tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/internships-4226/articlesInternships – The Conversation2023-09-25T12:20:11Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116402023-09-25T12:20:11Z2023-09-25T12:20:11ZHow to create a college internship where students actually learn − and don’t want to quit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548209/original/file-20230914-21-6a4us2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Interns benefit from structured tasks, hands-on supervision and open communication.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/two-businesswomen-working-on-computer-in-office-royalty-free-image/637152194">Monkey Business Images/iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Angelica landed a prestigious internship with a major corporation just outside of Houston, she was ecstatic about the opportunity to launch her career in finance. </p>
<p>Such optimism was warranted, as research shows that students with internships are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025120947357">almost twice as likely to graduate college</a>, have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2021.102141">12.6% higher likelihood</a> of being invited to job interviews, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.57.4.0418-9460R2">earn 6% higher wages</a> than noninterns once they graduate.</p>
<p>But even with a decent paycheck and scholarships to cover her rent, Angelica considered leaving the internship within weeks. What went wrong? </p>
<p>As part of the three-year College Internship Study at the <a href="https://ccwt.wisc.edu/">Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions</a> at the <a href="https://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin-Madison</a>, we found that interns can have a tough time adapting to the culture of a new city, organization and work environment.</p>
<p>In Angelica’s case, the shock was partly about geography. She was the only intern in a group of 17 from out of town, and she felt “alone and in a big city where I didn’t know anybody.”</p>
<p>But more alienating was the fact that she knew of only one other Hispanic woman in her intern group, and the company itself, she said, was mostly white. Ultimately, she believed that “none of these people really have anything in common with me.” She felt excluded and started to believe it would be impossible to work full time at the company. </p>
<p>Angelica’s story demonstrates that not all student interns have positive and productive experiences. In fact, research shows that internships can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080903290454">reinforce gender inequalities</a> in the workplace, create <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2018.1473559">unrealistic expectations</a> for career advancement and even <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.6551/AS.0101.04">exploit student labor</a>. </p>
<h2>Common internship pitfalls</h2>
<p>Interns are <a href="https://nsuworks.nova.edu/elthe/vol4/iss2/17/">learners as much as they are workers</a> earning a paycheck. Unfortunately, the educational aspect of internships frequently gets overshadowed, with interns assigned <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888413504098">mundane or repetitive tasks</a> unrelated to their academic or professional interests. This can hinder their career development, for example by <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/want-to-motivate-students-give-them-a-meaningful-taste-of-the-working-world/2023/02">diminishing their motivation to pursue a career</a> in that field.</p>
<p>Another problem, which our own research revealed, is that too often supervisors <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2023.2241330">adopt a hands-off strategy</a>. They expect interns to define and complete tasks independently. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/12/dealing-with-a-hands-off-boss">this may work for long-term or mature employees</a>, it is unsuitable for most interns who are new to professional life. Interns typically have a shorter tenure, <a href="https://nsuworks.nova.edu/elthe/vol4/iss2/17/">limited authority and less access</a> to resources. This makes it difficult to complete complex tasks with little supervision. The lack of structure and guidance can also cause significant stress that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.20331">weakens their learning and job performance</a>.</p>
<p>And, finally, unstructured internships can alienate students who are already marginalized – particularly those who are <a href="https://education.wisc.edu/news/new-study-finds-successful-student-internships-require-careful-design-equitable-access/">first-generation, low-income or students of color</a>. That’s because the lack of structure or supervision can make students feel overwhelmed, pushing them to <a href="https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/21/05/rethinking-summer-internship">seek guidance from family or friends</a>. These students may not have family connections in prestigious or professional occupations and therefore <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2019.1654990">lack support systems</a> to deal with their challenging workplace situations.</p>
<p>Based on our research, we offer four strategies for designing effective and welcoming internships for college students.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549569/original/file-20230921-19-8n9z1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Group of young professionals walking with laptops in an office" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549569/original/file-20230921-19-8n9z1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549569/original/file-20230921-19-8n9z1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549569/original/file-20230921-19-8n9z1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549569/original/file-20230921-19-8n9z1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549569/original/file-20230921-19-8n9z1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549569/original/file-20230921-19-8n9z1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549569/original/file-20230921-19-8n9z1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Peer mentors and organized social events can help college interns feel like they belong at a company.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/inspired-ladies-and-gentleman-on-their-way-to-the-royalty-free-image/1367511479">Creative Credit/iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Set clear learning goals</h2>
<p>In order to ensure interns acquire new knowledge and skills, supervisors can establish both long-term and short-term <a href="https://www.cas.edu/learningoutcomes">learning goals</a>. This is required in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2018.1450846">countries like France</a>, where internships with companies are fully included in college curricula, <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2019.10172abstract">but not in the U.S.</a>.</p>
<p>Learning goals can include specific tasks the intern will be expected to perform, technical knowledge they will gain and transferable skills like communication or teamwork that they should develop through the internship. </p>
<p>Ideally, they are developed in collaboration with faculty advisers, students and employers. We especially emphasize the importance of engaging students in these conversations. Different interns will <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/822747510">likely have unique objectives</a> for their own internship experience. </p>
<p>Documenting these goals using forms like <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KQjwkU2FOTzLgQWwK1Bap-ZSxPdPhcgu/view">this one</a> from the University of Minnesota can help students discern where to concentrate and hone their skills during the internship.</p>
<h2>2. Structure assignments from easy to hard</h2>
<p>A well-known theory in educational psychology shows that people learn best when they are <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/zone-of-proximal-development.html">gradually introduced to new tasks</a> or subject matters. In our own study, we found that interns also benefit from starting their jobs with easier tasks and gradually transitioning to tasks that require less oversight.</p>
<p>When internship tasks are structured progressively from easier to harder, it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520701263368">gradually increases students’ understanding</a> over time. Our research also shows that interns benefit from assignments that have clear expectations and deadlines and pose minimal consequences if performed incorrectly.</p>
<h2>3. Keep communication open</h2>
<p>Research confirms the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2016.1181729">importance of clear, regular and open lines of communication</a> between interns and their supervisors. This became especially important <a href="https://ccwt.wisc.edu/publications/?sr=online+internships+pandemic#main">during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic</a>, when online internships suffered from infrequent and virtual communications. Many interns were left feeling unsatisfied and neglected. </p>
<p>Whether the internship is in-person or online, an effective communications strategy involves regular meetings to review progress, discuss new tasks and ideas and provide students with an opportunity to voice their concerns. Open communication can be especially important for interns who are new to a job, company or city. </p>
<h2>4. Connect interns with appropriate mentors</h2>
<p>Employees in general <a href="https://www.educause.edu/ecar/research-publications/mentoring-in-higher-education-it/2019/characteristics-of-mentoring-relationships-engaging-with-differences-and-similarities#a926cb803023487388b0fc02e3113ce5">benefit professionally and psychologically</a> from having workplace mentors with similar backgrounds and identities to their own. Yet, workers from marginalized groups – <a href="https://www.educause.edu/ecar/research-publications/mentoring-in-higher-education-it/2019/characteristics-of-mentoring-relationships-engaging-with-differences-and-similarities#a926cb803023487388b0fc02e3113ce5">especially women</a> – often have a harder time finding supportive and relatable mentors. </p>
<p>However, simply pairing mentors and interns based on characteristics like race or gender <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/small-world-worlds-apart-pros-cons-demographically-matching-petrela/">may not be the best approach</a>. Different interns – and supervisors – have varying needs, experiences and capabilities. Companies can first survey interns on their <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6205751/">values and preferences</a> regarding mentoring and supervision, and then match them in accordance with their mentorship needs and preferences. </p>
<p>Additional strategies to enhance interns’ sense of belonging include peer mentoring and frequent social events – methods that have been proven to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192717702949">help newcomers adapt to new environments</a>. </p>
<p>We believe internships must be seen as more than a part-time job where students simply need to be hired, onboarded and shown a desk. Internships are learning opportunities and, as such, require careful design. Done right, internships can help interns gradually get more acquainted with the culture where they work and the jobs they will be expected to do.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211640/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The transition from college to the workforce can be challenging, but these four strategies can help young workers get valuable experience and feel welcome.Kyoungjin Jang-Tucci, Project Assistant, Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions, University of Wisconsin-MadisonHee Song, Project Assistant at the Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions, University of Wisconsin-MadisonMatthew T. Hora, Assistant Professor of Adult and Higher Education, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2034212023-05-22T20:06:10Z2023-05-22T20:06:10Z‘We can no longer justify unpaid labour’: why uni students need to be paid for work placements<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527135/original/file-20230518-18850-ttuix4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5160%2C3406&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of our series on <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/universities-accord-big-ideas-137143">big ideas for the Universities Accord</a>. The federal government is calling for ideas to “reshape and reimagine higher education, and set it up for the next decade and beyond”. A review team is due to finish a draft report in June and a final report in December 2023.</em></p>
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<p>Mandatory work placements are a vital part of many university degrees. This includes some of the most important degrees in our society, such as nursing, teaching, social work, psychology and the allied health professions.</p>
<p>The time these require varies but is always significant. For example, for <a href="https://aasw-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ASWEAS-March-2020-V2.1-updated-November-2021.pdf">social work</a> and <a href="https://www.usc.edu.au/current-students/work-integrated-learning-wil/occupational-therapy-placements">occupational therapy</a> programs it is 1,000 hours. Nursing degrees require at <a href="https://www.acu.edu.au/course/bachelor-of-nursing">least 800 hours</a> of placement. Undergraduate education students need to complete at <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/national-policy-framework/accreditation-of-initial-teacher-education-programs-in-australia.pdf?sfvrsn=e87cff3c_48">least 80 days</a> of professional experience. </p>
<p>These positions are not paid.</p>
<p>Amid a cost-of-living crisis, with rising university fees, we can no longer expect students to do this work for free. The Universities Accord has placed a <a href="https://theconversation.com/these-5-equity-ideas-should-be-at-the-heart-of-the-universities-accord-203418">big emphasis on equity</a> and improving participation in higher education. As part of this, it needs to make sure students are not penalised for completing necessary parts of their degrees.</p>
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<h2>Our research</h2>
<p>Late last year, the Australian Council of Heads of School of Social Work commissioned a survey about work experience placements and I led the research team. </p>
<p>More than 700 students around the country responded to the survey, which asked about current challenges for field education, particularly given the COVID pandemic.</p>
<p>We also received nearly 500 responses from educators and practitioners in organisations who host these students.</p>
<h2>Income deficits and hidden costs</h2>
<p>Our survey found the financial burden of placements on students could be crippling.</p>
<p>Work placements invariably mean students have to travel, potentially pay for parking and wear professional clothing. This immediately leaves students out-of-pocket. As one survey respondent told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The extent of the hours and […] the cost of petrol and transport made my placement experience a financial issue.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But students also often have to forgo paid work they have in order to meet their course requirements. As one student noted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>To do unpaid work we have to choose between putting petrol in the car to get to placement or putting food in our stomachs.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>More than a third of students (33.7%) said they lost their entire weekly income because of field placement. Another 25% had lost up to 75% of their regular wage. </p>
<p>More than 96% of students said they didn’t have enough money to pay for food, or the clothes and travel required for placement. More than 79% said they knew of other students who have had to defer their social work studies or withdraw from the degree altogether due to placement requirements.</p>
<p>Many told us they had incurred large debts from additional student loans “due to lack of resources”. Others talked about a total disruption to their lives:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I will need to […] resign from my full-time employment and relocate as I will not be able to afford my rent in the city. </p>
</blockquote>
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<h2>This is harming mental health</h2>
<p>The disruption caused by work placements was not just financial.
Almost 80% said their mental health had been adversely affected due to the financial hardship associated with their placement. As these students noted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>My mental health has never been so bad after doing placement and now I have to do another one. I have no idea how I’m going to live on such little money for six [more] months. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Students also explained this made it hard to benefit educationally from the placement: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>How are we meant to meet learning competencies, support clients to the best of our abilities if we ourselves are suffering due to unfair, unrealistic placement expectations? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another told us, the placement became just about “getting the hours done, rather than learning”. </p>
<h2>What can we change?</h2>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, students overwhelmingly supported being paid for field placements. Some described the current situation as “unethical”. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am already struggling with providing basic needs for my family, such as childcare, mortgage [without being on placement].</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This was endorsed by social work educators and practitioners who said “we can no longer justify unpaid labour”. </p>
<p>This idea is not a new one. It has long been been proposed for disciplines such as <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/education/calls-for-teaching-and-nursing-students-to-get-paid-for-placements-20160524-gp278w.html">nursing and education</a>.</p>
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<h2>Paid placements are the way forward</h2>
<p>We need an immediate restructure of how student placements are conceptualised and funded. </p>
<p>We pay apprenticeship wages for trades, so why not support students who are studying vital professions? There are many ways it could work, but here are three possibilities: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>the government funds organisations who take students on placement to pay them for their work </p></li>
<li><p>the government funds universities to pay students a bursary, or </p></li>
<li><p>students doing a placement apply through Services Australia for a special temporary payment. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Whichever way we do it, we need to stop assuming all university students have wealthy parents who can fund their studies. And we need to stop pretending free labour is they best way for students to learn. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-arts-degrees-and-other-generalist-programs-are-the-future-of-australian-higher-education-203046">Why arts degrees and other generalist programs are the future of Australian higher education</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203421/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Morley received partial funding from the Australian Council of Heads of Schools of Social Work to undertake the research that informed this article
The research team also included: Vanessa Ryan (QUT) Dr Lisa Hodge (CDU), Dr Maree Higgins (UNSW), Prof Linda Briskman (WSU), Dr Robyn Martin (RMIT) and Dr Nicole Hill (UoM).</span></em></p>A new survey has found the financial burden of work placements on students can be crippling.Christine Morley, Professor of Social Work, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1934292023-03-02T13:24:59Z2023-03-02T13:24:59ZAt a small liberal arts college, Black students learned to become ‘bicultural’ to succeed and get jobs – but stress followed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512362/original/file-20230227-4087-z3vk0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=39%2C78%2C6538%2C4240&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black students reported stress as a result of trying to downplay their cultural identities. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/happy-young-university-student-with-book-standing-royalty-free-image/1340017268?phrase=black%20college%20students&adppopup=true">Halfpoint Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In her forthcoming book, “<a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/the-impact-of-college-diversity">The Impact of College Diversity: Struggles and Successes at Age 30</a>,” Amherst College <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=k9DLURIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">psychology professor Elizabeth Aries</a> discovered a disturbing dual reality for Black students going to the small, private liberal arts college where she teaches. On the one hand, interacting with students from different backgrounds better prepared them for the world of higher education and work. But Black students also felt pressured to sacrifice their cultural identities in favor of “whiteness” in order to succeed. In the following Q&A, Aries elaborates on her findings and what they mean as the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2023/02/06/colleges-start-prepare-losing-supreme-court-case">decides whether to restrict or outlaw</a> the use of race in college admissions.</em></p>
<h2>1. What prompted you to do this research?</h2>
<p>In 2003, Amherst College began to <a href="https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issues/2011summer/nationalinterest">more actively recruit and enroll students of color and individuals from low-income backgrounds</a>. The idea was to promote equity and social mobility. But the effort was also driven by the belief that students benefit educationally when they interact daily with classmates whose experiences and views are different from their own.</p>
<p>I wanted to understand how living in a diverse community would affect students. To do that, I interviewed Black and white students, both affluent and lower-income, three times over a period of 12 years. The interviews were conducted during their <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/race-and-class-matters-at-an-elite-college">first year of college</a>, at the end of their <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/speaking-of-race-and-class">senior year</a> and at <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/the-impact-of-college-diversity">age 30</a>.</p>
<p>I chronicled the nature and extent of what students learned about race and class from engagement with racially and socioeconomically diverse classmates. I also examined the challenges students faced on campus because of their race and class. I believe my findings have great relevance at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court is about to again <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2023/02/06/colleges-start-prepare-losing-supreme-court-case">consider the legality of the use of race</a> in admission decisions.</p>
<h2>2. What is the main takeaway from your book?</h2>
<p>At age 30, the vast majority of Black and white Amherst graduates I interviewed – 81% – <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/the-impact-of-college-diversity">told me they gained insight from interacting regularly with classmates of different races</a>. For instance, over their four years of college, the white graduates gained a deeper understanding of the harm of racial stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination, and of their own racial privilege. Black graduates acquired coping strategies to deal with racial prejudice. They also <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/the-impact-of-college-diversity">learned to be “bicultural</a>,” enabling success in predominantly white settings. </p>
<p>Through cross-class interactions, lower-income students gained higher aspirations to seek graduate and professional degrees. They also accessed social networks that connected them to desired internships, graduate programs and jobs. They reported greater social mobility as a result of the skills they learned from living and learning in such a diverse environment.</p>
<p>Almost all strongly agreed that a diverse student body is essential to teaching skills to succeed and lead in the work environment.</p>
<h2>3. Why do Black students benefit from learning to be ‘bicultural’?</h2>
<p>Black graduates enter the professional work world where positions of power are largely held by white people, and racial biases are present. At age 30, 77% of the Black graduates I interviewed <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/the-impact-of-college-diversity">reported facing racial bias at work</a>, and <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/the-impact-of-college-diversity">47% felt they faced a career ceiling</a> because of their race. They reported learning during college how to be <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/the-impact-of-college-diversity">bicultural – to adjust their presentation and behavior</a> and be Black in “the right way” to facilitate their success. This required being attentive to self-presentation in speech, dress, hair and demeanor so that it came closer to whiteness, making it more acceptable to the middle-class white people around them.</p>
<p>While Black graduates benefited from learning to be bicultural, they reported this performance came at a cost. Fitting in to standards of whiteness entailed the stress of hiding parts of themselves and thus made it difficult to feel fully true to themselves.</p>
<p>That said, engagement with diverse peers during college can help lead to the creation of more equitable workplaces. Research has found interaction among people from different racial backgrounds <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.5.751">leads to a decrease in racial prejudice</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2006.11778933">increases knowledge and acceptance</a> of different races or cultures and openness to diversity. Further, when students participate in interracial dialogues, after college they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-2415.2009.01193.x">more likely to commit and take action</a> to redress inequality. </p>
<p>A third of the white graduates in my study said they were <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/the-impact-of-college-diversity">actively addressing systemic inequalities in their work lives</a>. Further, 52% aspired to <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/the-impact-of-college-diversity">teach their future children</a> to be aware of the internalization of racial stereotypes and of the prejudice and discrimination faced by people of color.</p>
<h2>4. Did Amherst need affirmative action to achieve diversity?</h2>
<p>The use of race-conscious admissions undoubtedly enabled Amherst to build a richly diverse community. Today <a href="https://www.amherst.edu/about/facts">49% of U.S. Amherst College students</a> self-identify as students of color. </p>
<p>Amherst has for many years reviewed applicants holistically and by using a wide range of factors. This includes, of course, the standard measures on applications, such as the student’s academic program and record, intellectual talent and creativity, nonacademic achievement and leadership. Also factored into Amherst’s admissions process, though, are such aspects as diversity of socioeconomics, family education, background, life experiences and geography. And, yes, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-1199/232512/20220801174102841_20-1199%20and%2021-707_Brief%20of%20Amici%20Curiae%20Amherst%20et%20al%20Colleges%20and%20Bucknell%20et%20al%20Universities.pdf#page=19">race is also one factor</a> of many in such a holistic consideration.</p>
<h2>5. What happens if affirmative action is banned?</h2>
<p>A decision by the Supreme Court to end race-conscious admissions would severely impede colleges’ ability to attain the kind of diversity needed to achieve their educational goals.</p>
<p>Where states have banned the consideration of race in admission, the proportion of students from underrepresented groups fell precipitously. California, which <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/us/affirmative-action-admissions-supreme-court.html">banned consideration of race in admissions in 1996</a>, saw <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-1199/232355/20220801134931730_20-1199%20bsac%20University%20of%20California.pdf#page=22">50% declines for African American and Latino students</a> at the most selective campuses between 1995 and 1998.</p>
