Cristian Rodriguez

A few weeks ago, NFL reporter Jane Slater promoted an unpaid internship on Twitter which sparked a debate over how ethical unpaid internships are. For years now, people have argued that college students are essentially working without being paid, while others have argued that they’re being paid in experience. While the experience is valuable, there are clear disadvantages for certain students when it comes to unpaid internships, and the promotion of them by Jane Slater only helps to exacerbate them.

Wealth Advantages

The availability of an unpaid internship isn’t just about location, time, and profession; it also has to do with how wealthy a student is. Some students have to work jobs in order to pay tuition and other bills while in school, and working for free wouldn’t be paying those bills. Thus, they’d have to work two jobs, the internship and a paid position, but only be paid for one. Most internships and  jobs require static availability, so finding a possible schedule is extremely difficult for students as well. Giving a select few students an unfair advantage in gaining experience and relations hurts both the students and the company. Companies are losing out on a plethora of hard working interns who would be a benefit to them.

Profiting Off of Students

In some way, every company profits off of the work that an intern does. No matter the level of work that is expected out of an intern they are still working for the company; and companies are saving money by not paying them. A majority of the time these internships can be extremely time consuming and can even spill into time outside of the internship. With students already time-strapped, it’s unfair to expect them to do  similar or the same work as an employee but without payment.

Mandatory Internships

Some people and companies view mandatory internships as students being paid in both college credits and experience. In reality, this can close entire courses for certain students. As a student who works part time, it’s already difficult to continue keeping up grades while working. If it was necessary to complete an internship for my college courses, I know that I’d have to find one that pays, which is surprisingly rare. In 2018 it was announced that 43% of internships were still unpaid. While the percentage of unpaid internships has been going down throughout the years, (falling below the 50% mark in 2012) finding a paying internship can still depend on location.

Benefits of Paying Interns

Paying interns isn’t just a one way street, the companies themselves also benefit too. According to a study by the National Association for Colleges and Employers (NACE), Companies who are paying their interns, have an increased rate of retaining them as employees by almost 40%. Interns have a sense of familiarity within the company, and in the long run, this helps to save company costs in different areas such as training and hiring new employees.

Similar to employees receiving benefits or raises, the output of an intern can depend on whether or not they’re being paid. Paid interns are more likely to have a higher output than unpaid interns. With a set incentive, this can help ensure that they are working as efficiently as possible and therefore the company would be receiving their best work.

Promotion  and Acceptance of Unpaid Internships

As others have stated in defense of Slater, despite the struggles of having an unpaid internship, the experience they gained was something they could never receive in a classroom. The connections that they’ve made have lasted them years and opened new lanes for them.  With that being said, simply because an unpaid internship worked out for them, does not mean that we should continue to have them. Paid internships can help students outside of  those experiences and connections. Students are more able to manage school and social life if they don’t have to work at a job as well

With the opportunity of unpaid internships only being available to the wealthier, we shouldn’t be promoting the use of them. Regardless of the success that certain people have gotten to through their unpaid internship, it’s clear their college years would have been much easier if they were being paid. Rather than reinforcing them, we should instead be doing away with their use.