Internships: A Gateway to Success or a Barrier to Equal Opportunity

Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash

By Carmen Garcia

As a university-aged student, it seems everyone is on the hunt to find their summer internship/s during this application season. Serving as a tool to break into the field one hopes to find themselves in long-term, internships are opportunities offered by employers to work with an organization for a fixed period of time. They emphasize training, real-life experience, and in some cases the opportunity to obtain a full-time role working for them. There is a misconception that an exceptional GPA is the most important factor when it comes to getting job opportunities, when many employers today look to work experience instead. Internships can help individuals widen their professional network and build a stronger resume. However, its important to consider the various opinions circulating paid vs unpaid internships, as well as the outcomes statistics show in terms of their accessibility and success in the long term. 

We can take a deeper look into exactly what these differing opinions on paid and unpaid internships are backed up by, to gain a better understanding. 

When referring to paid internships as a “holy grail” for students, this has much to do with the fact you are being compensated while gaining experience later employers will look at as credible. Paid internships are incredibly competitive due to their high demand, whereas unpaid internships have less of a demand, in turn making them less competitive. With unpaid internships seemingly more accessible, this provides a good opportunity to highlight that unpaid internships are proven not to share these perceived benefits of accessibility. Due to financial compensation not being offered to unpaid interns, these roles can really only be done by those who can bear the costs of not being paid. As a result, they have been said to obstruct individuals’ paths to equal opportunity. What makes this an obstruction to equal opportunity is that framing unpaid internships as easier to land, therefore open to a greater number of individuals is incorrect when we take into consideration the economic circumstances of different individuals. In Rakshitha Arni Ravishankar’s reflection in the Harvard Business Review on her and her peers' experience with unpaid internships, her opinion on this same issue is that it will only contribute further to the generational wealth gap, essentially keeping future professional opportunities in the hands of those from privileged backgrounds. 

With an internship under your belt in times of job application processes and success in landing the job you want, the probability of being chosen for an interview increases by more than 25%, more than 15% in being offered the job, and 12% in higher salaries than those without the experience. Experience gained through internships is highly valued to employers in respect to making hiring decisions, when it comes down to who they choose. Due to these imbalances, we are going to continue to see a lack of diversity in the workforce if the opportunities available are only afforded to a select number of individuals. A survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) in 2019 concluded that those disproportionately underrepresented in internships include: black, hispanic/latino, women, and first-generation students. 

Keeping this in mind, it is crucial to recognize that while internships are held to a high standard, serving as a gateway to professional success, their accessibility even for the seemingly more accessible unpaid roles carry significant barriers. If internship experience is continued to be favoured in hiring decisions, all while unpaid internships remain out of reach for those equally as eager to get their foot through the door, it is in my opinion that the workforce will inevitably lack diversity. A workplace with a lack of diversity carries a plethora of repercussions which can include tone-deaf deliverables, restricted view-points, limited role models, and communication problems. With a diverse workplace comes a sense of belongingness among employees, and encourages a more comprehensive spectrum of skills to create improved productivity. If these disparities that exist within current hiring culture were to be addressed, through alternative pathways to career readiness or policy changes, all students regardless of their background will be afforded an equal opportunity to gain the experience necessary for their future careers, and contribute to a workforce that does not lack diversity.