<p>Many students from underrepresented backgrounds - who previously would have been accepted at flagship schools – went to less selective public and private universities. At these less selective schools, <a href="https://cshe.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/publications/rops.cshe.10.2020.bleemer.prop209.8.20.2020_2.pdf">degree attainment declined, leading to lower wages</a>, thereby increasing socioeconomic inequities.</p>
<p>The use of race-neutral admissions policies after Michigan <a href="https://diversity.umich.edu/about/history/legal-matters/2006-proposal-2/">passed a ballot initiative in 2006</a> to ban the use of race in college admissions was as catastrophic: It resulted in a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-1199/232447/20220801155455154_Nos.%2020-1199%2021-707%20U-M%20amicus%20ISO%20resps..pdf#page=9">44% drop in the enrollment of Black students</a> from 2006 to 2021. Meanwhile, the enrollment of Native American students <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-1199/232447/20220801155455154_Nos.%2020-1199%2021-707%20U-M%20amicus%20ISO%20resps..pdf#page=9">dropped nearly 90%</a> despite considerable efforts using race-neutral alternatives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193429/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Aries does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Black students told a researcher they felt conflicted about hiding parts of themselves in order to get ahead.Elizabeth Aries, Professor of Psychology, Amherst CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1660172021-08-30T01:58:27Z2021-08-30T01:58:27ZHow work-integrated learning helps to make billions in uni funding worth it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417494/original/file-20210824-17-p33et.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5751%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-man-working-international-company-businesswoman-1020211993">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian universities invest heavily in the employability of their graduates. The Australian government <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/job-ready">supports this goal</a> with annual funding to increase to A$20 billion by 2024. This includes $900 million in grants through the <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/job-ready/npilf">National Priorities and Industry Linkage Fund</a>. A key focus is on expanding <a href="https://myfuture.edu.au/career-articles/details/what-is-work-integrated-learning">work-integrated learning</a>.</p>
<p>Work-integrated learning (WIL) includes internships, fieldwork and placements, but also on-campus work projects. In these settings, students solve business problems, implement innovations and manage uncertainties. This makes it a <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10289/13896">practice-based approach</a>.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://acen.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/National-WIL-Strategy-in-university-education-032015.pdf?x97547">National Strategy on Work-Integrated Learning in University Education</a>, it should provide authentic, meaningful and relevant experiences to prepare students for the workplace.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/work-integrated-learning-why-is-it-increasing-and-who-benefits-93642">Work Integrated Learning: why is it increasing and who benefits?</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The question today is no longer whether to offer work-integrated learning, but how to do it well. </p>
<h2>A digitally driven shift in focus</h2>
<p>Teaching for workplace readiness must make the transition to digital so learning does not depend on location. </p>
<p>As recently as 2017, <a href="https://internationaleducation.gov.au/international-network/australia/InternationalStrategy/EGIProjects/Documents/WIL%20in%20universities%20-%20final%20report%20April%202019.pdf">52.7% of all work-integrated learning was off-campus</a>. But limited places, especially during <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8462.12405">COVID-19 economic downturns</a>, mean fewer students get a practice-based experience.</p>
<p>Digitalising work-integrated learning makes it available for many more students. </p>
<p>The University of Sydney program <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/business/study/careers-and-employability/job-smart.html">Job Start Edge</a>, for example, offers international students workplace skill learning in fully digital form. Other universities work with talent platforms such as <a href="https://www.theforage.com/">Forage</a> to offer “micro internships” of 5-6 hours.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1429618145015312390"}"></div></p>
<p>Another model is to bring workplace practice to students, instead of the students to practice. The insourcing model provides work readiness in a digital classroom.</p>
<p>The University of New South Wales’ <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/business/sites/default/files/documents/Sandbox%20Edu.pdf">Sandbox Education Program</a>, for example, digitally simulates a professional working environment. By bringing real-world scenarios and problems into the classroom, it offers a safe space to build and test workplace readiness.</p>
<p>Digital on-campus models provide learning that is <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol18/iss5/2/">resilient to lockdowns</a> and working from home. Universities with simulated work integration in the classroom continued the learning even during the <a href="https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/podcasts/innovation-in-the-classroom/technology-trends-and-teaching-during-a-pandemic/">peak of COVID-19</a>. The digital transition has enabled learning anytime and anywhere.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-improve-internships-and-placements-embed-technology-in-their-design-97250">To improve internships and placements, embed technology in their design</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Delivering concrete benefits for industry</h2>
<p>Industry partners are essential for showing students the dynamics of real workplaces. Fortunately, broad support from industry exists. The <a href="https://www.aigroup.com.au/business-services/governmentprograms/SA-defence-industry-scholarships/wil/">Australian Industry Group</a> invites its members to join these partnerships. </p>
<p>This was not always so. <a href="https://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/sites/default/files/NCVER_WIL-employer-perspectives.pdf">Employers</a> were once hesitant to commit time and resources as university partners. Gaining access to fit-for-purpose talent was simply not enough incentive. </p>
<p>The motivation changed when work-integrated learning outcomes began to deliver concrete benefits. Then students produce ready-to-use products or services of value.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-research-when-universities-and-industry-team-up-156590">How to get the most out of research when universities and industry team up</a>
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<p>For example, at <a href="https://employability.uq.edu.au/work-integrated-learning">The University of Queensland</a>, we pioneered the concrete delivery model in an information systems project with <a href="https://new.siemens.com/global/en/company/about/businesses/digital-industries.html">Siemens Digital Industries</a> and <a href="https://www.variety.org.au/qld/">Variety – the Children’s Charity of Queensland</a>. </p>
<p>Variety wanted a safe digital space for its vulnerable children to stay connected, especially during lockdowns. It also required an events management feature for post-lockdown times. </p>
<p>Students developed the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/isj.12108">software app</a> using the low-code development platform <a href="https://www.mendix.com/">Mendix</a>. Kids in Variety programs such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JR_vC7Outw">Kids Choir</a> and Youth Ambassadors now use the app to plan and chat.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6JR_vC7Outw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Variety Kids Choir is an inclusive choir for kids aged 7 to 17 of all abilities.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The concrete delivery model directly benefits Australian businesses. The transferable value makes partnerships more attractive.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-improve-research-training-in-australia-give-industry-placements-to-phd-students-57972">How to improve research training in Australia – give industry placements to PhD students</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Making sure of quality outcomes</h2>
<p>Large-scale work-integrated learning initiatives exist. Swinburne University of Technology has <a href="https://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/2020/12/swinburne-offers-real-industry-experience-to-all-undergraduate-students-from-2021/">announced</a> it will offer work-integrated learning to all undergraduate degree students. At this scale, effective governance with defined quality standards and output measures is imperative.</p>
<p>Universities and educational groups have developed such systems. The University of Waterloo, Canada, developed a <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-advancement-co-operative-education/research-publications/wil-quality-framework">work-integrated learning quality framework</a> to govern quality internally. The <a href="https://acen.edu.au/resources/practical-guidelines-for-using-the-framework-to-assure-institutional-quality-of-work-integrated-learning-wil/">Australian Collaborative Education Network</a> provides a framework for member universities to control process and product quality.</p>
<p>When applied comprehensively, these frameworks provide transparency on the use of WIL funding.</p>
<p>Governance systems also enhance educators’ accountability for investments by industry partners. The University of Tasmania, for example, developed an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09639284.2021.1963994">evaluation tool</a> to identify areas for curriculum improvement.</p>
<p>High-quality learning experiences depend on excellent teaching. Effective governance systems can ensure it’s delivered.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Teachers lead a discussion by students around a table" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417509/original/file-20210824-17-1dk0j5y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417509/original/file-20210824-17-1dk0j5y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417509/original/file-20210824-17-1dk0j5y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417509/original/file-20210824-17-1dk0j5y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417509/original/file-20210824-17-1dk0j5y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417509/original/file-20210824-17-1dk0j5y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417509/original/file-20210824-17-1dk0j5y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Excellent teaching remains essential for high-quality workplace-integrated learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/Business+Team+Meeting+Project+Planning+Concept">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-university-education-is-being-reimagined-in-response-to-covid-19-144052">5 ways university education is being reimagined in response to COVID-19</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Creating infrastructure to support work-integrated learning</h2>
<p>Early WIL efforts focused on creating boutique-style learning for small cohorts of students. This teaching format <a href="https://acen.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Work-Integrated-Learning-Workload-and-Recognition-Review.pdf?x71956">places high demands</a> on educators. The demands will increase as we expand work-integrated learning.</p>
<p>The government’s funding under the <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/job-ready">Job-ready Graduates Package</a> aims to increase the number and variety of WIL programs. Not surprisingly, universities are ramping up their efforts to meet government funding requirements. This is a risky strategy.</p>
<p>The delivery of more boutique-style programs is not sustainable in the long term. A mental shift is required to focus on creating infrastructure for large-scale work-integrated learning. </p>
<p>For example, Monash University provides an <a href="https://www.monash.edu/learning-teaching/priorities-and-programs/programs-for-students/wil-at-monash/initiate">academic tool kit</a> with the fundamental building blocks for work-integrated learning. Educators save time and effort as they only need to contextualise the blocks for a particular initiative.</p>
<p>The essential elements for work-integrated learning to be done well include:</p>
<ul>
<li>the experience is authentic for all students </li>
<li>all stakeholders receive concrete benefits</li>
<li>teaching frameworks must be adaptable</li>
<li>governance systems ensure this all happens.</li>
</ul>
<p>Then work-integrated learning is worth the government’s investment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166017/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sabine Matook was the lecturer for the university course and as such interacted with the industry partners, particularly representatives from Variety Queensland and Mendix. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angie Knaggs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The question for universities is no longer whether to offer work-integrated learning but how to do it well, especially now that digital technology has expanded the scale of what is possible.Sabine Matook, Associate Professor in Information Systems, The University of QueenslandAngie Knaggs, Senior Education Manager, Business, Economics and Law Faculty (Employability), The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1538302021-04-28T19:05:12Z2021-04-28T19:05:12ZInternships in Congress overwhelmingly go to white students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397369/original/file-20210427-17-tkrd76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C5193%2C3480&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">About three out of every four paid Capitol Hill interns are white. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/caucasian-teenagers-talking-to-politicians-in-royalty-free-image/633709309?adppopup=true">Hill Street Studios/DivisionVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>When it comes to paid congressional internships, white students get more than their fair share, but Black and Latino students don’t get enough.</p>
<p>That is the <a href="https://payourinterns.org/congressional-report">key finding of a new report</a> I co-authored with Tiffany Win and Carlos Mark Vera for Pay Our Interns, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that is pushing to increase the number of paid internships in various sectors.</p>
<p>These racial disparities come despite <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/paid-internships-are-a-reality-again-in-congress-after-public-shaming/2019/03/12/ff371f54-44e9-11e9-94ab-d2dda3c0df52_story.html">2018 legislation</a> that provides House and Senate offices with allowances exclusively for paid internships. I investigated whom congressional offices hired with these allowances during the first year that this funding was available in 2019.</p>
<p>I found that while white students make up only <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98">56% of undergraduate college students</a> nationwide, they accounted for 76% of paid interns in Congress. In contrast, Black and Latino students <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98">make up</a> <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98">14% and 19%</a> of all undergraduates, respectively, but accounted for only 6.7% and 7.9% of paid congressional interns, respectively.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Racial representation among paid congressional internships is important because internships often lead to paid staff positions. In a 2020 <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/political-reform/reports/congressional-brain-drain/">study of congressional staff</a>, over 50% indicated that they started their careers on Capitol Hill as interns. Accordingly, if people of color are underrepresented among paid congressional interns, they will similarly be underrepresented among legislative staff.</p>
<p>That matters because congressional staff are important behind-the-scenes actors in making American law. They provide critical advice, guidance and analysis to lawmakers. Congressional staffers are also involved in nearly all dimensions of legislative work, from coming up with ideas to providing services for constituents to the oversight of the federal government and day-to-day operations of the legislature.</p>
<p>If the only staffers in the room advising members of Congress on policymaking decisions are white, then the policies this nation makes may not be as richly informed as they would otherwise be.</p>
<p>In addition, congressional employment provides a stepping stone to elected office. Today, the highest-ranking women in government, Vice President <a href="https://www.rollcall.com/2016/11/25/interns-you-could-be-in-congress-one-day-too/">Kamala Harris</a> and Speaker of the House <a href="https://cnsmaryland.org/2006/11/15/former-u-s-senator-recalls-hoyer-pelosi-in-bygone-days/">Nancy Pelosi</a>, both began their political careers as congressional interns. </p>
<p>When people get firsthand experience with how American democracy works, it better enables them to see themselves as leaders and public servants.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>While our report examines the racial makeup of paid congressional interns, Congress does not collect or publish data on unpaid interns. To this end, it’s not known how many unpaid interns there are or the racial makeup of this group. Some congressional offices may pay their interns with funding beyond the allowances they get for interns, but we don’t believe many do.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>There are still a lot of unknowns about who works in Congress. My future research will continue to examine racial representation among congressional staff and the mechanisms that lead to racial inequities on Capitol Hill. I also plan to continue to urge Congress to adopt more transparent hiring practices so that this problem can be better understood.</p>
<h2>How we do our work</h2>
<p>We analyzed congressional payroll data, which provides the names of every paid intern. From the list of people who interned in Congress between April and September 2019, Pay Our Interns researchers conducted an online search for photographs, social backgrounds and past employment data of all interns. We obtained data from a variety of sources, including Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter. We collected racial demographic data for 96% of Senate interns and 95% of House interns.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153830/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James R. Jones consults to Pay Our Interns. </span></em></p>Students of color are largely missing out on paid internships working for lawmakers on Capitol Hill, new research has found.James R. Jones, Assistant Professor of African American and African Studies, Rutgers University - NewarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1527972021-02-09T13:31:01Z2021-02-09T13:31:01ZCOVID-19 shows why it’s time to finally end unpaid college internships<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383103/original/file-20210208-21-14lbnlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7360%2C4912&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students often cannot afford to take unpaid internships.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/first-impressions-count-royalty-free-image/539232867?adppopup=true">sturti/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Unpaid internships are often seen as an important <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/05/in-defense-of-unpaid-internships/257000/">rite of passage</a> for college students. And with good reason. Studies have found that students <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00570-x">acquire new skills and networks</a> that enhance their job prospects.</p>
<p>In the years just after graduating from college, students who have an internship are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9903-9">15% less likely to be unemployed</a> and <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2432425">earn 6% more</a> than students who did not. Simply put, an internship is <a href="https://www.aacu.org/node/4084">widely viewed</a> as a “must-have” experience for college students.</p>
<p>However, as researchers who study how students <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=SeuId1kAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">transition from college</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5X86B7YAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">into the workforce</a>, we note that it is clear that asking college students to work for free is problematic. We believe the value of unpaid internships is even more questionable due to the economic challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>Besides the legal and ethical questions of not paying people for their work, unpaid internships also <a href="https://www.naceweb.org/job-market/internships/unpaid-internships-and-the-career-success-of-liberal-arts-graduates/">favor students from affluent families</a>. The reason is that they can afford to forgo a paycheck and the high cost of living in big cities such as New York and Washington, D.C., where many internships are located. </p>
<h2>Class divide</h2>
<p>For some observers, like the legal scholar Jessica Curiale, unpaid internships have effectively created a “<a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/hastlj61&div=52&id=&page=">class divide</a>.” This divide is due to the fact that low- and middle-income students often cannot afford to pursue unpaid internships, which adds to the challenges these students <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/giving-low-income-students-enough-support-to-graduate-colleges-face-financial-catch-22">already face</a> in graduating and gaining access to well-paying jobs.</p>
<p>But during a pandemic marked by <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/08/economy/women-job-losses-pandemic/index.html">an economy with continuing uncertainties and layoffs</a>, these longstanding problems are even worse. Consider that students today must deal with the <a href="https://healthymindsnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Healthy_Minds_NCHA_COVID_Survey_Report_FINAL.pdf">constant stress</a> of a deadly virus. They also must face isolation wrought by constantly changing campus policies and <a href="https://sr.ithaka.org/publications/student-experiences-during-the-pandemic-pivot">online coursework</a>.</p>
<p>On top of that, they must figure out <a href="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/edtrustmain/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/11/27120859/Higher-Ed-Nationwide-CA-Memo-F05.27.20.pdf">how to pay</a> for their grocery, rent and tuition bills.</p>
<h2>Pandemic problems</h2>
<p>At the same time, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7451187/">40% of college students lost an internship, job or job offer</a> in the spring of 2020. Also, <a href="https://hope4college.com/realcollege-during-the-pandemic/">nearly 60% of college students</a> experienced <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-food-insecurity-152746">food insecurity</a> or homelessness in early 2020, worsening these two <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/03/599197919/hunger-and-homelessness-are-widespread-among-college-students-study-finds">longstanding and widespread problems</a> in higher education.</p>
<p>Making matters worse is the fact that many students will soon be graduating into an economy with <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56368">high unemployment</a>, which <a href="https://www.www.doi.org/10.1257/app.4.1.1">historically is linked</a> to lowered prospects for earnings, advancement and future employment.</p>
<p>These problems are <a href="http://ccwt.wceruw.org/documents/ccwt_report_Understanding%20the%20Impacts%20of%20COVID-19%20Pandemic%20for%20Undergraduate%20Students%20attending%20an%20HBCU.pdf">leading some students to worry</a> whether their hard work and loans will result in not just their dream job, but any job. </p>
<p>Should the COVID-19 pandemic represent the end of unpaid internships? And if the answer is yes, then can government, employers and philanthropists fully fund all internships for students in college?</p>
<h2>Ways to pay</h2>
<p>Some unpaid internships are <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/71-flsa-internships">technically legal</a> if they are primarily an <a href="https://www.naceweb.org/about-us/advocacy/position-statements/position-statement-us-internships/">educational experience</a>. But based on current conditions, we contend that the very <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/05/unpaid-internships-bad-for-students-bad-for-workers-bad-for-society/256958/">notion of unpaid work is indefensible</a>. </p>
<p>This is no small problem. An <a href="http://ccwt.wceruw.org/research/datasnapshots.html">analysis of 675,594 internship postings</a> in 2019 revealed that 71% did not list any pay.</p>
<p>It could be that those postings simply lacked information about compensation in job descriptions. However, data from our national <a href="http://ccwt.wceruw.org/research/collegeinternshipstudy.html">College Internship Study</a> indicate that unpaid internships are prevalent. In our <a href="http://ccwt.wceruw.org/research/datasnapshots.html">survey of 3,809 students at 13 schools</a>, 43% of the student interns had an internship that was unpaid.</p>
<p>Research on unpaid internships also shows that these positions tend to be concentrated in certain majors and jobs. A University of Georgia study found that political science, journalism and human development majors were <a href="https://www.naceweb.org/job-market/internships/exploring-the-implications-of-unpaid-internships/">more likely to pursue unpaid internships</a> than their counterparts in business or agricultural programs.</p>
<p>In our <a href="http://ccwt.wceruw.org/research/datasnapshots.html">own research</a>, we found that 76% of unpaid interns are women and that 55% intern at nonprofits.</p>
<p>Below we propose three ways to make paid internships more plentiful and available to all students.</p>
<h2>1. Ban unpaid internships in the federal government</h2>
<p>As the nation’s largest employer and host to <a href="https://dcist.com/story/20/05/08/an-army-of-interns-usually-helps-keep-d-c-running-during-the-summer-not-this-year/">legions of interns in Washington, D.C.</a>, the federal government is in a unique position to send a message to employers across the nation that interns must be paid for their work.</p>
<p>This is precisely what U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, intended when she announced in 2018 that all interns in her office would be <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/12/06/674378315/new-congresswoman-will-pay-her-interns-15-an-hour-is-that-a-big-deal">paid US$15 an hour</a>. The cause has since been taken up by other <a href="https://cha.house.gov/member-services/house-paid-internship-program">Capitol Hill offices</a> and <a href="https://payourinterns.org/#">Pay Our Interns</a>, a nonprofit that is seeking to increase paid internships.</p>
<p>To begin funding these government positions, Congress and the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/29/perspectives/biden-government-internships/index.html">Biden administration</a> could allocate funding in upcoming stimulus packages for college students to work as paid interns in federal, state and local government offices. Efforts should be made to find other sources of funding to pay interns over the long term.</p>
<h2>2. Create tax breaks and grants for employers that hire student interns</h2>
<p>Creating tax breaks and grant programs is especially important because many potential hosts of interns, especially small businesses and nonprofits, struggle to allocate staff time or resources to adequately support them, whether or not they’re paid. </p>
<p>With many state and local government budgets <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/states-grappling-with-hit-to-tax-collections">drained by the COVID-19 pandemic</a>, federal funding may be required to allow state governments to convert unpaid positions in state agencies into paid internships. </p>
<h2>3. Fund paid internships at nonprofits</h2>
