Cornell In The News...For Interns

Part II

The New York Times has an article today about summer interns who work for free -- how they work long hours and lose money. This situation probably sounds familiar to a lot of Cornell students:

Libby M____ is soon to be a junior studying fashion design at Cornell University. This summer, she landed a full-time unpaid internship at Liz Claiborne.

“I need to make any kind of contacts,” Ms. M____ said. “In fashion, nobody pays.”

Living in a School of the Visual Arts dorm at Ludlow and Delancey Streets — $1,800 a month, split three ways — Ms. M____, 20, fetches garments and measures fabric 40 hours a week.

For income, she said, she replies to about five Craigslist “talent gig” postings a day, with most turning out to be scams.

As someone who has worked (essentially) unpaid internships the last two summers, I think these positions are completely unfair. Companies know that college students want to do something that will help them get a job after they graduate. So much so that they'll work a full-time job, which probably includes some secretarial duties, for nothing. They just want to get their foot in the door, put something on their resume, and walk away with a nice letter of recommendation.

The employer, on the other hand, gets an eager worker for a whole summer, without having to pay for wages, insurance, or anything else. Seems like a pretty good deal.

The problem is that many students cannot afford to work as an unpaid intern. These jobs are often in cities such as New York or Washington with high rent and a high cost of living. (Libby's rent actually seems cheap; I paid more than double that to live in DC.) And while there are some college programs (such as Cornell's Meinig program) which help to offset summer expenses, most students do not have access to grants or other sources of funding.

The result is a widening of the class divide. The children of wealthy parents can afford to take unpaid internships, which then translate to better jobs after college. Poorer students cannot afford to take unpaid internships, so they are at a disadvantage when it comes to job searching.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Many wealthy parents insist that their children earn income during the summer, and there are poorer families who are willing to make sacrifices so children can take an important internship.

What's the solution? For one, companies, organizations, and even the U.S. government should sign a resolution to pay their interns at least minimum wage. In many places, this will not cover the cost of living, but students will not find themselves in as much of a whole.

Second, universities should make more funding available to students for summer internships. How about a program at Cornell in which rising juniors and seniors with at least a 3.6 GPA can receive $3,000 to cover summer expenses if they take an unpaid internship? Sure, it costs money, but it seems like a pretty worthwhile cause.

Maybe the people on the Review blog will object to my characterization of internship opportunities in class-based terms, but it'd be great to see some people at Cornell start to get fired up about this.

Update: Dennis from the Review responds here.