meritocracy, related to the diminishing role of educational credentials in hiring decisions, the changing role of education in socio-economic mobility, and the overlooked role of employers that prioritise the productive efficiency of their organisations over equal opportunities.
Read at: https://doi-org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/10.1080/13639080.2020.1820961