<p>Nonprofits <a href="http://ccwt.wceruw.org/research/datasnapshots.html">regularly bring</a> unpaid interns on board for weeks or months at a time. Many nonprofits have also been hit <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/non-profits-coronavirus-fail/2020/08/02/ef486414-d371-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html">particularly hard</a> during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Funding paid internships at nonprofits would help them <a href="https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/thought-leadership/warning-signs-about-the-fragility-of-nonprofits-the-pandemic-era">weather increased demand for their services</a>, while also reducing the overall number of unpaid positions.</p>
<p>As the COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/tackling-the-inequality-pandemic-is-there-a-cure/">continues to worsen inequality in society</a>, ending the use of unpaid interns is one way to help turn things around.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152797/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew T. Hora receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mindi Thompson receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. </span></em></p>With the COVID-19 pandemic making inequalities worse, has the time come to make sure all interns are paid?Matthew T. Hora, Assistant Professor of Adult and Higher Education, Director of the Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions, University of Wisconsin-MadisonMindi Thompson, Professor of Counseling Psychology, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1505252021-02-05T13:05:53Z2021-02-05T13:05:53ZGraduate students need a PhD that makes sense for their real lives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379769/original/file-20210120-15-16tqhid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3927%2C5890&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Doctoral programs often prepare graduates to become professors, but those jobs are scarce today.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/student-stands-and-reads-a-book-among-the-stacks-in-the-news-photo/586158350?adppopup=true">JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There used to be a time – back in the 1960s – when it made sense for doctoral programs to prepare students to become professors. For that <a href="https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/may-2003/we-historians-the-golden-age-and-beyond">brief postwar moment</a>, there were more jobs for professors than there were doctorate holders to fill them.</p>
<p>But that time is <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c12863/c12863.pdf">long gone</a>. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/bad-job-market-phds/479205/">Professorships are scarce</a> now, and most people with doctorates will end up working <a href="https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/doctoratework/2017/html/sdr2017_dst_12-3.html">outside of academia</a>.</p>
<p>In “<a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/new-phd#:%7E:text=The%20New%20PhD%20is%20a,change%20agents%20throughout%20our%20world">The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education</a>,” former professor and university president Robert Weisbuch and I argue that graduate programs aren’t preparing doctoral students for the jobs they’ll likely have outside college classrooms or laboratories. </p>
<p>We propose a new design for graduate school that points graduates toward fulfilling work both inside and outside the academy. </p>
<h2>Rethinking doctorates</h2>
<p>Instead of seeking work across society, many highly skilled doctorate holders end up teaching a course here and there – for <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/20/new-report-says-many-adjuncts-make-less-3500-course-and-25000-year">low wages</a> – in the vanishing hope of full-time jobs as professors. This <a href="https://www.hepg.org/her-home/issues/harvard-educational-review-volume-89,-issue-4/herbooknote/the-adjunct-underclass">proliferation of adjunct labor</a> devalues the people doing it and the academic workplace together. </p>
<p>We argue that the problem starts with an intense desire to stay in academia no matter what. Professorial jobs are scarcer than ever, but doctoral education <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03191-7">socializes students</a> to want those jobs above all others.</p>
<p>Professors model a rarefied existence without educating students to prepare for the actual alternatives they will face. For example, <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-degree-of-uncommon-success/?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in">scientists are encouraged to narrowly specialize</a> within their subfields, while <a href="https://www.press.umich.edu/8845365/manifesto_for_the_humanities">humanities scholars are given few opportunities to collaborate with others</a> in ways that are common in most workplaces. </p>
<p>In both cases, we believe graduate students would be better served by a curriculum that encourages a wider variety of skills and capacities, including working in project teams and translating their work to nonspecialized audiences. <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/new-phd#:%7E:text=The%20New%20PhD%20is%20a,change%20agents%20throughout%20our%20world">Our research finds</a> that such a program would draw more people of color and more women, and that graduates would be <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/new-phd#:%7E:text=The%20New%20PhD%20is%20a,change%20agents%20throughout%20our%20world">more competitive in today’s job market</a>. </p>
<h2>Why should anyone care?</h2>
<p>What happens to the doctorate holder ripples outward. The doctoral curriculum shapes liberal arts curriculum because doctoral programs train most professors who teach liberal arts subjects. And the way universities design and <a href="https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/LEAP/leap_vision_summary.pdf">teach the liberal arts</a> affects colleges, high schools and every other level of the education pyramid.</p>
<p>We’d like to see an academic experience that remains rich in scholarship but is far less hermetic. In “The New PhD,” we offer real-life examples of programs that offer disciplinary expertise while recognizing the diverse career outcomes that students will face. </p>
<p>A new humanities doctoral program at University of Iowa’s <a href="https://obermann.uiowa.edu/programs/humanities-public-good">Obermann Center</a> and the <a href="https://versatilehumanists.duke.edu/internships/">Versatile Humanists program</a> at Duke University are examples. They place graduate student interns in a variety of workplaces outside the university. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/outcomes-based-graduate-school-the-humanities-edition/">Lehigh University</a> and other schools have used alumni career data to redesign their curriculum and prepare graduates for the jobs they will actually encounter. For example, the department recently added a certificate program in writing instruction. </p>
<p>Programs like Lehigh’s admit smaller student cohorts to advise students individually as they progress. We support this curated approach to doctoral education, and believe a program should admit only as many students as it can advise carefully and attentively. </p>
<h2>Valuing people of color and women</h2>
<p>Doctoral students don’t resemble the demographics of the country at large. Black Americans, Latinos and Native Americans together make up about <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/AGE775219">30% of the U.S. population</a> but only <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2017/nsf17306/report/who-earns-a-us-doctorate/race-and-ethnicity.cfm#:%7E:text=Participation%20in%20doctoral%20education%20by,of%20Hispanic%20or%20Latino%20doctorate">15% of U.S. doctorates</a>. Women are <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1002/chem.201600035">greatly underrepresented</a> in graduate STEM programs.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>And once women and people of color get through the door, they often feel a <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/11/03/study-finds-serious-attrition-issues-black-and-latino-doctoral-students">lack of support</a> from their institutions. A 2014 study found <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/11/03/study-finds-serious-attrition-issues-black-and-latino-doctoral-students">fewer than half</a> of Black and Latino doctoral students in the behavioral and social sciences earned a doctoral degree within seven years. More than a third left their programs without finishing.</p>
<p>Graduate schools can recruit more diverse students by looking to the undergraduate pipeline and even high schools. Many undergrad programs recruit heavily among students from marginalized groups. But graduate schools compete for a much smaller pool of qualified and interested candidates, and such recruitment can strain departmental budgets.</p>
<p>One way to do this is for graduate faculty to work with teachers at all levels to excite young people about their fields. The City University of New York has done this successfully with its <a href="http://www.diversiphd.com/about">Pipeline Program</a>, which immerses undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups in academic culture. Surveys tell us such social engagement helps <a href="https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.13-02-0021">persuade underrepresented students</a> to pursue graduate study. </p>
<p>At CUNY and elsewhere, on behalf of students from all backgrounds, work is being done to make doctoral education more attentive to the reality that doctorate holders face. Our book describes that work and brings it to light.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150525/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leonard Cassuto does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Graduate programs can be rich in scholarship and still prepare students for real-world careers.Leonard Cassuto, Professor of English and American Studies, Fordham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1459112020-11-26T15:54:05Z2020-11-26T15:54:05ZHow to help new hires as they start their jobs in COVID-19 isolation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371290/original/file-20201125-20-1njstfq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C511%2C5532%2C3350&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The first few weeks of a new job are usually spent absorbing a lot of information. That's been much more difficult for new hires during the pandemic. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Do you remember the day you started your first job? Whether a part-time gig after school, a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/study-canada/work/intern.html">co-op placement</a> or your first serious full-time job after graduation, it’s likely your first weeks at work were spent absorbing a lot of information.</p>
<p>Though your employer may have provided you with some guidance, you probably learned a lot about what your job entailed and how to do it from colleagues. And let’s not forget the “water cooler” talk where office gossip mixed with work-related news.</p>
<p>Now, imagine none of that was possible, that you were beginning a new job at home, alone, and without knowing when you might be able to meet your boss or your colleagues in person. </p>
<p>Sounds challenging? Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, this is exactly the situation facing thousands of young people who are starting out in the workplace for the first time.</p>
<h2>Federal government jobs</h2>
<p>I became aware of this issue through my students. I teach public administration, and for most of my students, a job with the federal government is both an integral part of their curriculum and where most are hoping to find full-time employment after graduation.</p>
<p>When federal government employees moved en masse in March to remote work, thousands of students and new recruits had received job offers. Bringing them into the workplace turned into a major administrative headache. </p>
<p>The scope of this problem shouldn’t be underestimated. Every year the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-service-commission/services/publications/annual-report-2018-19.html">federal government hires</a> more than 12,000 students across its recruitment programs, a figure that represents about three per cent of the total federal workforce, but excludes students hired through other means such as contracts or term positions.</p>
<h2>Negatives and positives for new hires</h2>
<p>It’s too early to determine whether the pandemic will have an immediate impact on federal student hiring patterns and programs. <a href="https://www.exchangemagazine.com/2020/week43/Tuesday/IJWIL_21_4_401_414.pdf">Early research</a> into how co-op students have adapted to working from home highlights both positive and negative aspects. </p>
<p>Notably, the research has found that fewer opportunities for socialization is having an impact on their perceived productivity and causing them to question the value of their work. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man and two women sit at a table with their laptops chatting and laughing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371295/original/file-20201125-19-18sscfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371295/original/file-20201125-19-18sscfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371295/original/file-20201125-19-18sscfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371295/original/file-20201125-19-18sscfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371295/original/file-20201125-19-18sscfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371295/original/file-20201125-19-18sscfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371295/original/file-20201125-19-18sscfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In-person interactions with your work colleagues is often a critical way for new hires to learn the ropes of their jobs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Brooke Cagle/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This underscores the critical importance of <a href="https://www.exacthire.com/blog/hiring-process/what-does-employee-onboarding-mean-for-your-organization/">structured onboarding</a> — the process of orienting and setting up new employees in the workplace — as a means of offsetting some of the challenges posed by remote work arrangements.</p>
<p>This is made more important by the likelihood that many employers may continue with remote work into the near future, or at least until the pandemic is behind us.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-canadas-top-ceos-think-about-remote-work-149778">What Canada’s top CEOs think about remote work</a>
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<p>There is nothing inherently new with onboarding as a human resources strategy. Research shows it contributes to higher employee commitment, better job performance and lesser stress, all of which combine to increase job satisfaction and employee retention rates. </p>
<h2>Guidance from federal government</h2>
<p>Faced with the exceptional circumstances and difficulties of having to welcome students into its ranks during a pandemic, the federal government issued a guide to team leaders in May 2020 with “<a href="https://www.csps-efpc.gc.ca/Tools/jobaids/mngr-guide-onboard-covid-eng.aspx">tips and tricks to help managers with the onboarding of students working remotely</a>.”</p>
<p>The guide builds on understood notions and practices to onboarding, but adapts these to remote work. But by leaving the process in the hands of individual managers, the guide illustrates the lack of a broad federal government approach to bringing on new employees that encompasses all departments, with consequences on how much attention may be applied to this vital task.</p>
<p>It will be some months before we can truly assess how well the federal government has managed to onboard students and new recruits. Anecdotally, the situation appears to show that practices vary greatly from institution to institution. </p>
<p>For example, in the early autumn, I surveyed my students about their experiences in their new federal government co-op placements. My admittedly unscientific findings determined that fewer than a third had received any form of onboarding.</p>
<p>There are multiple implications to this finding and should raise alarms for both federal managers and university administrators.</p>
<h2>Onboarding is critical</h2>
<p>For federal managers responsible for student recruitment, onboarding should be top of mind. But responsibility for student recruits is spread across federal institutions and currently leaves much to the discretion of individual managers.</p>
<p>This is problematic in normal times, but more so with the federal student workforce working from home. </p>
<p>Poorly conceived and executed onboarding programs may dissuade a large cohort of new recruits from choosing careers in the federal government. In a competitive labour market for talent, federal managers should heed as warning the words of the <a href="https://www.biography.com/performer/will-rogers">late American humourist Will Rogers</a>: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman sits at a laptop as another woman stands beside her looking at her screen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371305/original/file-20201125-17-pmgz4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371305/original/file-20201125-17-pmgz4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371305/original/file-20201125-17-pmgz4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371305/original/file-20201125-17-pmgz4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371305/original/file-20201125-17-pmgz4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371305/original/file-20201125-17-pmgz4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371305/original/file-20201125-17-pmgz4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">During normal times, onboarding is important for the success of new hires. It’s even more critical during the pandemic, and yet doesn’t appear to be happening at the federal government.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At present, the federal government is running the risk of leaving many talented future recruits with a negative impression.</p>
<p>For universities, remote work and deficient onboarding poses problems of their own. </p>
<p>In normal times, federal employment programs provide students with practical experience that supports their university education. But students normally receive the necessary support and guidance from their employers to get the most out of their experience. The pandemic therefore has implications for teaching and learning as instructors adjust their curricula to reflect lesser practical experiences among their students.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-when-teaching-during-a-disaster-students-need-to-be-partners-136695">Coronavirus: When teaching during a disaster, students need to be partners</a>
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</em>
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<p>For example, reflecting on my own teaching, it’s unlikely that I can depend on certain skills, such as the ability to write good briefing notes, that could normally be acquired through workplace practice.</p>
<h2>How to tackle the problem</h2>
<p>What’s to be done? </p>
<p>The question of how best to onboard employees when they’re working remotely is likely to be with us for some considerable time. Even after the pandemic, it’s probable that remote work will endure as an option for the <a href="https://www.hilltimes.com/2020/10/26/its-going-to-be-a-long-time-hundreds-of-thousands-of-federal-public-servants-still-working-from-home-eight-months-into-the-pandemic/267771">federal government in the foreseeable future</a>. As a result, it’s unlikely that the current federal approach will suffice in the long term. </p>
<p>Two measures are most important. </p>
<p>First and foremost, the institutional silos that exist among student recruitment programs need to be replaced with an enterprise-wide approach bringing recruitment programs, policies and practices related to student employment under a single roof. </p>
<p>Second, while this consolidation process is underway, the federal government should engage urgently with universities and sector representatives, like the <a href="https://www.cewilcanada.ca/">Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada</a>, to survey the student experience and develop the tools to ease their integration into work.</p>
<p>If I was a student recruit in government today, I would expect my employer to have in place supports to enable me to learn and be productive as quickly as possible. </p>
<p>No one can be faulted for not having in place a contingency plan for onboarding thousands working from home in a pandemic. But with COVID-19 with us for some time yet, and the shift to remote work possibly permanent in some workplaces, it is now time to act.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145911/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael O'Neill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of young people are starting out in the workplace for the first time in isolation and with little to no onboarding assistance. That must change.Michael O'Neill, Lecturer, School of Political Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1471902020-10-02T22:30:06Z2020-10-02T22:30:06ZWith over 300,000 young people left in limbo by COVID, we need a job cadet program<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361254/original/file-20201002-24-7bqe0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=264%2C0%2C3161%2C2160&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/late-nightearly-morning-office-male-female-1114392698">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia should create a national job cadet program to help young people into work, according to a report released today by the Mitchell Institute.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361284/original/file-20201002-15-1uocrw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cover of Mitchell Institute report" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361284/original/file-20201002-15-1uocrw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361284/original/file-20201002-15-1uocrw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361284/original/file-20201002-15-1uocrw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361284/original/file-20201002-15-1uocrw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361284/original/file-20201002-15-1uocrw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361284/original/file-20201002-15-1uocrw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361284/original/file-20201002-15-1uocrw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Mitchell Institute report released today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.vu.edu.au/sites/default/files/mitchell-institute-report-national-job-cadet-program.pdf">Mitchell Institute, Victoria University</a></span>
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<p>In <a href="https://www.vu.edu.au/sites/default/files/mitchell-institute-report-national-job-cadet-program.pdf">the report</a>, Averting an Escalating Labour Market Crisis for Young People in Australia: A Proposed National Job Cadet Program, we highlight the extraordinary labour market challenges young people face.</p>
<p>Our analysis suggests the worst is yet to come, as young people compete for fewer available jobs in the transition from education to the workplace.</p>
<p>To help avert the crisis, we argue Australia should support employers to hire young people as cadets. The <a href="https://oecdedutoday.com/school-work-during-coronavirus-2008-global-financial-crisis/">evidence shows</a> programs such as these are effective in helping young people into viable careers, including at times of crisis.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-charts-on-how-covid-19-is-hitting-australias-young-adults-hard-147254">5 charts on how COVID-19 is hitting Australia's young adults hard</a>
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<h2>What are cadetships?</h2>
<p>A cadetship combines formal training with practical work experience that includes some form of paid employment.</p>
<p>Like apprenticeships and traineeships, a cadetship program would mean young people train, study and earn an income. However, our proposed cadetships are aimed at jobs more often associated with diploma or bachelor degree qualifications. These cadetships will focus on areas of study – such as business, information technology and engineering – that are different to traditional trades.</p>
<p>This is similar to the <a href="https://www.bmbf.de/en/the-german-vocational-training-system-2129.html">German model of dual training</a>, which combines theory and training embedded in a real-life work environments. </p>
<p>Cadetships can take many forms. We describe two main streams in the table below.</p>
<p><iframe id="5ebrs" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/5ebrs/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The first stream more closely resembles a traditional apprenticeship or traineeship, and draws on the relevant training provisions in industrial awards. This stream is for more unskilled and non-tertiary-qualified young people.</p>
<p>The second stream is for recent graduates, or those who already have some work experience, but who may need some further supported training to enter the labour market.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/advanced-apprenticeships-will-boost-skills-for-future-jobs-but-not-in-time-to-counter-covid-impacts-147113">Advanced apprenticeships will boost skills for future jobs, but not in time to counter COVID impacts</a>
</strong>
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</p>
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<h2>Why do we need a cadetship program?</h2>
<p>Our research shows the <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/supporting/jobs-ladder">already difficult labour market conditions</a> for young people are likely to get much worse.</p>
<p>Of particular concern is that fewer opportunities to enter the workforce will mean many young people will end up in the category known as “<a href="https://data.oecd.org/youthinac/youth-not-in-employment-education-or-training-neet.htm">NEET</a>” – “not in employment education or training”. It is the red flag of <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/research-and-statistics/publications/all-publications/who-are-the-persistently-neet-young-people#:%7E:text=While%20it%20is%20commonly%20accepted,months%20of%20NEET%20continuously%20and">education-to-work transitions</a> because it is associated with poor long-term outcomes.</p>
<p>These outcomes include higher rates of unemployment and underemployment, and lifetimes of insecure work and low pay.</p>
<p>The figure below shows the number of people between the ages of 15 to 24 who are in the NEET category in Australia. </p>
<p><iframe id="slcqC" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/slcqC/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>During the pandemic, about 100,000 more young people became NEET than would normally be the case. The most recent data show a reduction in their number, although it clearly remains higher than before. It is important to place these changes within a wider context.</p>
<p>Australia is experiencing the early economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8462.12386">Based on previous recessions</a>, the most negative effects on young people will come progressively as cohorts graduating from education make the transition to the workforce. With lower rates of job creation it becomes harder for them to find work. </p>
<p>Indeed, data show the negative impacts of youth unemployment can linger long after an economic downturn has passed.</p>
<p>The chart below shows the historical incidence for 15-to-24-year-olds who are NEET since 1986, using a three-month rolling average.</p>
<p><iframe id="iNfi7" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/iNfi7/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>These trends suggest Australia may need to tackle the problem of a “bottleneck” forming in the youth labour market. This is when waves of young people try to move from the education system into the labour force. </p>
<p>However, when fewer jobs are available, young people are unable to find employment and a “queue” forms. The result is higher incidences of NEET that can take some time to dissipate.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pupil-job-prospects-and-earnings-boosted-by-employer-links-to-schools-27548">Pupil job prospects and earnings boosted by employer links to schools </a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How much will it cost?</h2>
<p>The challenge facing Australia is to create a greater quantity and quality of employment opportunities for young people.</p>
<p>Investing in cadetships for young people will help meet this difficult challenge.</p>
<p>To support businesses to hire cadets, we argue the Australian government should subsidise their wages. Wage subsidies <a href="https://businesslaw.curtin.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/ajle-vol-19-no-3-borland.pdf">have been shown to be effective</a> in creating extra employment.</p>
<p>We believe subsidies up to A$28,000 will help create the extra high-quality employment opportunities young people need. This matches the <a href="https://www.employment.gov.au/supporting-apprentices-and-trainees">current support provided</a> to certain employers of apprentices and trainees. The final amount an employer receives can be adjusted according to criteria such as the size of the business or amount of skills development required to do the job. </p>
<p>While cadetships will cost money, the cost of doing nothing is enormous. The <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/society-at-a-glance-2016/neet-costs-are-significant-in-many-oecd-countries_soc_glance-2016-graph8-en">OECD estimates</a> the cost to the Australian economy of young people not being in education, training or employment is about 1% of GDP, or about A$40,000 per person per year.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the investment we make now in a job cadet program will deliver long-term rewards.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147190/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Dawkins has received research grants. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David G. Lloyd and Peter Hurley do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The pandemic has hit young people very hard. The long-term costs of having them neither studying nor working more than justify investment in a national program to help them enter the workforce.Peter Hurley, Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityDavid G. Lloyd, Vice-Chancellor and President, University of South AustraliaPeter Dawkins, Vice Chancellor, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1366972020-04-23T12:11:15Z2020-04-23T12:11:15ZHow to score an internship during the COVID-19 pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329147/original/file-20200420-152558-1yd3rem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C0%2C5922%2C3975&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Forty percent of employers have moved to virtual internships.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/smart-student-learning-using-internet-and-royalty-free-image/1128717611?adppopup=true">fizkes/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s Note: Even though unemployment has reached a <a href="https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf">record high</a> due to business closures and social distancing measures brought about by the new coronavirus, you can still snag an internship if you know how to adapt and get creative. That advice comes from <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zrO9T94AAAAJ&hl">Jon Schlesinger</a>, <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/registrar/bulletin/provisional/courses/subjects/3700.html#courseslisting">director of the career center at Brandeis University</a> and also a lecturer in a course designed to get students to think critically about the industry in which they intern. Here, Schlesinger offers five tips for students who are searching for internships or haven’t yet started internships that they’ve secured.</em></p>
<h2>1. Create your own virtual internships</h2>
<p>While a poll of 283 employers recruiting on college campuses found that 16% have revoked internship offers, the poll also found that nearly <a href="https://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/trends-and-predictions/coronavirus-quick-poll-preliminary-results/">40% of employers have moved to a virtual internship program</a>.</p>
<p>Although employers moving online means there is no office to go to anymore, this can open up opportunities for you to <a href="https://www.thebalancecareers.com/virtual-internships-are-growing-in-a-wide-range-of-fields-1986578%22%22">work virtually</a>. Creating a virtual internship on your own is possible if you were already interviewing, or if you are still networking and making connections. Be prepared to share how you could help the employer working on a specific project or help them fill a gap during this crisis. Take advantage of this unique situation to try out an industry or work with an employer in a location you otherwise couldn’t get to.</p>
<p>Showing initiative in pitching your own virtual internship is one way to stand out to an employer and <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance?language=en%22%22">demonstrate grit</a>. As more employers adapt to the current crisis, you can also find more <a href="https://www.internships.com/virtual">virtual internship postings from top employers</a>.</p>
<h2>2. Try a micro-internship</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Micro-Internships-/245470">Micro-internships</a> are short-term project-based assignments. Think of yourself as an independent contractor working on a project for a company. You’re in charge of your own time, as long as you complete the assignment. <a href="https://www.parkerdewey.com/career-launchers">Parker Dewey</a>, a website that connects college students and recent graduates to short-term, paid, professional assignments, is a good place to search for paid micro-internship postings from companies ranging from the Fortune 100 to emerging startups.</p>
<h2>3. Focus on who’s hiring</h2>
<p>With all the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/16/unemployment-claims-coronavirus/">unemployment claims</a> and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/23/how-small-businesses-across-us-are-coping-with-covid-19-pandemic.html">business closings</a>, it’s easy to assume that no one is hiring. However, in every down market there are always some employers <a href="https://cultivatedculture.com/covid19-job-market-insights/">who are hiring</a>. Look to large tech companies, health care, financial services, business software and consulting services.</p>
<p>There are many websites with crowdsourced information about who is hiring. Sites such as <a href="https://ismyinternshipcancelled.com/">ismyinternshipcancelled.com</a> and <a href="https://candor.co/hiring-freezes/">candor.co</a> both have regularly updated lists. <a href="https://www.joinhandshake.com/">Handshake</a>, one of the largest platforms connecting students and employers, reached out to its employers to find <a href="https://learn.joinhandshake.com/students/hiring-on-handshake-500/">500 companies hiring students on the platform right now</a>. No list will be exhaustive. It’s still best to reach out to the individual recruiter or employer to learn about their hiring plans. However, time spent researching employers and networking is more crucial than just sending out resumes.</p>
<h2>4. Broaden your prospects</h2>
<p>As you start to make any type of career plan, it is helpful to be focused yet flexible. The pandemic demonstrates how quickly even the best plans can change. Expand your thinking and the types of roles or industries you are applying to. If you were focused on a laboratory research position in a university lab that is no longer hiring, consider other places, such as health care, pharmaceuticals or scientific writing and other roles that could be remote.</p>
<p>If you were planning to intern at a consulting firm, you might look to startups, nonprofits or local companies that need help navigating this crisis. The key is to keep brainstorming and expand your thinking. Don’t take anything off the table. Reach out to your network for advice. Get creative and think about past roles you’ve enjoyed. Even a campus activity or social issue you care about might lead you in a new direction.</p>
<h2>5. Build career-ready skills</h2>
<p>Ultimately, employers will value what skills you can bring to them. So if you are having difficulty finding a formal internship or a part-time job – whether this summer or anytime – use the time to identify and build new skills. <a href="https://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/candidate-selection/employers-want-to-see-these-attributes-on-students-resumes/">The top skills employers seek on resumes</a>, such as verbal and written communication and problem-solving, are skills you can build at home right now. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/">LinkedIn Learning</a> – available through many universities – provides access to expert-led courses great for learning technical and creative skills, such as new computer programming languages or tutorials on image editing and the like. Visit <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/">Khan Academy</a> for professional and personal development as well as to learn new academic skills, and check out the <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/personal-finance">personal finance</a> or <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities">arts and humanities courses</a>. Massive Open Online Courses, also known as MOOCs, like <a href="https://www.edx.org/">EdX</a> and <a href="https://www.coursera.org/">Coursera</a> also let you take classes for free with an option for a certificate. </p>
<p>Use this time to create your own projects or independent work: Design an app, write code, create a marketing campaign, solve a business problem, write a research statement or start a blog. To begin, imagine this is a school project, think about a current issue or problem, give yourself a task and come up with your own solution. For example, how would you advise a car company to continue operating during this crisis, or what type of marketing plan would you devise for a fast food company right now?</p>
<p>You can add any of these experiences to a resume, LinkedIn profile, cover letter or during an interview to show employers that you’re ready for the opportunity to take the next step in your future career.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136697/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Schlesinger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Although jobs are being cut due to COVID-19-related business closures, there are still clever ways to secure meaningful work experience this summer, an internship specialist says.Jon Schlesinger, Lecturer in the Schol of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the Hiatt Career Center, Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1311962020-02-26T14:02:53Z2020-02-26T14:02:53ZYour chances of getting an internship are better if you’ve already had one<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317232/original/file-20200225-24651-13doyp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Race, region and grades all play a role.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/african-young-intern-or-mixed-race-new-employee-royalty-free-image/1090214598?adppopup=true">fizkes/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When summer approaches, many college students (and their parents) wonder how they can land the perfect internship. But what kind of résumé really impresses firms looking for interns? And how are the internships connected to the broader job market?</p>
<p>We are researchers who specialize in issues of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fVTWWtAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">labor economics</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gu1Zd10AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">employment</a>, particularly for <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=iGil73wAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">interns and recent college graduates</a>.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w26729">2020 study</a> we did on the demand for interns, we found that employers were more likely to contact applicants who had a prior internship. In other words, it often takes an internship to get an internship.</p>
<p>We also found that there is a close relationship between the market for interns and the local unemployment rate. Labor markets with higher unemployment rates are less likely to have paid internships. And applicants are less likely to be contacted when the unemployment rate is higher. As <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/0002828042002561">other research</a> has shown, we found that applicants with white-sounding names got a higher response than those with black-sounding names.</p>
<h2>Apply often</h2>
<p>To shine light on what employers look for in a prospective internship, we sent about 11,000 fictitious résumés to firms to see how they would respond. The résumés contained information about the candidates’ GPA, major and previous work experience. These fictitious applicants presented themselves as students at one of 24 large public universities. They were also assigned distinctively black- and white-sounding names.</p>
<p>We applied for internships in all regions of the U.S. in the fields of marketing, research and business, which represent the majority of internships that were advertised. We applied both to paid and unpaid internships and recorded a “positive response” when firms requested further information or actually offered an interview.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317174/original/file-20200225-24655-2es8pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317174/original/file-20200225-24655-2es8pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317174/original/file-20200225-24655-2es8pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317174/original/file-20200225-24655-2es8pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317174/original/file-20200225-24655-2es8pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317174/original/file-20200225-24655-2es8pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317174/original/file-20200225-24655-2es8pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317174/original/file-20200225-24655-2es8pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Only about 6% of all internship applications get a response.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/portrait-of-confident-african-businesswoman-with-royalty-free-image/1124413806?adppopup=true">Luis Alvarez/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Overall, we received a positive response from firms about 6% of the time. That’s about one response for every 17 applications. So one lesson is that students need to send out many applications for internships to land one eventually.</p>
<p>Perhaps not surprisingly, we found that firms offering unpaid internships were about twice as likely to contact our applicants. The rate for paid internships was about 3% versus a little over 8% for unpaid internships was. It appears that firms need to work twice as hard to find unpaid interns as they do paid interns.</p>
<h2>Grades, schools and names matter</h2>
<p>We found that applicants with better grades were more likely to hear back. The positive response rate was statistically significant – about 1 percentage point higher for applicants with a GPA of 3.8 or 4.0, versus 3.0 or 3.2.</p>
<p>We also found that students from more selective universities were more likely to receive a positive response.</p>
<p>As with <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/0002828042002561">prior studies</a>, we found that applications with black-sounding names were less likely than those with white-sounding names to elicit interest, all other things being equal. In our study, black-sounding names got a 30% lower response rate, even after taking things such as GPA into account.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317173/original/file-20200225-24664-sr90xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317173/original/file-20200225-24664-sr90xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317173/original/file-20200225-24664-sr90xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317173/original/file-20200225-24664-sr90xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317173/original/file-20200225-24664-sr90xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317173/original/file-20200225-24664-sr90xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317173/original/file-20200225-24664-sr90xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Internship applicants with black-sounding names have a lower chance of getting hired.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-african-man-posing-in-office-royalty-free-image/1139897879?adppopup=true">SeventyFour/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Proximity and prior experience</h2>
<p>We found that the probability of a positive response fell by eight-tenths of 1 percentage point for every time you double the distance of the internship from where the applicant lives. Students’ chances of landing an internship are greater closer to their university or home.</p>
<p>One of the results we found to be the most striking is that applicants with previous internships were about 25% more likely to be contacted about their application than applicants with other types of previous work experience – including jobs in restaurants, retail, campus sports, or volunteer work.</p>
<p>We found that this effect was particularly notable for part-time internships.</p>
<p>Internships <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2015.11.002">play a big role</a> in how well people do later on in their careers. If firms are more likely to respond to applicants for unpaid internships – and having prior internship experience substantially increases a student’s chances for getting subsequent internships – then the inability to take an unpaid internship because of financial reasons could hurt your chances of finding a job in the future.</p>
<h2>Labor market impact</h2>
<p>We also found a strong link between the regular labor market and whether employers respond to applications for internships. Every time unemployment goes up by 1 percentage point, the response rate for internship applications went down by nearly 5 percentage points. This effect is about 10 percentage points for unpaid internships but close to zero for paid internships.</p>
<p>In our data, just over 60 percent of internships are unpaid, but this percentage varies geographically. One of the most important things that determine whether an internship is paid is the unemployment rate in the local labor market. We found that places with lower unemployment rates are more likely to have a greater share of paid internships, possibly because firms are trying to entice applicants with an eye towards hiring them more permanently.</p>
<p>Labor markets with higher minimum wages are less likely to have paid internships, we found in our study. For every US$1 increase in the minimum wage in a local labor market, the share of paid internships decreases by 4.6 percentage points. With higher minimum wages, paid internships cost firms more, so firms may prefer to switch to unpaid interns.</p>
<p>Taken together, our results suggest that students who live in areas with higher unemployment rates, or in areas with higher minimum wages, may face more difficulty in landing paid internships. The same is true for students who have no prior internship experience. Since internships are important to finding a job in the future, such students may be at a long-term disadvantage.</p>
<h2>Leveling the playing field</h2>
<p>How can these disparities be addressed? Paying interns, as some <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-paid-interns_n_5d3a061fe4b004b6adbd0edd?ri18n=true&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9jb25zZW50LnlhaG9vLmNvbS9jb2xsZWN0Q29uc2VudD9zZXNzaW9uSWQ9M19jYy1zZXNzaW9uXzNhZjNmZjU4LWIyMDAtNDVmOC04NzAyLTJiZTcyYTdiMmZlZiZsYW5nPWVuLXVzJmlubGluZT1mYWxzZQ&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIY4ylzQZp_6nuKSbF9oV8kGEhguZ_ALFk2stUT1k8wXYhqzPMD7jlOSwgZKVXRD0eA8sujOP1FXuMGnPiHhw5VfKXwFLs7qdeCR5VLGLogaSCSaZaSvOshdfy4L6s3Ed1rZ3NzJcebIBEznvcdE83vVEe6OGeWmT4n3cvERBJKT">politicians</a> <a href="https://www.rollcall.com/2019/05/24/the-fight-for-intern-pay-moves-to-2020-campaigns/">have suggested</a>, could help. So could making internships part of the high school and college experience.</p>
<p>If unpaid internships are eliminated, it could deprive students who take unpaid internships of valuable learning experiences. Need-based scholarships – funded by government, colleges or philanthropy – could enable students to take internships that would otherwise be unpaid.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131196/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Success in finding an internship is tied to factors that range from prior experience to local unemployment rates, new research has found.David A. Jaeger, Professor of Economics, University of St AndrewsAlan Seals, Associate Professor of Economics, Auburn UniversityJohn M. Nunley, Professor of Economics, University of Wisconsin-La CrosseLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1303572020-01-24T13:39:29Z2020-01-24T13:39:29Z5 obstacles that stop many students from taking an internship<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311472/original/file-20200122-117917-1bwg371.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">College students face more obstacles to getting an internship. Transportation and having to work a paying job are among the barriers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://picnoi.com/people/3200/">Picnoi</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When her college started requiring students to complete an internship in order to graduate, it created a serious dilemma for Janelle.</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t be able to do classes, do the internship and work to make money – which is kind of important because I’m basically just paying for school as I can,” Janelle said in an interview for a study of internships during her junior year in South Carolina.</p>
<p>Janelle is by no means alone. Of the 1,060 students at five colleges and universities who answered “no” to having taken an internship for our University of Wisconsin–Madison based <a href="http://ccwt.wceruw.org/research/collegeinternshipstudy.html">College Internship Study</a> survey, 676 – or 64% – stated that they had actually hoped to take an internship but could not. The schools were located in Maryland, South Carolina and Wisconsin.</p>
<p>The inability to take internships is a problem because internships serve as an <a href="https://www.naceweb.org/job-market/trends-and-predictions/job-offers-for-class-of-2019-grads-impacted-by-internship-experience/">important signal</a> that students are ready to enter the workforce. In a recent <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0927537115001207">study</a>, students who listed an internship on their resume received 14% more offers for an interview than those who did not. And evidence is growing that internships also lead to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-015-9903-9">lower rates of unemployment</a> after graduation, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2432425">higher wages</a>, and even <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0361476X14000745">better grades</a> than students who don’t have an internship. More specifically, students who had an internship have <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-015-9903-9">15% lower unemployment</a>, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2432425">6% higher wages</a> five years after graduation, and final year grades that are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0361476X14000745">3.4% higher</a> than those who did not have an internship.</p>
<p>These impacts on students’ academic success and career prospects are one of the main reasons that internships are being promoted as a “<a href="https://www.aacu.org/leap/hips">high-impact</a>” practice that colleges and universities should encourage all students to pursue. But our data indicate that such advocacy is problematic. What we found is that access to internships – at least the ones that are unpaid or that pay very little – favor wealthy students who can more easily forego a paycheck in order to get the valuable experience. </p>
<p>We found five significant obstacles that make it difficult for some students to take an internship.</p>
<h2>1. The need to work paid jobs</h2>
<p>The most commonly reported obstacle that prevented students from taking an internship was the simple fact that they had to continue work their full- or part-time job. Sixty percent, or 405, of the students who wanted to take an internship but could not cited this obstacle. </p>
<p>Among all college students, <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_ssa.asp">43% percent of full-time and 81% of part-time undergraduate students</a> work. These jobs help to pay for the constantly <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing/highlights">rising cost of tuition</a>, as well as groceries, housing and transportation. And for the growing numbers of older students who support relatives and have bills to pay, it is simply not practical to quit a well-paying and secure job for a short-term internship that would probably pay less.</p>
<h2>2. Too many classes</h2>
<p>Fifty-six percent – or 376 students – among those who told us they couldn’t work an internship cited a demanding course load as the reason why. This was especially true for students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, where courses require laboratory time and lots of homework. </p>
<p>A demanding course load was most frequently reported by full-time students and those who work part-time. Considering that 71% of college students who work part-time jobs actually put in 20 hours or more, time is still scarce for these students. As one student noted, such a life leads to “back-to-back-to-back scheduling” with little time for self-care, much less an internship.</p>
<h2>3. Opportunities may be scarce</h2>
<p>Students from the social sciences, arts and humanities frequently reported having difficulties locating an internship, much less one that was paid. With <a href="http://snaap.indiana.edu/pdf/SNAAP15/SNAAP_Special_Report_2015.pdf">research</a> indicating that students in arts and creative disciplines have fewer paid internship opportunities, many students in these fields face the dual obstacle of too few openings and the lack of a decent paycheck. </p>
<p>For 45%, or 301 students, in our study who did not take internships, the lack of internship opportunities in their field or even their place of residence was a major obstacle. But it would be a mistake to think that the challenges of finding an internship were limited to the art history and English majors. One student in a physics and applied math program in Wisconsin explained that he had not taken an internship simply because, “There aren’t any here offered for me in my field.” </p>
<h2>4. Unpaid or poorly paid internships</h2>
<p>Thirty-three percent, or 224 of the students who could not take internships, cited the lack of pay as the reason why. As Janelle stated, “My biggest struggle is most of them are unpaid - I am 26, getting married in a year, trying to do adult things and not getting paid for several months is just not something I can afford to do right now.” Quite simply, working for free or for a low wage is simply not feasible for many college students. </p>
<p>On top of coming with low or no pay, many internships – particularly those in finance, government, arts and media, or political science – are located in expensive cities that require relocation, big rents and high daily living expenses. While national data on the prevalence of unpaid internships are not available, 34% of the student interns in our study worked without a paycheck. Besides the lack of pay being a deal-breaker for many students, the <a href="https://www.naceweb.org/job-market/internships/exploring-the-implications-of-unpaid-internships/">evidence</a> also indicates that unpaid internships are negatively correlated with students’ future wages and employment outcomes, which highlights the problematic nature of unpaid work for college students. </p>
<h2>5. Lack of transportation</h2>
<p>Transportation was an obstacle for 19%, or 129 of the non-interns in our study. For these students, not having a car effectively limited their options to on-campus internships or those accessible by public transportation.</p>
<p>When thinking about these obstacles, it’s important to keep in mind that some students face two or more of these intersecting obstacles at once. This in turn leaves students from wealthy, well-connected and privileged families in a better position when it comes to securing internships that could be a critical link to their first job.</p>
<p>As Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, stated in an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/opinion/breaking-a-cycle-that-allows-privilege-to-go-to-privileged.html">op-ed about America’s “internship-industrial complex,”</a> the current state of affairs cannot last, because too “many promising young people with limited means are denied the chance to rise as high as their talent will take them.” This is why in the <a href="http://ccwt.wceruw.org/research/collegeinternshipstudy.html">College Internship Study</a> we are also documenting promising strategies that our partner institutions are pursuing to make internships more accessible for all college students, such as <a href="https://www.uwlax.edu/urc/">course-embedded projects</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00871-x">undergraduate research</a> and even <a href="https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/micro-internships-just-a-gig-or-a-promising-gateway/">micro-internships</a>, which provide students with short-term projects that employers need completed but also introduce them to the world of precarious “gig” labor.</p>
<p>Until colleges and universities devote more resources to creating support systems for students struggling with these obstacles, the realities of working another shift, demanding coursework and the lack of a car will keep too many students from “<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2432425">opening the door of opportunity</a>” that an internship represents.</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130357/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew T. Hora receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. </span></em></p>Internships send an important signal to employers about how ready a college graduate is for the world of work. But for many students, taking an unpaid or poorly paid internship is not practical.Matthew T. Hora, Assistant Professor of Adult & Higher Education, Director of the Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1240742019-09-30T21:08:43Z2019-09-30T21:08:43ZHow to benefit from internships, service learning, apprenticeships and co-op work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294233/original/file-20190925-51463-2os056.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Work-integrated learning experiences provide people with hands-on opportunities to apply concepts learned in the classroom in the real world.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bruce Mars/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Meeting employers’ need for experience — often identified in job postings — is the great catch-22 of starting any career. Many employers require experience for a job, but people cannot gain experience if no one hires them. </p>
<p>Through my <a href="https://www.concordia.ca/faculty/saul-carliner.html#IDX_PUBLICATION">research and related work</a> on informal <a href="https://www.td.org/books/informal-learning-basics">learning in the workplace</a>, credentialing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-01-2015-0006">and careers in the 21st century</a>, as well as supervision of over 60 internships, I’ve seen the frustration and anxiety of students trying to enter the workforce or switch career tracks.</p>
<p>Fortunately, many post-secondary programs offer optional <a href="http://www.heqco.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/HEQCO_WIL_Guide_ENG_ACC.pdf">work-integrated learning experiences for students</a>, and most of these provide a useful experience credit for a resumé or portfolio piece to share. For those not in school, similar opportunities are available through some social service agencies. </p>
<p>Work-integrated learning experiences provide people with hands-on opportunities to apply concepts and processes learned in the classroom in the real world. These experiences also develop other skills needed in the workplace that often receive less attention in school, such as interpersonal communication and working collaboratively.</p>
<p>The late British education researcher Michael Eraut studied how people transition from school to work <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Developing-Professional-Knowledge-And-Competence/Eraut/p/book/9780750703314">and what it means to develop professional competence</a>. He noted that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1348/000709900158001">the type of learning that happens on the job complements the classroom</a>. Work-integrated learning introduces people to the types of judgment calls they need to make in the workplace. It provides them with access to workers who can advise them on these decisions and an opportunity to experience the impact of what people decide. </p>
<h2>Work-integrated learning experiences</h2>
<p>The level of <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/729f/6b66afd6841d4c474cb4f6fbc3e4ce79ad41.pdf">support and opportunities available for work-integrated learning </a> varies among programs. The institution matches students with employers; many institutions also let students suggest placements if these placements meet institutional criteria. Universities and colleges may offer one or more categories of work-integrated learning opportunities.</p>
<h2><em>1. Internships</em></h2>
<p>Internships are temporary job placements that provide an opportunity to work in a job and, ideally, under close supervision. Higher education institutions offer two types of internships. </p>
<p>In the first, students primarily observe professionals performing their jobs and debrief the experience. Examples include medical students observing doctors making rounds with patients and third-year elementary education students observing teachers in the classroom. These internships primarily provide students with opportunities to see the work environment, observe the everyday challenges and discuss professionals’ responses. Students receive academic credit (which usually involves additional reading and writing papers on their observations) but are not paid, as the students are not performing productive work.</p>
<p>In the second type of internship students work on real projects for real organizations and apply skills mastered in the classroom. Students typically receive academic credit, and are expected to perform additional reading and write papers about what they’ve learned. Because these interns perform productive work from which employers benefit, students receive pay.</p>
<h2><em>2. Apprenticeships</em></h2>
<p>In an apprenticeship, a new worker learns a job with a more experienced worker. Typically longer than internships (for example, these could be as long as one to four years) and more common in vocational programs than academic ones, apprenticeships have characteristics of both types of the above-mentioned internships. </p>
<p>Apprentices spend early phases observing work and gradually assume full responsibility for tasks. Apprentices usually receive pay for their work, but a lower, training wage.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294236/original/file-20190925-51438-13pmeac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294236/original/file-20190925-51438-13pmeac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294236/original/file-20190925-51438-13pmeac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294236/original/file-20190925-51438-13pmeac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294236/original/file-20190925-51438-13pmeac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294236/original/file-20190925-51438-13pmeac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294236/original/file-20190925-51438-13pmeac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Apprentices spend early phases observing work and gradually assume full-responsibility for tasks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2><em>3. Co-operative education</em></h2>
<p>Co-operative education is a work-integrated learning experience in which students may typically extend the last year of undergraduate studies to two years and alternate terms when they work with ones in which they study. </p>
<p>Some students work for the same employer for all of their work terms; others work for a different employer each work term. Although co-operative education has been common in engineering and business disciplines for many years, <a href="http://www.concordia.ca/academics/co-op/programs.html">options are now available for students</a> in <a href="https://www.ryerson.ca/co-op/coopPrograms/">many fields</a> including professional writing and arts management. </p>
<p>Because students perform productive work for employers, their work is paid. But because students are technically not enrolled in classes during their work terms, they don’t receive academic credit. The co-op experience appears on a transcript of extracurricular programs and non-credit courses from the student’s university.</p>
<h2><em>3. Service learning</em></h2>
<p>Service learning provides students with <a href="https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/ctl/service-learning-outreach">opportunities to work on real world projects during regular courses</a>, usually for non-profit organizations. </p>
<p>Where there is institutional support for service learning, instructors decide whether or not or how to include community-based learning experiences in their courses. Service learning projects are parts of courses, so students receive academic credit. Instructors decide how much service learning contributes to the grade. </p>
<p>Because students perform the projects for non-profit organizations, they typically do not receive pay but may use the work as a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/10650741211192064">portfolio piece to show future employers</a>. </p>
<h2>Take advantage of work-integrated learning</h2>
<p>Students should:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Ask for and respond to feedback from the job supervisor. This feedback provides people with insights on how they’re performing and the areas they need to continue developing.</p></li>
<li><p>Keep a log of learning (no matter how informal) and try to take true advantage of the learning aspects of any reports that have to be authored as part of the experience. What lessons were learned? What questions remain? How might similar situations be handled in the future?</p></li>
<li><p>Read professional literature, such as industry news, professional magazines and journals in your discipline, as these can clarify experiences observed in the workplace and put them into a broader perspective.</p></li>
<li><p>Be on the best behaviour: hiring is a real possibility. Internships, apprenticeships and co-operative education provides employers with opportunities to try out workers before making longer-term employment commitments. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Admittedly, some employers are not in a position to continue the relationship after the experience ends. But many employers are, and choose to make an offer to their intern or co-op student. Of all the interns I supervised between 2003 and 2019, more than half of them received offers from their internship employers. The others found work within a month or two of completing their programs. </p>
<p>Work-integrated learning provides the opportunity to gain that first job credit on the resumé, while also facilitating the transition from school to work. </p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124074/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saul Carliner is a past president and current Board member of Agence Ometz, which is specifically mentioned in the article (including the disclosure). </span></em></p>For post-secondary students, work-integrated learning experiences offer opportunities to gain that first experience on the resumé while planning a transition from school to work.Saul Carliner, Professor of Education, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1226222019-08-30T05:57:18Z2019-08-30T05:57:18ZGraduates beware, don’t fall for that unpaid job advert<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290254/original/file-20190830-115372-nkmw9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=332%2C386%2C5281%2C2757&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">They might want you, but are they prepared to pay you?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Brt</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sydney Football Club <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7399045/Sydney-FC-sparks-outrage-offering-unpaid-position-requiring-applicants-work-nine-months.html">sparked outrage this week</a> when it advertised for someone to work three to four days a week for nine months, as a volunteer.</p>
<p>The unpaid job, to work as a strength and conditioning assistant, was specifically looking for someone with a degree in human movement, exercise or sports science.</p>
<p>But the job ad was pulled on Wednesday amid a barrage of criticism online.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1166272668191977472"}"></div></p>
<p>Sydney FC soon clarified that the position was actually for “3 / 4 students each working 1 day per week for 9 months in our High Performance Dept”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1166343074353532928"}"></div></p>
<p>It said the original ad was “incorrectly worded & badly phrased”, a response that was not received kindly by those who had been following the story.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1166488642585427968"}"></div></p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1166509556098203648"}"></div></p>
<p>But questions remain about how volunteer work should be regulated to ensure any unpaid position is mutually beneficial for both graduates and employers.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/work-integrated-learning-why-is-it-increasing-and-who-benefits-93642">Work Integrated Learning: why is it increasing and who benefits?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Offering unpaid positions that should be a paid position is <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/unpaid-work/work-experience-and-internships">against the law</a>. </p>
<p>Fair Work Ombudsman <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/2019-media-releases/march-2019/20190301-her-fashion-box-penalty-media-release">Sandra Park</a> has outlined very clearly the difference between an internship and what should be paid work:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Unpaid placements are lawful where they are part of a vocational placement related to a course of study. However, the law prohibits the exploitation of workers when they are fulfilling the role of an actual employee.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>We’ve been here before</h2>
<p>The issue raises again the <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-unpaid-internships-unlawful-60197">problem of interns</a> in the workplace, a matter the Fair Work Ombudsman investigated back in 2014.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/archived-media-releases/2014-media-releases/august-2014/20140812-interns-unpaid-work-update">recommendation</a> then was that unpaid internships and work experience should:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] not run for a long period of time, not be work that a normal employee would perform, not require the person to come to work or perform productive activities, and mostly benefit the person, not the business/organisation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But what is a graduate to do when looking to gain entry to the workplace, especially something as competitive as the sporting industry?</p>
<h2>Sport and volunteers</h2>
<p>Sport has a long history of using volunteers to fill key gaps in the organisation and running of sporting events. The selling point for mega events such as the Commonwealth Games or the Olympics is that volunteers gain an invaluable, once-in-a-lifetime experience.</p>
<p>These volunteers are often used to guide athletes and sports fans around stadiums. Sport promoters also leverage the “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2019/02/14/olympic-volunteers-one-time-chance-or-exploitation/39061007/">glamour of being behind the scenes</a>” of an international sporting tournament to drive volunteer numbers.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.academia.edu/30779606/Volunteers_and_the_organisation_of_the_Olympic_Games">study</a> done for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on volunteers at the 2000 Sydney Olympics said their value at the time was at least <a href="https://futurechallenges.org/local/volunteering-at-the-sydney-olympics-tangible-legacy-or-distant-memory/">A$109,756,925</a> for the 40,000 volunteers who provided assistance. </p>
<p>Now, 20 years later, <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/01/national/tokyo-2020-volunteers-golden-opportunity-brazen-exploitation-olympics-awash-cash/">Tokyo organisers</a> will use twice that many volunteers. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics has put out a call for 80,000 volunteers, bringing debates about volunteering to the surface once more.</p>
<h2>Internships get students in the door</h2>
<p>Unpaid internships give students the opportunity to kick off their careers working in an industry they are passionate about. Our sports management students undertake a 120-hour internship as part of their degree, receiving vital experience and training within the sports industry.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290013/original/file-20190829-184222-dnb4fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290013/original/file-20190829-184222-dnb4fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290013/original/file-20190829-184222-dnb4fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290013/original/file-20190829-184222-dnb4fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290013/original/file-20190829-184222-dnb4fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290013/original/file-20190829-184222-dnb4fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290013/original/file-20190829-184222-dnb4fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rowan Choi, a Western Sydney University sports management student.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Western Sydney University</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As Rowan Choi, a sports management student, <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/more_news_stories/western_students_kick-off_their_careers_with_the_giants">put it</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>These sorts of internships at big sports clubs are invaluable. They are a great opportunity for students to branch out and make connections with industry professionals, gaining experience you would not get anywhere else.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But while undergraduate students who undertake internships as part of their degree are under regulation by an academic supervisor, there is a growing concern that recent graduates may be left exposed, as the Sydney FC issue has highlighted. </p>
<h2>Universities have work to do</h2>
<p>If universities are to remain as stakeholders on the issue of internships, then that brings greater responsibility on them to prepare students for the world of work after they graduate.</p>
<p>From the day they start, students want to know what job they’ll get when they graduate and often use a range of <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/about-this-site/graduate-employment">metrics</a> to determine their preferred choice of institution. </p>
<p>But are universities equipping our graduates well enough to know what a good opportunity looks like? </p>
<p><a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/universities-need-to-listen-to-what-students-want-from-their-degrees-20190324-p5170b">Recently</a> it was found that 19% of students said they didn’t feel they had learnt enough to be job-ready. </p>
<p>Add to this the <a href="http://theconversation.com/should-university-funding-be-tied-to-student-performance-75385">Australian government’s desire</a> to link student outcomes to university funding, and this sets up a situation where higher education providers can no longer ignore the role they have in this matter. </p>
<p>What was once a case of offering internships and placements as an <a href="https://theconversation.com/unpaid-work-experience-is-widespread-but-some-are-missing-out-new-study-70737">option</a> is fast becoming an integral part of university study. </p>
<p>This is often easier said than done, considering students are generally adapting to the university environment and the pressures of study and not focusing on their career until their final year. </p>
<p><a href="https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publications/enhancing-business-ethics-and-employability-in-experiential-learn">Research</a> has found that by embedding work-readiness skills early, and then reinforcing these throughout the course, students are more likely to see the importance of including <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1851169" title="WIL and Generic Skill Development: The Development of Business Students' Generic Skills Through Work-Integrated Learning">real-world experiences</a> in their studies. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/work-integrated-learning-why-is-it-increasing-and-who-benefits-93642">Work Integrated Learning: why is it increasing and who benefits?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Thus, by the time they reach the point at which an internship is offered, they have had time to consider the benefits and weigh up what is the best placement for them.</p>
<p>Our advice for graduates:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>keep connected with the university and other graduates, via alumni services, for advice on opportunities that can further your career</p></li>
<li><p>network as an undergraduate to source an industry mentor who can help with career guidance</p></li>
<li><p>network widely within the company you want to work for to broaden your level of engagement and ensure you have an alternative contact point for any further opportunities. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Let’s hope some lessons have been learned by the recent Sydney FC posting. The club’s CEO, Danny Townsend, has apologised for any misunderstanding over the ad, but goes on to praise the important role internships play in people getting paid positions. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1166345055000334336"}"></div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122622/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Offering unpaid positions for what should be a paid job is against the law in Australia. What should graduates do then if they’re looking to get a foot in the employment door?Jessica Richards, Lecturer Sport Business Management, Western Sydney UniversityDaniela Spanjaard, Director of Academic Program, Hospitality, Marketing & Sport, School of Business, Western Sydney UniversityRyan Storr, Lecturer in Sport Development, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1156132019-04-17T23:13:12Z2019-04-17T23:13:12ZFive strategies to improve medical training – to reduce stress and boost expertise<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269683/original/file-20190416-147525-on5ndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Canadian medical students graduate with up to $200,000 in debt, and burnout rates are high. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent changes in undergraduate medical education and postgraduate residency training in Canada are <a href="http://www.cmaj.ca/content/189/50/E1569">stressing trainee doctors</a>, increasing their debt load and reducing their experiential learning. </p>
<p>Such changes include a perceived shortage of residency positions, a premature requirement to choose a career path early in medical school and a growing fixation on exam preparation. </p>
<p>Older doctors are largely unaware of these new challenges. For trainees, on the other hand, this is the only system they know. Patients simply expect us to produce “triple A” doctors — available, affable and able. </p>
<p>As a cardiologist and head of medicine at Queen’s University, I offer several suggestions to reduce trainee stress, debt and burnout. I believe these suggestions will also enhance the expertise of Canada’s newly minted doctors.</p>
<p>For a start, we should increase residency training positions to meet Canada’s medical needs, and simplify the <a href="https://www.carms.ca/">Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS)</a> process for allocating residency positions. We should also constrain the time trainees spend studying for qualifying exams, delay the selection of medical career tracks until internship and restore the rotating internship.</p>
<h2>Loss of empathy and self-worth</h2>
<p>Nearly half of medical residents report burnout — <a href="https://www.cfms.org/news/2018/05/02/press-release-cfms-launches-the-national-wellness-program-and-commits-to-working-with-the-afmc-to-create-health-promoting-learning-environments.html">defined as a loss of empathy and sense of self-worth</a>. Burnout is reported ever earlier in residents, despite legislated restrictions on work hours and increased pay. </p>
<p>A contributing factor is the increasing time residents spend studying for the <a href="http://www.royalcollege.ca/rcsite/home-e">Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) qualifying exams</a>. Trainees are also impacted by funding decisions of provincial governments, which limit the size of medical schools and residency programs, and by hospital congestion, which impairs the learning environment. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/doctor-wellness-is-a-marathon-effort-and-training-should-start-in-medical-school-113704">Doctor wellness is a marathon effort and training should start in medical school</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The reasons medical students experience burnout are complex. They include worries about whether they will match to a residency program and about which career track to select during their second year. Students also worry about debt — the <a href="https://meds.queensu.ca/ugme-blog/archives/1807">average medical school debt was over $70,000 in 2014</a>. This number <a href="https://www.doctorsofbc.ca/news/facts-cost-becoming-doctor">increased to over $158,000 in 2017</a> (and many students borrow up to $200,000).</p>
<p>While tuition (at around $20,000 per year) is an important source of debt, a new and avoidable expense relates to the cost of off-site electives and CaRMS interviews incurred in their search for future residency positions.</p>
<h2>1. Increase residency positions</h2>
<p>So, what if we increased residency positions 10 per cent while reducing off-site medical school electives? </p>
<p>Medical students and residency training programs rank each other through an online system, called <a href="https://www.carms.ca/">CaRMS</a>. Recently, <a href="https://healthydebate.ca/2017/05/topic/medical-residency-match">the number of unmatched Canadian graduates has been increasing</a> — from 11 in 2009 to 68 in 2017. While 68 unmatched students (from a national total of 3000) may sound like a small problem, it can have tragic consequences.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"877270014021296129"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/06/17/tragic-case-of-robert-chu-shows-plight-of-canadian-medical-school-grads.html">Medical school graduate Robert Chu ended his life in 2016</a>, after twice failing to match. He wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Without a residency position, my degree … is effectively useless. My diligent studies of medical texts, careful practice of interview and examination skills with patients and my student debt in excess of $100,000 on this pursuit have all been for naught.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Of course, we should only create more residency positions if we need more doctors. Provincial governments tend to believe there are too many doctors; however, OECD data show Canada (with two MDs per 1,000 population) ranks near the bottom of the pack.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269840/original/file-20190417-139107-10t47u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269840/original/file-20190417-139107-10t47u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269840/original/file-20190417-139107-10t47u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269840/original/file-20190417-139107-10t47u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269840/original/file-20190417-139107-10t47u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269840/original/file-20190417-139107-10t47u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269840/original/file-20190417-139107-10t47u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2017, there were 2,967 residency positions available in Canada and <a href="https://healthydebate.ca/2017/05/topic/medical-residency-match">2,810 residents in the hunt</a>. This scarcity is exacerbated by <a href="https://caper.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/fact-sheets/FactSheet-NationalIMGDatabase_en.pdf">an influx of international medical graduates</a>, many of <a href="https://deptmed.queensu.ca/dept-blog/land-opportunity-canadian-medical-student-wannabes-scotland">whom are Canadian citizens</a>, a net <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/education/uniandcollege/most-quebec-medical-grads-are-leaving-the-province/">outflow of students from Quebec</a> and fewer available positions in “popular” specialty programs, such as dermatology, emergency medicine and plastic surgery. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269841/original/file-20190417-139113-aftvlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269841/original/file-20190417-139113-aftvlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269841/original/file-20190417-139113-aftvlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269841/original/file-20190417-139113-aftvlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269841/original/file-20190417-139113-aftvlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269841/original/file-20190417-139113-aftvlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269841/original/file-20190417-139113-aftvlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>This means that there is just two per cent wiggle room between positions required and positions available, complicated by student geographic and specialty preferences. </p>
<h2>2. Develop a ‘learn local’ strategy</h2>
<p>To reduce the risk of being unmatched, medical students spend their time criss-crossing Canada performing electives to demonstrate their interest in a program, while serving as their own travel agent and paying for travel and accommodations. </p>
<p>This adds to their debt and stress and these brief sojourns often yield superficial clinical experiences. One budding dermatologist told me: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I did six electives in dermatology (12 weeks total), and two electives in internal medicine… If I was to do it again, I probably wouldn’t have done so many dermatology electives - it’s just that I didn’t get the ones I really wanted until the end. I’m not sure I necessarily needed to do this many dermatology electives in order to match….I definitely felt the pressure to do the majority of my electives in this specialty to show my interest and build relationships at the programs I was interested in. … I can’t say exactly how much I spent. Certainly, in the thousands of dollars.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another student toured 12 universities across Canada to interview for surgery residencies. She ended up with her first choice of residency and stayed at her home university. Between external electives and the CaRMS interviews, medical students lose around four months of local clinical exposure.</p>
<p>A “learn local” strategy combined with a 10 per cent increase in residency positions would reduce expense, travel and stress and allow students to extend rotations at their own centres. The proposed changes would also right-size our medical work-force.</p>
<h2>3. Delay specialty selection</h2>
<p>What if we delayed the choice of career track until internship? </p>
<p>Some students struggle to choose a speciality. Family physician, internist, surgeon, pediatrician, obstetrician, radiologist, ophthalmologist, pathologist… there are many options. How can an informed choice be made after two years of relatively superficial exposure to the options? </p>
<p>A Queen’s student noted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It felt like there was an abrupt change when we went from exploring disciplines in medical school to when we needed to decide on our specialization. In first year, we were required to do observerships to promote variety. But midway through second year we needed to select our clerkship stream and then all of a sudden it seemed like decisions had to be made…. Midway through second year, by picking my stream, I had to decide that I was not going to pursue emergency medicine, anesthesia or a subspecialty surgery.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>By delaying specialty selection until internship, trainees could make more informed choices.</p>
<h2>4. Reinstate the rotating internship</h2>
<p>What if we reinstated the rotating internship? </p>
<p>A rotating internship gave doctors a broad experience. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2145314/pdf/canfamphys00133-0070.pdf">We abandoned the rotating internship</a> in favour of a two-year family medicine residency in around 1990. However, rotating internships did not just train GPs, they also trained many future specialists. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/doctors-in-training-nervous-about-lack-of-opportunities-89220">Doctors-in-training nervous about lack of opportunities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>During my rotating internship at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, British Columbia, from 1981 to 1982, I spent time in obstetrics (delivering more than 100 babies), pediatrics (caring for sick and premature babies), surgery (as first assist on all operations and primary surgeon for hernias and appendectomies), intensive care (placing arterial lines and managing ventilators) and internal medicine (running the ward). </p>
<p>I learned respect for each specialty by walking a mile in their shoes. These practical experiences alter the medical DNA of a young physician in a way no clerkship experience can. Re-establishing a rotating internship as the first year of residency would result in Canada’s doctors being more broadly trained.</p>
<h2>5. Reduce preparation time for exams</h2>
<p>Exams consume a trainee’s after-hours life for one month of medical school and nine months of residency, engendering stress and contributing to burnout. Studying too much may also distract trainees from clinical learning opportunities.</p>
<p>Objectively however, the <a href="http://www.royalcollege.ca/rcsite/credentials-exams/writing-exams/results/exam-pass-rate-percentages-e">success in the RCPSC exam has long been 95 per cent</a> for Canadian graduates (likewise the LMCC exam for medical students). </p>
<p>Let’s recast medical school and residency as programs for adult learners and reset expectations for how much time a trainee can or should study to some reasonable duration — say one month for medical students and two months for residents.</p>
<p>The training of doctors is a joint responsibility of universities, provincial agencies, accrediting agencies and society. Together we should refocus medical school and residency training with the goal of producing triple A doctors who are more clinically experienced, less stressed and owe less money.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115613/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Archer receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).</span></em></p>A ‘learn local’ strategy, along with increased residency positions and the return of a rotating internship could go a long way towards improving Canada’s system of medical training.Stephen L Archer, Professor, Head of Department of Medicine, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1121972019-04-02T11:03:50Z2019-04-02T11:03:50ZPaid work experience and ‘sandwich degrees’ help boost social mobility – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266789/original/file-20190401-177193-1pe3rxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's not a level playing field.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/business-competition-concept-flat-style-334893695">Sira Anamwong / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The upper echelons of British society are filled with graduates <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/oct/20/oxford-cambridge-race-class-and-oxbridge-stranglehold-on-british-society">from elite universities</a>. These universities are, in turn, disproportionately full of students from wealthier backgrounds, many of whom <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-britains-private-schools-are-such-a-social-problem-111369">went to private school</a>. For these graduates, their top education and superior knowledge of the “rules of the game” regarding how institutions work gains them entry-level graduate jobs in elite professional firms. </p>
<p>It may seem that Britain has progressed little in the 130 years since Lord Fermor <a href="https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/113/the-picture-of-dorian-gray/1939/chapter-3/">reflected</a> in The Picture of Dorian Gray that “if a man is a gentleman, he knows quite enough, and if he is not a gentleman, whatever he knows is bad for him”. Indeed, if you’re from a working class background the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-britains-class-system-will-have-to-change-58188">odds are stacked against you</a> if you want to make it into an elite profession. Going to university on its own does not guarantee a top professional job at the end of it. </p>
<p>This is a complex problem and there is considerable debate over how to improve social mobility. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1476482">new research paper</a> shows the importance of work experience. Specifically, year-long placements in industry as part of a degree programme can effectively help working class students secure entry to top professional firms. This is significant considering the fact that social mobility into high-quality, high-status and high-reward professions like accountancy and financial services <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/61090/IR_FairAccess_acc2.pdf">has slowed down in recent decades</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/14346/">Research shows</a> that upper-middle-class students are more likely to take internships at university due to family social connections and greater financial resources. By looking at year-long paid internships, the so-called “sandwich placements” in some student degree programmes, we wanted to see how level the playing field really was for working class students. </p>
<p>We found that working class students were actually judged purely on their academic merits. In a victory for meritocracy, the sandwich placements overwhelmingly went to the brightest students from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. There was also evidence that these kinds of placements, which are also well-paid, can facilitate the social mobility of academically driven students who aspire to work for these kinds of companies. </p>
<h2>Foot in the door</h2>
<p>This is significant because these were sandwich placements in accountancy, a top profession which has suffered the greatest decline in social mobility <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/78f85720-ddaa-11e7-8f9f-de1c2175f5ce">over the past 30 years</a>. Social exclusion in elite accountancy and investment banking firms <a href="http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13614/">is</a> <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/AAAJ-10-2012-1133?fullSc=1">evident</a> in the recruitment process for professionals at graduate entry level. </p>
<p>A 2017 <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/AAAJ-10-2012-1133?fullSc=1">study</a> by Angus Duff, a professor at the University of the West of Scotland, revealed that unpaid work experience in accounting firms is used to maintain the status quo. Internships are often given to children of senior partners and important clients. As Duff notes, this is a recruitment process that is clearly “removed from notions of inclusivity and social equality”. This gives young people from privileged backgrounds an important foot in the door, which can often lead to jobs in the future.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267069/original/file-20190402-177171-1eol06d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children of partners and clients often have an unfair advantage at getting work experience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/father-son-businessmen-wearing-eyeglasses-reading-1085240033">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The students in our study all attended the same, well-regarded university. Offering lessons for social mobility, this shows the importance of working class students applying to good universities if they wish to improve their chances to work for, and succeed in, elite professions. This is, of course, an initial important barrier to overcome. </p>
<p>Once at university, it’s then important for working class students to get top grades, as elite professions offered their yearlong paid placements to the best performers. This may involve a degree of self-awareness, identifying what they are best at and strategically choosing modules and courses to improve their averages or grades. </p>
<p>Finally, working class students must actively participate in the placement application process and improve their interview skills to succeed. It takes a long time to write professional CVs, fill in the application forms and conduct mock interviews with recruiters from elite professional firms. </p>
<p>Universities usually have dedicated staff to help students through the whole process but working class students must actively seek out and engage with this help as it can pay high dividends. The flip side to this is that working class students are often more shy and less likely to seek help from advisers and the university in general, compared with their upper-middle-class counterparts. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, our study shows that while the barriers to social mobility in elite professions have become greater in recent years, they are not insurmountable. The year-long paid placement is one way that working class young people can breach the barricades against social mobility.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In a victory for meritocracy, sandwich placements overwhelmingly go to the brightest students, irrespective of their background.Ian Crawford, Senior Teaching Fellow, School of Management, University of BathZhiqi Wang, Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance. School of Society, Enterprise and Environment, Bath Spa UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1125412019-03-19T14:42:58Z2019-03-19T14:42:58ZStudents, this is how you can stand out from the crowd in a very competitive job market<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263594/original/file-20190313-123545-1iatssd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The employment market is saturated with graduates who have good degrees and the right qualifications. So the question on many recruiters’ minds is: what else can this candidate offer? </p>
<p>Employers have been reporting a “skills gap” in graduates for a few decades now and there is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13583883.2015.1114139">research</a> to support its existence. Many employers feel there isn’t enough overlap between the contents of degree programmes and the skills that transform recent graduates into successful employees. </p>
<p>So with the number of graduates steadily <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/graduatesintheuklabourmarket/2017">rising</a> – and competition getting tougher – it’s more important than ever that students know how to improve their employability skills. </p>
<p>There is <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-75166-5_2">evidence</a> that work-based learning can help to remove employers’ concerns and make graduates more employable. So the savvy student should be undertaking a number of opportunities to build up their CV through work experience. But of course, not all opportunities are created equal, so it’s important students seek out the right sort of experience that recruiters will look favourably upon. </p>
<h2>What employees look for</h2>
<p>When it comes to employability, universities are keen to support student development beyond the classroom – <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07294360.2016.1139555?scroll=top&needAccess=true">and research</a> shows that a number of strategies can help to achieve this. These range from careers advice, networking and mentor support, as well as internships, extracurricular, off-campus work or co-curricular activities (these tend to be on-campus work associated with degree programmes). Then there is also paid work. But which is a best option for a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ijmr.12153">busy student</a> to pursue? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263595/original/file-20190313-123525-tpuf8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263595/original/file-20190313-123525-tpuf8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263595/original/file-20190313-123525-tpuf8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263595/original/file-20190313-123525-tpuf8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263595/original/file-20190313-123525-tpuf8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263595/original/file-20190313-123525-tpuf8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263595/original/file-20190313-123525-tpuf8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gain experience, but make sure it’s the right sort of experience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>CVs are the main form of employability assessment used by recruiters and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2007.00288.x">employers</a>. And <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2007.00288.x">research</a> suggests that academic qualifications and work experience are both important. </p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-015-9903-9">Existing research</a>, for example, shows that internships can help students gain important insights into the workplace – including how to communicate effectively – but they can be highly competitive. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00071005.2010.527666">Volunteering</a> roles on the other hand are generally less competitive and can also help students to develop different skills – such as resilience and moral engagement. While extracurricular activities can provide additional skills and experience which can be closely related with an area of study or interest. </p>
<p>Certainly good academic performance combined with extracurricular activities has been shown to predict a high level of perceived <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001879117300052">employability</a>. However, there is a lack of research directly comparing how different types of work experience might be evaluated. </p>
<h2>What the research says</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-019-00369-5?wt_mc=Internal.Event.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorOnlineFirst&utm_source=ArticleAuthorOnlineFirst&utm_medium=email&utm_content=AA_en_06082018&ArticleAuthorOnlineFirst_20190302">new research study</a> investigated academic, employer and student assessment of a series of fictional CV excerpts. Each excerpt was based on a social science student with a 2:1 degree classification but varying work experience. </p>
<p>The CV excerpts allowed us to manipulate three key aspects of work experience: duration (six months versus two years), type (internship versus volunteering) and location (extracurricular versus co-curricular). Although previous <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2016.1139555">research</a> suggests that opinions of student employability can differ, our results found that students, academics and employers were similar in their assessments. </p>
<p>We found that extracurricular activities were viewed more positively than co-curricular activities overall. Internships were viewed more positively for graduate level positions compared with volunteer experience. And duration did not have an impact on employability evaluations. </p>
<h2>What this mean for students</h2>
<p>When it comes to making yourself employable, you can’t be expected to do everything, so you need to be selective in your work experience. Based on our results, it seems extracurricular activities that take place off campus are to be recommended above co-curricular activities. So it might be better to work as a project assistant for a charity than spend time as a class rep. Internships may also prove more useful than volunteering, though it should be noted that internships are generally more difficult to get hold of than volunteer positions. </p>
<p>It’s also worth considering that a long term placement is not necessarily going to be better for your CV than a series of short term placements – so worry less about how long the role will last, and more about what the role involves. </p>
<p>Ultimately though, as our study shows, employers view all work experience as important. So if in doubt, some work experience (of any type) is always going to be better than no work experience at all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112541/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Irwin received funding from ESRC/SGSSS for a collaborative PhD studentship (student: Gabi Lipan) with Skills Development Scotland</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabi Lipan receives funding from ESRC/SGSSS and Skills Development Scotland. </span></em></p>When a degree is not enough, how can students make themselves more employable?Dr Amy Irwin, Lecturer in Psychology, University of AberdeenGabi Lipan, PhD Candidate in the School of Psychology, University of AberdeenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1075442018-11-26T22:42:43Z2018-11-26T22:42:43ZTo pay or not to pay: That’s the internship question<p>Students in Québec were <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/cegep-students-strike-over-unpaid-internships">striking last week</a> to demand that internships be paid. Do they have a point?</p>
<p>The issue is an emotional one. Some people swear by unpaid internships, especially those who have benefited from the arrangement. Others emphasize how equity issues are at stake when we assume students work for free. </p>
<p>For example, a <em>Globe and Mail</em> article from 2014 described the case of a recent graduate of a bachelor’s degree. He took an <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/startups/in-defence-of-the-unpaid-internship/article19545250/">unpaid internship</a> with a cash-strapped start-up to get much-needed work experience. He called it a defining point that got him on track. </p>
<p>The owner of the company said the company also benefited; it wouldn’t have been able to achieve as much if the employer had “<a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/startups/in-defence-of-the-unpaid-internship/article19545250/">hired some random person…found online</a>.”</p>
<p>The company viewed the internship as a recruiting tool. People who benefit from unpaid internships see no problem with the arrangement. </p>
<p>Others feel just as strongly that internships be paid. Writing in 2016, Darren Walker, who was then-president of the Ford Foundation, noted that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/opinion/breaking-a-cycle-that-allows-privilege-to-go-to-privileged.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0">paid internships</a> ensure equity of opportunity. </p>
<p>He was making the point that young people from financially comfortable homes can afford to intern for weeks or months because their parents can help subsidize the living expenses that a salary would cover. Students from less advantaged backgrounds cannot. </p>
<p>The striking students <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/cegep-university-students-walk-out-in-protest-over-unpaid-internships-1.4187345">in Québec</a> have mentioned they either have to forgo paid work or work extensive overtime during unpaid internships.</p>
<h2>Do whatever is needed?</h2>
<p>This emotional argument probably won’t answer the question of whether students have a right to be paid for internships. Rather, issues of definition, law and economic benefit will. </p>
<p>The first issue is the most basic: What is the purpose of an internship, and how does it differ from basic schooling? In an analysis of definitions, Concordia University PhD student Ingy Bakir and I found little agreement about internship responsibilities.</p>
<p>Points of variation include: Who is an intern (current students, graduates)? How long should the internship be (weeks, months)? What is the structure of the work experience: Are there clearly defined duties, or can interns be expected to do whatever is needed? </p>
<p>But the definitions, however, converge on one key point: Internships provide clinical or practical job experience and help people <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00131720802361936?casa_token=pEzZuh8V020AAAAA:7RMQ2eDSZC_K-4F-EiPfbp9rtdAFCGG_i0c4nIZiI593zZ-W4FjNADzC-VdwI4A27VJ7p2AGzQQ">transfer</a> their academic learning into real work environments. Internships are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-012-9509-4">both work</a> and learning experiences. </p>
<p>Although the law varies among jurisdictions, it offers a clearer, simpler definition. According to law firm <a href="https://gowlingwlg.com/en/insights-resources/articles/2014/are-unpaid-internships-legal-in-canada/">Gowling WLG</a>, most provincial labour codes consider interns to be employees if they perform work for the organization; they receive direction from the organisation; and the employer benefits from that work. </p>
<p>The only exception is students who are performing their internships as part of an academic program. Most provincial labour codes, including Québec’s, <a href="https://mcmillan.ca/Managing-Unpaid-Internships-in-Quebec">include this exemption</a>. </p>
<p>One could argue, then, that the law permits unpaid internships. </p>
<h2>Agree to compensate</h2>
<p>A second issue is whether all student work experiences are unpaid. Not even close. Financial compensation is <a href="https://www.cewilcanada.ca/coop-defined.html">central to co-operative education</a>, another work-study arrangement. </p>
<p>Co-ops alternate study terms with work terms. During the work terms, they are placed in paid positions. </p>
<p>Many student interns are also compensated. The most popular component of the program in which I teach is <a href="https://www.concordia.ca/artsci/education/about/internship-program.html">an internship</a>. Because the demand for our interns often outstrips supply, nearly all employers pay. And as happens in most competitive labour markets, employers who do not want to pay receive few or poor-quality applicants and eventually agree to compensate.</p>
<h2>Who benefits?</h2>
<p>The third issue is whether the employer is profiting from the intern’s labour. On an individual level, that depends on the effectiveness of the intern in the job. More broadly, however, the answer is yes or employers wouldn’t take on interns. </p>
<p>The primary argument against paying interns, however, is that employers incur corresponding expenses. Some employers argue that internships are a training expense and, as a result, they cannot afford both provide training and compensation. But that’s mostly an issue if the fit is not great and employers have to invest significantly in <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/the-ins-and-outs-of-internships/article1319780/">time-consuming supervision</a>. </p>
<p>But that inability to afford both might simply be a choice. Conference Board of Canada figures suggest that Canadian employers are increasingly tight-fisted with <a href="https://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/newsrelease/2018/01/31/canadian-employers-investment-in-employee-learning-and-development-continues-to-rise?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1">training investments</a>, reducing per-employee annual investments from a high of $1,116 in 1993 to just $889 in 2017. </p>
<p>Other employers view internships as a recruiting cost. After interviewing, they try out workers for a few weeks or months unpaid to see how they perform. But is it fair to expect a prospective employee to forgo weeks of paid work so the employer can reduce its recruiting and training expense? Could a prospective employee who already has a full-time job do the same? </p>
<p>In other words, the students have a point. </p>
<p>Certainly colleges and universities can prevent employers from posting unpaid internships on campus. But some professions require clinical education to earn a licence. Agreements between universities and other parties allow those internships to be unpaid. Changing that practice will be more challenging.</p>
<p>Besides, the core problem lies in a loophole in the labour code that permits unpaid internships for students while preventing them for others. Students are well-advised to set their sights on that target. </p>
<p>And legal or not, unpaid internships are likely to continue as long as people face barriers breaking into the workforce and some employers see the opportunity for free labour.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107544/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saul Carliner is a fellow with the Institute for Performance and Learning. He has received funding from SSHRC, Entente Canada Québec, and Canadian Council on Learning.</span></em></p>Legal or not, unpaid internships are likely to continue as long as people face barriers breaking into the workforce and some employers see the opportunity for free labour.Saul Carliner, Professor of Education, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/972502018-06-04T20:25:12Z2018-06-04T20:25:12ZTo improve internships and placements, embed technology in their design<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220880/original/file-20180530-80620-1x2kpxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students at Monash University are provided integrated medical and surgical teaching in year three of the new curriculum.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monash University/flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Work integrated learning helps prepare students for the world of work. It involves students collaborating with industry and community partners as part of their degree program. It can be an immersed experience where students participate in internships, practicums or placements, or a virtual or on-campus experience where students are engaged in consulting, projects or simulations with industry partners. But it’s currently not properly preparing students for the type of workplace that lies ahead.</p>
<p>Work integrated learning has long been a part of nursing, teaching and health science degrees. But after a <a href="http://acen.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/National-WIL-Strategy-in-university-education-032015.pdf?x99824">national strategy</a> in 2015 recommended much wider application, universities started applying this type of learning to other subjects. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/work-integrated-learning-why-is-it-increasing-and-who-benefits-93642">Work Integrated Learning: why is it increasing and who benefits?</a>
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<p>As more and <a href="http://www.ceda.com.au/CEDA/media/ResearchCatalogueDocuments/Research%20and%20Policy/PDF/26792-Futureworkforce_June2015.pdf">more jobs become digital</a>, students need technological skills. Work integrated learning needs to prepare students so they can pursue their career goals and give them a snapshot of the digital future.</p>
<p>Part of this means embedding technology in work integrated learning. Technology is currently not at the forefront of how work integrated learning is designed and this is something <a href="https://cdn.graduateemployability.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/22071812/Jackson-Work-Integrated-Learning.pdf">educators need to address</a>. Work integrated learning should not only develop student skills in using technology, but also show them how it’s changing the way we work. </p>
<h2>What does successful work integrated learning look like?</h2>
<p>Work integrated learning should help students achieve career success in modern work. For some, this may be securing a place on a graduate program or obtaining a full-time graduate role. For others this may mean portfolio work, or taking on contract and gig-type <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html">roles</a> that give them the flexibility to pursue other commitments, such as building their own business or caring for others. </p>
<p>For a good practical work experience, students need to <em>prepare</em> by researching and understanding where they’re based and how to behave appropriately and safely. Students can prepare with online modules. The modules would help prepare students on risk and critical incident management, occupational health and safety, and professional conduct. Understanding professional conduct is important for international students who are keen to gain workplace experience, but are not familiar with Australian workplace norms or culture. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220882/original/file-20180530-80645-mdv0xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220882/original/file-20180530-80645-mdv0xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220882/original/file-20180530-80645-mdv0xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220882/original/file-20180530-80645-mdv0xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220882/original/file-20180530-80645-mdv0xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220882/original/file-20180530-80645-mdv0xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220882/original/file-20180530-80645-mdv0xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Students could complete online modules prior to placement to help prepare them for understanding professional conduct in the real world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Students also need to <em>reflect</em> on their work experience through activities and assessments. Online reflection tools (such as blogs, journals and e-portfolios) can help students connect their classroom learning with what they learned on practicum, at an internship or on placement. They can ponder the differences between theory and how things are done in real-time. </p>
<p>Reflection develops self-awareness – what do they do well, how are they struggling and where do they need to improve? Peer reflection, enabled by wikis, discussion boards and social media also enables students to share problems and feel less isolated. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/internships-help-students-better-manage-their-careers-60196">Internships help students better manage their careers</a>
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<p>Finally, employers need to give students constructive <em>feedback</em> on their strengths and areas they need to improve to do well in today’s working environment. Feedback can be facilitated through online surveys and tools such as Zoom and Skype which connect workplace supervisors and lecturers to track student progress and discuss arising issues. These make good alternatives to site visits, and are more efficient for large student cohorts and remote placements or internships.</p>
<p>These are all ways technology can be used to maximise the outcomes from work integrated learning that aren’t being fully realised now. A key example is shifting into off-campus mode which reduces barriers for students who are unable to travel to campus. Facilitation through webinars, virtual meetings and bite-size video clips can reach large numbers of students more efficiently.</p>
<h2>Developing the mindset and capabilities for future work</h2>
<p>Universities and work integrated learning coordinators at those universities (academics) are responsible for designing these programs.</p>
<p>For them to be successful they should be reviewed regularly to expose students to work that is client-facing and based on relationship-building. Rather than placing accounting students in payroll or invoicing, which are <a href="http://www.ceda.com.au/CEDA/media/ResearchCatalogueDocuments/Research%20and%20Policy/PDF/26792-Futureworkforce_June2015.pdf">likely to become heavily automated</a>, get them to observe client briefs, shadow meetings and bigger picture bigger picture processes such as budgeting, forecasting and risk analysis. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220885/original/file-20180530-80629-lx3r54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220885/original/file-20180530-80629-lx3r54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220885/original/file-20180530-80629-lx3r54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220885/original/file-20180530-80629-lx3r54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220885/original/file-20180530-80629-lx3r54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220885/original/file-20180530-80629-lx3r54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220885/original/file-20180530-80629-lx3r54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Work integrated learning can help develop students’ develop relationship-building skills if done right.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Graduates <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html">move jobs frequently</a>, so they need to apply their skills and knowledge in new environments as they go.</p>
<p>One way to do this is to encourage students to reflect on challenges they faced in applying their skills in work settings and to identify <a href="https://www.academia.edu/16918338/Guidelines_for_practice_Integrating_practice-based_experiences">strategies to manage</a> this. </p>
<p>Work integrated learning should be designed to require students to collaborate with industry to solve authentic problems, make decisions, become digitally literate and manage crises that simulate the real world. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-universities-can-make-graduates-employable-with-connections-to-industry-91838">How universities can make graduates employable with connections to industry</a>
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<p>Students should be encouraged to challenge the status quo, become critical workers who have the confidence to speak up and drive change in a fast-paced and turbulent future. </p>
<p>Finally, work integrated learning should expose students to cutting-edge practice and technology, such as virtual working through web-based technology.</p>
<p>Work integrated learning must be carefully designed with preparation, reflection and feedback at the forefront and technology used to maximise each. It should reflect current workplace practice and prepare students to succeed in the future of work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97250/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denise Jackson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Technology is currently not at the forefront of how work-integrated learning is designed and this is something educators need to address.Denise Jackson, Associate Professor / Coordinator of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) programs, ECU School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/936422018-04-29T20:12:18Z2018-04-29T20:12:18ZWork Integrated Learning: why is it increasing and who benefits?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216614/original/file-20180427-92009-1if4kpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Academics who are closely aligned to professional practices in health professions, engineering, teaching and social work also value work integrated learning highly. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Increasingly, universities are expected to prepare students to transition into the workforce with generic graduate capabilities. These include being able to recognise and mitigate potential risks, solve problems effectively, and manage diversity and ambiguity. </p>
<p>Another important role of universities is to provide opportunities for students to <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-9502-9_2">share and review their workplace experiences</a> so they can transform their learning experiences into <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300643777_Integrating_Practice-Based_Experiences_with_Higher_Education">practice knowledge</a>. This latter role often fails to gain the curriculum space and the attention it deserves.</p>
<p>Work Integrated Learning (WIL) refers to university initiatives such as internships, clinical and fieldwork. Work integrated learning isn’t new to university education, but is <a href="https://research-management.mq.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/35597534">on the rise</a> as universities adopt strategic targets for student workplace participation as an element of their studies. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-universities-can-make-graduates-employable-with-connections-to-industry-91838">How universities can make graduates employable with connections to industry</a>
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<p>There is considerable <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1113755">evidence</a> of the positive impact of authentic work-based participation within courses from multiple <a href="https://www.ijwil.org/files/APJCE_14_2_99_115.pdf">studies</a>. Based on this, a general understanding now prevails that university education should contribute to graduate employability, and that Australia’s future depends on strong partnerships between universities and industry.</p>
<p>Where universities adopt a <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-32958-1_8">highly deliberate, whole of enterprise approach</a> to WIL, including educational quality and forming mature reciprocal partnerships with industries, the benefits are realised <a href="https://research-management.mq.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/35597534">for all stakeholders</a> and the risks sufficiently mitigated. </p>
<h2>What do students get out of work placement?</h2>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-90-481-3937-8_2">Studies</a> have <a href="http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks2013/19/">reported</a> that students, particularly at the undergraduate level, place a high value on work placements. </p>
<p>Two different <a href="https://www.ijwil.org/files/APJCE_13_3_159_167.pdf">reviews</a> of multiple studies <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1141290">found</a> that, where work place experiences are deliberately planned and managed, students are able to:</p>
<p>• develop their professional identity </p>
<p>• advance their theoretical knowledge and transferable skills </p>
<p>• communicate effectively to people in diverse roles </p>
<p>• engage in teamwork, problem posing and solving, and self management </p>
<p>• enhance their digital literacy skills, and </p>
<p>• understand at a practice level what ethical practice means. </p>
<p>But WIL <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-32958-1_11">should not be limited to learning to work</a> and being ready for graduate employment. Ideally, engaging in workplace practices while studying exposes students to diverse and increased learning opportunities that are not possible in formal classrooms. It could be argued, from an educational viewpoint, that the primary purpose of WIL is “working to learn” and, in doing so, students might “learn to work”. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/internships-help-students-better-manage-their-careers-60196">Internships help students better manage their careers</a>
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</em>
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<p>Academics who are closely aligned to professional practices in health professions, engineering, teaching and social work also <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karsten_Zegwaard/publication/291284539_Faculty_voices_what_faculty_think_about_work-integrated_learning/links/569f3d2608ae21a564251fb6.pdf">value work integrated learning highly</a> for its capacity to enable students to transfer theoretical learning to the real world. </p>
<h2>What’s in it for employers?</h2>
<p>Practical experience <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/phillipskpa-wil-research-report.pdf">helps businesses in recruitment processes</a>, as they can observe first-hand the work readiness of future graduates. It also helps graduates make a smoother transition into paid employment. </p>
<p>While STEM-related industries are far less likely to host science students in a WIL experience, one <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/phillipskpa-wil-research-report.pdf">study</a> found a significant group of employers identified three motivations to do so. One focused on social principles and social standing – firstly, to give back to their industry or profession and to meet their corporate responsibilities and secondly, to improve their corporate image. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216615/original/file-20180427-96707-evfhoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216615/original/file-20180427-96707-evfhoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216615/original/file-20180427-96707-evfhoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216615/original/file-20180427-96707-evfhoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216615/original/file-20180427-96707-evfhoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216615/original/file-20180427-96707-evfhoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216615/original/file-20180427-96707-evfhoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Tech companies are less likely to take on interns.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Another was a desire to advance their businesses. Firstly, by being better able to recruit graduates in the future and, secondly, by gaining access to new thinking and ideas based on emerging research gained through deeper ties with universities. </p>
<p>A 2015 <a href="http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/NCVER_WIL-employer-perspectives.pdf">study</a> identified reasons employers might not want to provide WIL experiences. First, they lacked clear understanding of WIL and what it involved. Employers also expressed doubts about the potential return on investment regarding the costs to productivity when supporting students. They also perceived a general reluctance within their organisations for taking on students. </p>
<p>WIL <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/engaging-employers-work-integrated-learning-current-state-and-future-priorities">can help industry reduce costs and risk</a> in recruitment. But this potential benefit also underpins a reluctance to take international students who are obliged to return to their home country after graduation.</p>
<p>A similar reluctance exists to take on students with low social capital or students who have disabilities. This reflects the difficulties students from marginalised backgrounds experience in gaining graduate level employment. But universities have a commitment to inclusiveness and equity. </p>
<p>Universities perceive including WIL as one means of attracting high performing students. As a result, WIL tacitly becomes conflated with marketing strategies for graduate employability, graduate employment and gaining a return on investment for students and industry. </p>
<h2>What constitutes quality?</h2>
<p>Largely, it’s important WIL programs <a href="https://www.newcastle.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/90034/WIL-Good-Practice-Report.pdf">enhance but not compromise</a> universities’ educational mission. They should <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811009976">focus on knowledge building</a> and preparing graduates to make effective contributions to society. </p>
<p>All students should be given the opportunity to participate, especially those who come to university with low social capital. This should be done so that all can graduate with robust knowledge and productive social networks that reach beyond university. </p>
<p>The partnerships with industry should be deliberately reciprocal, so the WIL process transforms all involved. There should be public recognition of successful innovation and effectiveness by students, industry and universities in the enactment of WIL. </p>
<p>To achieve these qualities, university leadership is critical. Universities Australia has taken important steps in this regard, which individual institutions would do well to replicate. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eight-ways-we-can-improve-indigenous-employment-60377">Eight ways we can improve Indigenous employment</a>
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<p>A cultural shift is also required in industry, the professions and among university programs to support the aims of these programs. Generating evidence to support the benefits requires big data and long-term national studies, not the atomistic, short-term single program or institution ones that prevail. </p>
<h2>Two examples of an effective approach</h2>
<p>Newcastle University has had a <a href="https://www.newcastle.edu.au/current-students/learning/work-experience-and-volunteering">highly visible WIL program</a> since the mid 2000s. Their strategic direction for WIL is particularly focused on ensuring it’s available for all students, and on their deep engagement with their workplace partners. </p>
<p>Macquarie University also has a “whole of institution process” in their <a href="https://www.mq.edu.au/about/about-the-university/strategy-and-initiatives/strategic-initiatives/pace-strategy">PACE</a> (Participation and Community Engagement) program. This project is well documented and so deeply embedded in the institutional mission of the university that, despite leadership changes, it has flourished.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93642/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janice Orrell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Work Integrated Learning includes placements, internships and work experience. It is increasing as students are expected to be more work-ready and to contribute to the economy post-graduation.Janice Orrell, Professor of Higher Education, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/912752018-02-05T13:28:34Z2018-02-05T13:28:34ZPaid journalism internship offered by The Conversation and Lloyd’s Register Foundation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204844/original/file-20180205-19933-ecsj7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Work for The Conversation and you could be as happy as a stock image model.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cheerful-afro-american-hipster-girl-trendy-608213579?src=aC-Sv2RKBkkhHQR7Md6BVQ-3-80">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Conversation is looking for its next paid intern, offering budding journalists their first step on the career ladder.</p>
<p>Lloyd’s Register Foundation is providing the funds for a three-month placement with The Conversation, the independent news and commentary website produced by journalists and academics.</p>
<p>The successful candidate will work with the site’s science and technology team to gain invaluable experience as a commissioning editor at The Conversation’s headquarters in London.</p>
<p>The Conversation operates a fast-paced daily newsroom and interns will have the chance to generate story ideas, identify and work with contributing authors, edit articles and promote the site through social media. There may also be a chance to contribute to the site’s monthly podcast.</p>
<p>Reporting to the science editor, the intern will have extensive opportunities to practice and develop their skills and learn from The Conversation’s highly experienced team.</p>
<p>The ideal candidate will be full of ideas for stories, good at dealing with people and difficult concepts, and meticulous in checking details. A background in science or technology would be an advantage but what’s more important is an enthusiasm for translating interesting, complex ideas into engaging, accessible writing for a mass audience. Excellent English language skills are essential.</p>
<p>The internships are full-time, temporary paid roles based on 40 hours’ work a week and paid at the London Living Wage of £10.20 an hour (£408 a week). The placement is scheduled to run from October To December 2018, although there is some flexibility. The Conversation encourages candidates from all backgrounds to apply.</p>
<p>The Conversation is a non-profit news-led website that aims to inform public debate with evidence-based journalism that unlocks the expertise of academic researchers. The site’s team of professional journalists commission and edit articles written by university researchers from every branch of academia, using their expertise to explain current events, important trends and the latest and most interesting research.</p>
<p>The Conversation’s Editor, Stephen Khan, said: “We are thrilled that our partnership with Lloyd’s Register Foundation continues to support paid internships at The Conversation.</p>
<p>"The intern will work closely with our editors, learning about how articles are commissioned and crafted. Such schemes are vital as we seek to cultivate and encourage editing talent. We hope their contribution will prove valuable as we look to produce content that explains and explores issues of importance and interest to the general public.”</p>
<p>Lloyd’s Register Foundation is a charity that helps to protect life and property and support education, engineering-related research and public engagement.</p>
<p>Tim Slingsby, director of skills and education at the Foundation, said “Lloyd’s Register Foundation is proud to support the Science Editor at The Conversation.</p>
<p>"With this internship we look forward to seeing more articles that closely align with the work that we fund, and for the successful applicants, we hope that this is the start of a successful and impactful career in science communication.”</p>
<p>To apply for the internship, candidates should send their CV and a covering letter explaining why their interests and experience suit the specific needs of the role, along with five ideas for articles that The Conversation’s science and technology team could commission, to Stephen Harris <a href="mailto:stephen.harris@theconversation.com">(stephen.harris@theconversation.com)</a> by September 9, 2018.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91275/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Budding journalists should apply for our three-month paid internship with The Conversation’s science and technology team.Stephen Harris, Deputy Editor, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/827102017-10-02T12:49:34Z2017-10-02T12:49:34ZStudent interns aren’t entitled to the minimum wage and it’s costing them big time<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188341/original/file-20171002-12132-14z48bo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">pexels photo</span> </figcaption></figure><p>For university students, work placements are heralded as a highly valuable opportunity. Taking a year out from studying to work in their chosen industry gives students a chance to learn more about their sector and get real life experience. Placements also allow students time to make contacts and network and prove themselves in a working role.</p>
<p>Research has found that students are twelve times more likely to get <a href="https://theconversation.com/mid-degree-work-placements-can-boost-chances-of-getting-a-2-1-or-first-30122">higher grades after a placement</a>. And that after a placement, student employability increases as <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2161-1920.2008.tb00045.x/abstract">many return to the same company</a> for their first job. </p>
<p>Placements also allow universities to strengthen their reputation by building robust relationships with employers. And placement employers have the opportunity to try before they buy – assessing prospective employers in a real work situation without the drawbacks of interview. Other employers also gain from student placements, as they increasingly want graduates who can make an <a href="https://www.graduate-jobs.com/internships/2017">immediate impact on their organisation</a>, and students who have completed a placement are able to offer this as evidence of their experience and skills. </p>
<p>There’s just one catch though – a lot of these placement years are unpaid. And this is perfectly legal – provided these placements are attached to a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/employment-rights-for-interns">university course and last no more than one year</a>. </p>
<h2>Placement pressures</h2>
<p>Students required to do an internship for less than one year as part of a UK-based further or higher education course aren’t entitled to the national minimum wage. And our new research shows that because of this, doing a placement can mean that many students get into debt and other financial difficulties.</p>
<p>The placement year is a time when students may have higher travel costs in actually getting to work, as well as additional expense of socialising in establishments that are more costly that the student union bar. Then there is also the work clothing to think about – students have to look smart when they are in the working world. Students are also liable for university fees during their placement – albeit at a lower rate than a tuition year. All of which can add up.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188343/original/file-20171002-12122-180q1j1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188343/original/file-20171002-12122-180q1j1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188343/original/file-20171002-12122-180q1j1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188343/original/file-20171002-12122-180q1j1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188343/original/file-20171002-12122-180q1j1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188343/original/file-20171002-12122-180q1j1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188343/original/file-20171002-12122-180q1j1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Placements can be a great opportunity for students but they can also end up being very costly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The irony is of course that <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-minimum-wage-work-experience-and-internships">most interns are entitled to be paid the national minimum wage</a> – but this doesn’t apply to so called “student internships”. So you could have an intern and a student on placement working side by side, doing the same job, and the same hours, with one entitled to the minimum wage and the other entitled to nothing.</p>
<p>This is something that impacts a lot of students – with more and more courses now offering an optional or even compulsory placement for students. It isn’t just smaller companies who aren’t paying people on placement either, even well-known, large companies have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/apr/12/unpaid-interns-100-firms-investigated">found to be using unpaid interns</a>. </p>
<p>Universities to some extent have acknowledged these extra outgoings and do provide small amounts of funding – for example to purchase an interview suit.
They can also provide grants to help offset these costs and may also grant bursaries to help students. But other sources of funding are limited, and <a href="http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1215/sfe_work_placement_fs_1718_d.pdf">student loans are only available up to £1,850</a> for the placement year. </p>
<h2>Financial headaches</h2>
<p>But for students with savings, or those from wealthier families, the picture is quite different. These students are often better placed to do unpaid placements – and through connections can sometimes even find ones that pay quite well. </p>
<p>This is creating a two tired system, and means that those students from less fortunate backgrounds may opt out of the work placement simply because they can’t afford it. It also means that firms also miss out on the unique talents and skills students from diverse but poorer backgrounds may offer. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188345/original/file-20171002-12115-18d0vci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188345/original/file-20171002-12115-18d0vci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188345/original/file-20171002-12115-18d0vci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188345/original/file-20171002-12115-18d0vci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188345/original/file-20171002-12115-18d0vci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188345/original/file-20171002-12115-18d0vci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188345/original/file-20171002-12115-18d0vci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students should be paid for their work, not paying to work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Going back into your final year of university with a load of debt and financial worries on your mind is of course not a great place to be – and will undoubtedly impact students in their critical year of study. </p>
<p>It’s not surprising then that studies into student well-being have shown poor mental health <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/0007126042369802/abstract">is often linked to financial problems</a>. And in some cases, these financial problems can even result in students abandoning their university study altogether. It is clear then that this is something that needs to change, because ultimately during placement, students should be working to develop their careers, and not simply working up their debt.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82710/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Robson received funding from Bournemouth University for a paid research assistant for this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jillian Dawes Farquhar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Work placements are leaving many students with high debts.Julie Robson, Senior Principal Acdemic (Marketing), Bournemouth UniversityJillian Dawes Farquhar, Professor of Marketing, Solent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/728332017-04-12T00:38:42Z2017-04-12T00:38:42ZBuilding jobs in the Rust Belt: The role of education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164931/original/image-20170411-26720-qvvzt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C75%2C1024%2C608&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Job shadowing is one way that students can understand career options in their Rust Belt communities.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/9D5T2q">U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When my father-in-law struggled in school in a mill town along the Ohio River, his parents suggested that he head across the bridge and work in the steel mill. It was a path that <a href="http://www.bauhanpublishing.com/rust-belt-boy/">once created stable lives</a> for many Pittsburghers.</p>
<p>But in the 1970s, steel and coal were on the decline in the midwestern and mid-Atlantic “Rust Belt.” Manufacturers downsized in favor of automation or relocated to affordable overseas operations. Over time, these regions have become desperate due to <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21657381-do-former-industrial-cities-midwest-have-future-reinvention-rust-belt">chronic problems</a> of extended unemployment, increases in substance abuse, declining populations and an overall degradation of the quality of life.</p>
<p>When asked how to improve Rust Belt communities, the answer of working-class residents is still “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807310038">jobs, jobs, jobs</a>.” In other words, residents hope that a mega-corporation will ride in like a white knight and employ the community, yet steel and <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/02/20/516292269/as-trump-vows-to-grow-industry-countries-move-away-from-coal">coal</a> are unlikely to make a strong comeback in the United States.</p>
<p>As a researcher of education policy at Penn State, I wanted to explore whether K-12 schools in the Rust Belt region were still preparing young people for the mill towns of old or were responding to the economic realities of today. What adaptations might they make to build upon the resources that still exist in Rust Belt communities?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164918/original/image-20170411-26715-1j9pw2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164918/original/image-20170411-26715-1j9pw2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164918/original/image-20170411-26715-1j9pw2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164918/original/image-20170411-26715-1j9pw2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164918/original/image-20170411-26715-1j9pw2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164918/original/image-20170411-26715-1j9pw2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164918/original/image-20170411-26715-1j9pw2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164918/original/image-20170411-26715-1j9pw2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When this photo was taken in November of 2005, the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania stood on the grounds of the nation’s largest abandoned industrial site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Rick Smith</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Awareness of growing industries</h2>
<p>Rust Belt citizens tend to have a strong “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807310038">sense of place</a>.” They often prioritize their deep roots in the community over promising career opportunities in other locales.</p>
<p>This strong connection to the region is a valuable resource.</p>
<p>Young people who are already invested in a community might stay and contribute to the local economy. However, I found in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807310038">my research</a> that students in the Rust Belt often aren’t aware that there are job opportunities in their community – let alone what those opportunities might be or how to attain them. </p>
<p>How do we give students the information and support they need? To start, responsibility must <a href="http://citiesandschools.berkeley.edu/economic-development-school-reform">straddle businesses and schools</a>. In some Rust Belt cities, nonprofit economic development groups – such as <a href="http://www.jari.com/">JARI</a> in Johnstown, Pennsylvania – have assumed a leadership position as “brokers” between industry and schools. According to one <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807310038">regional guidance counselor</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We’re getting more connections with the industries… In the health occupations class, for example. Once those students are certified, they can go out and work. If they get jobs at [the local hospital], once they get their foot in the door … they can go on [working while they] get additional schooling.“</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807310038">School-business partnerships</a> can also consist of exposing students to high-skill employment opportunities in fields like aircraft testing and information systems security. Through internship and shadowing opportunities, such a program advertises the growing sectors of the local economy – and the broad range of skilled and unskilled careers available. </p>
<p>Through these "awareness” efforts, some Rust Belt communities have experienced improved academic outcomes as well. One Rust Belt district in my <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807310038">research</a> improved the number of ninth graders who stayed on track academically – a <a href="http://consortium.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/publications/On-Track%20Validation%20RS.pdf">benchmark</a> that has been shown to be critical in overall school success.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164955/original/image-20170411-26730-ug7s7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164955/original/image-20170411-26730-ug7s7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164955/original/image-20170411-26730-ug7s7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164955/original/image-20170411-26730-ug7s7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164955/original/image-20170411-26730-ug7s7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164955/original/image-20170411-26730-ug7s7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164955/original/image-20170411-26730-ug7s7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164955/original/image-20170411-26730-ug7s7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Job shadowing programs in engineering and medical fields are one way that students can understand what career opportunities are available in their local communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Navy_101117-N-8191S-001_Central_Kitsap_High_School_students_on_a_field_trip_for_a_sports_medicine_class_tour_the_Naval_Hospital_Bremerton_operat.jpg">United States Navy / Douglas H. Stutz</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>College is not always the answer</h2>
<p>Derrick grew up in a small mill town about 20 miles outside of Pittsburgh. The first in his family to go to college, Derrick graduated with a degree in music education from a nearby college with the hopes of returning home to teach. But with declining populations, few schools in western Pennsylvania hire new teachers.</p>
<p>The idea of moving away was too much for Derrick. Instead, he chose to drive a bread truck. After several years, he eventually found a better-paying job on the railroad – a job he could have acquired right out of high school. He still works with music groups through his church and volunteers at his local school, but 10 years out of school, he has not yet been able to make music his full-time career. </p>
<p>Like Derrick, more than <a href="http://www.centerforcollegeaffordability.org/uploads/From_Wall_Street_to_Wal-Mart.pdf">one-third of college graduates</a> will end up taking a job he or she could have gotten right out of high school. Yet, mill town communities in Derrick’s region have been experiencing a shortage of skilled labor in some technical trades that require two-year technical degrees rather than four-year liberal arts diplomas. According to one <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807310038">western Pennsylvania high school principal</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We always believe that if a kid has a skill as a welder, we want them to eventually become some type of an architect or a mechanical engineer… It’s not preparing them to leave here and go to work. It’s to live here, start a career … and move up.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While four-year liberal arts degrees may be the right fit for some people, in the case of Derrick, he needed training in a field that would allow him to stay local. He could have gotten the right training right away and moved up in his career more quickly – while saving a lot of tuition money at the same time.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164936/original/image-20170411-26720-kuq54b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164936/original/image-20170411-26720-kuq54b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164936/original/image-20170411-26720-kuq54b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164936/original/image-20170411-26720-kuq54b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164936/original/image-20170411-26720-kuq54b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164936/original/image-20170411-26720-kuq54b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164936/original/image-20170411-26720-kuq54b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164936/original/image-20170411-26720-kuq54b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rust Belt educators hope that students trained to work in growing industries can advance in careers like architecture and engineering.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/female-architect-working-home-looking-blueprints-275946575?src=-achDrSTkuqO0Kb72s9DdA-1-13">Solis Images / Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Alignment of training pathways</h2>
<p>Still, Derrick’s story can be viewed as a success compared with many Rust Belt youth. His ability to finish college is not the norm in his community.</p>
<p>“Even though about 65 percent of our kids were going on to college, only about a fourth of them were finishing,” explained one <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807310038">western Pennsylvania high school principal</a>. These numbers align with national research stating that the “<a href="http://wtgrantfoundation.org/resource/the-new-forgotten-half-and-research-directions-to-support-them">new forgotten half</a>” of the economy is the students who go to college but never finish.</p>
<p>When high schools graduate students who don’t have the set of skills that colleges are seeking, it’s surprisingly common for students to arrive at a community college and have to take years of remedial work <a href="https://www.russellsage.org/publications/after-admission-0">before their courses “count” toward a college degree</a>. Students can end up paying thousands of dollars just catching up on skills and knowledge that colleges require before the beginning of a degree program.</p>
<p>Students need information in high school that explains what’s needed to get a post-secondary degree. Agreements and working relationships between high schools and colleges can help traditionally disadvantaged students increase their knowledge about <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373712461933">tuition, curricular requirements, placement tests, admissions procedures and selection criteria</a>. </p>
<p>One of the most promising of these “<a href="http://www.tcrecord.org/library/abstract.asp?contentid=16210">alignment strategies”</a> is <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2013/2013002.pdf">dual enrollment programs</a>, which are offered in 46 percent of high schools, engaging 1.2 million students nationwide. Dual enrollment options have boosted rates of college degree attainment for low-income students, improved degree progress and increased college readiness.</p>
<p>In the Allentown region of Pennsylvania, dual enrollment arrangements allow students to enroll in a six-year engineering program – two years each in high school, community college and university. <a href="http://articles.mcall.com/2002-06-29/news/3401194_1_temple-university-credits-bachelor">The program</a> makes it possible for a student to receive a bachelor’s degree in engineering for a fraction of the cost of attending a four-year school full-time. </p>
<p>I would also argue that such strategies entice students to choose local colleges and universities, which, in turn, increases the possibility that they will remain local after finishing their degrees.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164927/original/image-20170411-26720-1lp73r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164927/original/image-20170411-26720-1lp73r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164927/original/image-20170411-26720-1lp73r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164927/original/image-20170411-26720-1lp73r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164927/original/image-20170411-26720-1lp73r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164927/original/image-20170411-26720-1lp73r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164927/original/image-20170411-26720-1lp73r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Temple University in Philadelphia is one of the schools offering dual-enrollment programs that could help students bridge the gap from high school to college.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nextstop.temple.edu/about/campuses">Temple University</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Combining alignment and awareness</h2>
<p>For Rust Belt communities, a coherent strategy combining “awareness” and “alignment” could be a key to economic growth. This strategy can provide knowledge, financial incentives and guidance for students to be successful in local careers.</p>
<p>This idea doesn’t rely on new companies to come in and create new jobs. Rather, it helps young people find the jobs that are already available. It also helps employers to find qualified individuals who have a commitment to the community and an interest in staying for the long haul.</p>
<p>Increasing information and supporting steps toward stable career pathways can help empower young people to rebuild their own Rust Belt communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dana Mitra does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rust Belt youth often want to stay near home but can’t find jobs. The key may be in educational initiatives that help young people find and acquire the jobs that are already readily available.Dana Mitra, Professor of Education Theory and Policy, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/707372017-01-17T19:07:59Z2017-01-17T19:07:59ZUnpaid work experience is widespread but some are missing out: new study<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152976/original/image-20170117-9021-f66unl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds may find it harder to get unpaid work experience.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Masa Israel Journey/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most young Australians undertake unpaid work experience as part of their education or training, to maintain entitlements to social security, or simply to improve their job prospects. But those from more disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to have those opportunities and those on placements associated with government benefits enjoy their experiences less.</p>
<p>These are some of the key findings from our <a href="https://www.employment.gov.au/news/unpaid-work-experience-australia-report-december-2016">new report</a>, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Employment.</p>
<p>We also found that unpaid internships or placements may involve significant costs for those who undertake them.</p>
<p>The research, the first of its kind in this country, surveyed 3800 people aged 18-64 about work experience. It specifically excluded volunteering, such as at a church, charity or club.</p>
<h2>Who does unpaid work experience</h2>
<p>In our study, more than half of participants aged 18-29 had recently participated in unpaid work experience. A quarter of those aged over 30 also had at least one placement.</p>
<p>However our results show there are some who have trouble accessing unpaid work experience. We found that young Australians (18-29 years old) from lower socio-economic backgrounds (as defined by parents’ highest level of education) were less likely to have participated. </p>
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<p>The results also show that people living in a capital city were more likely to have undertaken internships or placements than those living elsewhere. Participation rates were also higher for men compared to women.</p>
<p>Unpaid work experience extends beyond traditional <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=hX-TCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA302&lpg=PA302&dq=Kramer,+M+%26+Usher,+A+(2011).+Work-integrated+learning+and+career-ready+students:+Examining+the+evidence.+Toronto:+Higher+Education+Strategy+Associates&source=bl&ots=Cn3FJEAUEv&sig=D6QeO65T4fmVlloc2Cm-TLfYdPM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7scqjrazPAhUGNJQKHTQjDsYQ6AEIJDAB#v=onepage&q=Kramer%2C%20M%20%26%20Usher%2C%20A%20(2011).%20Work-integrated%20learning%20and%20career-ready%20students%3A%20Examining%20the%20evidence.%20Toronto%3A%20Higher%20Education%20Strategy%20Associates&f=false">student</a> placements in medicine, <a href="https://www.hwa.gov.au/sites/uploads/Clinical-Training-2012.pdf">nursing</a> and teaching, and internships in professional fields such as <a href="http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/70008/1/70008.pdf">creative industries</a>, law and finance. Our research revealed work experience in a wide range of professional, intermediate and entry-level roles across many industries. </p>
<p>Of those undertaking unpaid work experience, 36% reported that their most recent period of unpaid work experience lasted over one month. A similar proportion (37%) had undertaken a single placement, while 26% had two such experiences. One in five participants had undertaken five or more episodes in the past five years.</p>
<h2>Reasons for participating in unpaid work experience</h2>
<p>Around half of all unpaid work experience occurred in connection with a formal course of tertiary or VET study or secondary schooling. This is unsurprising, given the emphasis that education providers and employers now place on <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/publications/all-publications/work-based-learning-and-work-integrated-learning-fostering-engagement-with-employers">work-integrated learning</a>. However, this means half of all arrangements occur outside of education or training curricula. </p>
<p>In our survey, people also completed unpaid work experience because: they were required to do so to maintain Youth Allowance or Newstart payments, they were part of an unpaid trial during a recruitment process, it was unpaid training following an offer or employment, or for some other reason. </p>
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<p>The fact that so many young people did this sort of work experience for some other reason indicates that many placements are being self-organised by students or job-seekers outside formal course requirements, or that organisations are establishing internships and recruiting participants for their own purposes. </p>
<p>This is significant because unpaid internships or placements like this <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-unpaid-internships-unlawful-60197">may breach minimum wage laws</a>, unless they are connected to an authorised course of education or training, or do not involve productive work.</p>
<h2>Benefits and costs of participating in unpaid work experience</h2>
<p>Consistent with previous <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joec.12010/abstract">studies</a> that highlight the benefits of increased workplace <a href="http://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=mark_facpub">exposure</a>, participants in our study were highly satisfied with their unpaid work placements.</p>
<p>They reported developing skills and knowledge, improving employment and career prospects, and improving their networks. Unpaid work experience also helped them decide whether that field of work was suitable.</p>
<p>The people who were most satisfied with unpaid work experience were those who did it as part of study. Those who were least satisfied did their unpaid work experience as a requirement of Youth Allowance or Newstart or for “other reasons”. </p>
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<p>Our study showed 27% were offered paid employment by the host organisation following the period of unpaid work experience. Those who were in unpaid trials or training, or arrangements associated with Youth Allowance or Newstart, were the most likely to receive an employment offer. </p>
<p>However, our data doesn’t tell us whether these jobs were sustained or short-lived. Nor does it give any clear indication as to whether participating in work experience actually improves the chances of finding a job.</p>
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<p>Our research revealed a variety of costs associated with unpaid work experience. For example, over a quarter of respondents reduced their hours of paid employment in order to participate in unpaid work and 20% organised and paid for their own insurance. These costs may mean some can afford to access this work experience while others can’t. </p>
<p>More than one in ten respondents paid money to a broker, agent or directly to the host organisation to take part and one in four had to travel longer than one hour to attend. Among the study participants, 17% lived away from their usual home to participate. </p>
<p>Professions such as politics, journalism, law and finance are dominated by those from privileged backgrounds. This is <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/365765/State_of_Nation_2014_Main_Report.pdf">not only because existing social networks promote opportunities</a>, but because wealthy families can afford to support their children while undertaking work experience. In our survey, young people from high socio-economic backgrounds were more likely than other young people to say that they cut back their paid work hours, paid for their own insurance, travelled for more than an hour or lived away from home.</p>
<h2>What this means for policies on employment</h2>
<p>In May 2016, the Australian Government announced a A$840 million <a href="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/corporate/budget/budget-2016-17/job-seekers/youth-jobs-path-prepare-trial-hire">Youth Jobs PaTH (Prepare-Trial-Hire) Programme</a>. The policy includes skills training and access to voluntary internships of four to 12 weeks for job seekers under 25. It also provides a bonus youth wage subsidy paid to organisations that go on to employ young job seekers. </p>
<p>Given how widespread unpaid work placements have become, the policy may provide much-needed resources to host organisations to support better learning, career and employment outcomes for participants. </p>
<p>However, the government could learn from how education institutions structure their unpaid work experience placements. The involvement of an education institution provides a learning framework and support around unpaid work placements that a government-led initiative may struggle to emulate. Educational institutions may also be supervising or screening placement opportunities to ensure they provide a positive learning environment. </p>
<p>The socio-economic gap for access to unpaid work experience we identified will widen if unpaid work becomes more common or a de facto prerequisite for securing ongoing employment, so governments should address this. This could include scholarships or additional support for low-income participants in particular.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Damian Oliver receives funding from the Commonwealth Department of Employment and the NSW Department of Industry. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Stewart receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Commonwealth Department of Employment. . </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Hewitt receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Commonwealth Department of Employment. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paula McDonald receives funding from The Australian Research Council and the Commonwealth Department of Employment. </span></em></p>A new study quantifies unpaid work experience in Australia and shows how some young people miss out.Damian Oliver, Deputy Director, Centre for Management and Organisation Studies, UTS Business School, University of Technology SydneyAndrew Stewart, John Bray Professor of Law, University of AdelaideAnne Hewitt, Associate Professor, Law, University of AdelaidePaula McDonald, Professor of Work and Organisation, ARC Future Fellow, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/601962016-06-20T20:14:26Z2016-06-20T20:14:26ZInternships help students better manage their careers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125711/original/image-20160608-3492-ohmdii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Internships give students the skills to navigate real world situations like interviews.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In today’s hyper competitive job market, internships are becoming a must-have on almost every job applicant’s CV. But when should a worker be paid for an internship, and is the rise of unpaid internships simply broadening the gap between those who can afford to work for free and those who can’t? We explore these and other issues in this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/internships-investigated">Internships Investigated</a> series.</em></p>
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<p>Students who completed internships as part of their university degree are better at making career decisions and are more satisfied with their career choices, research from the UK and Australia shows. It also seems that the longer the internship, the more employable the students feel they are. </p>
<p>As part of the research, 136 business students from the University of the West of England and 344 from Edith Cowan University in Western Australia were surveyed online, answering questions on how competent they felt in managing their careers and also which aspects of their internship, if any, made them more prepared in this area. Some of the surveyed students had completed an internship as part of their business degree while others had not.</p>
<p>In the UK, an internship for business students typically involves one paid year in the industry. This forms part of the longstanding “sandwich degree” model where students undertake two years at university, one year in industry and then return to university for their final year of study.</p>
<p>At the Western Australian university, the work experience was shorter with 100 to 150 hours in industry completed over a thirteen week academic semester. Business students were specialising in a range of different areas, including accounting, finance, marketing, human resource management and hospitality.</p>
<p>UK students who spent a longer time in industry felt they were more likely to gain employment and were better positioned than those on shorter internships. Workers who <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/13620431111115604">think of themselves as more employable</a> cope better with job insecurity and are more prone to perform better in their jobs. So the longer the internship, the better. </p>
<p>Students who had completed an internship, when compared with those who did not, were better at making effective career decisions. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13562517.2015.1136281">The study found</a> this is because students figured out their own personal priorities and how this affects their career decisions. Insight into the realities of a profession helped them learn whether it aligned with their personal values and sometimes the internship told them quite clearly which career pathway not to take. </p>
<p>Also because of the internship, students received feedback from other professionals on what skills are needed and where they needed to improve. The recruitment process into the internship, usually resume screening and an interview, also helped them understand what employers are looking for. </p>
<h2>Why do students need career management skills?</h2>
<p>Students need different skills to navigate a labour market in unstable economic conditions. A rising number of graduates are <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/AGS_reports/AGS_reports_media_release_for_290714.pdf">not getting jobs in the short-term</a>, and we are also seeing more <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775712001380">underemployment, with graduates</a> in less skilled positions.</p>
<p>In an era of intense global competition for jobs, being able to recruit and retain graduates who are committed, satisfied and productive is critical for any business. Employers demand that new graduates be “well-rounded” with strong technical, communication and team-working skills. They also seek life experience through sporting and community activities. </p>
<p>However <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360802444347#.V1dV2Hp1YVE">all this may be meaningless</a> if they don’t know what jobs are out there, what their own strengths and weaknesses are, or haven’t developed any professional contacts to help get their foot in the door. </p>
<p>Better career management skills means students <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-013-9696-7">are more likely to get a job</a> but the benefits don’t stop there. In the end of the “job for life” era, graduates will use these skills to stay employed by moving across different positions, securing short-term work contracts and even seeking jobs abroad. </p>
<p>If students are better at planning for their careers, it may also reduce costs to employers from a high turnover of staff and lower productivity and wellbeing when graduate recruits are poorly matched to available roles. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://acd.sagepub.com/content/24/1/3.short">follow up study</a> of the Australian business students showed students who completed an internship were more satisfied with their career choices. This is important because <a href="http://tcp.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/07/31/0011000011398726.abstract">dissatisfaction with career choice can cause</a> lower grades, unhappiness and poor levels of commitment at work.</p>
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<p>You can read more stories from <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/internships-investigated">Internships Investigated</a> here.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60196/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denise Jackson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students who complete internships at university are better at managing their careers and are satisifed with their career choices, research shows.Denise Jackson, Senior Lecturer / Coordinator of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) programs, ECU School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.