Internships have all but become a requirement for college students looking to start their careers, but many people simply cannot afford to work for free, let alone move to another city. The biggest problem facing internships as a whole is accessibility, and companies need to change that. In the wake of the pandemic the importance of virtual internships and opportunities has become more clear than ever. Students’ priorities when selecting an internship should be hat they will learn, not what they can afford. The issue of accessibility is multi faceted though ─ internships need to not only be available online, but they also must pay enough to live on. 

If there is one thing this pandemic has taught companies and organizations, it is that they should be ready to operate entirely online at a moment’s notice. Many IT workers have worked overtime to develop new tools for companies and clients. It costs a lot of money and time to make these changes, but it has the potential to revolutionize the way businesses operate and the reach of their network. Rather than using this digitization for worst case scenarios, it should be used constantly for internships. Ever increasing internet access shows the potential for businesses to reach every corner of the country. There are thousands of students who would excel if given the opportunity, but only a small percentage ever are. By allowing for virtual internships, companies open themselves to the best potential candidates not just in their state, but in the entire world. 

Money ─ or the lack thereof ─ is another crucial flaw in the internship system. By classifying interns as non-employees, companies get away with not paying a portion of their workforce. For a long time this practice has continued under the guise of getting experience, but students are tired of having to work minimum wage alongside their internship. Forcing businesses to pay their interns is both harder and more important than ever due to a new set of guidelines established by the Department of Labor in 2018. These new guidelines allow companies to not pay interns if they can prove the intern benefited more than the company, an easy argument for corporate lawyers to make. A company called Wayup that specializes in connecting students to internships reports that only 63% of interns end up receiving a job offer, and the average cost of an unpaid internship is $6,800. These numbers are upsetting especially given context: Student debt has reached over $1.5 trillion and unpaid internships are certainly a part of that. Only the privileged even get access to internships, and an even smaller number of them end up securing a job immediately after. These are all signs of outdated practices that ignore many individuals’ reality. 

While money and proximity are issues all students face in regards to unpaid internships, women and racial minorities face an extra set of obstacles. Studies show that Black students graduate college with the highest levels of debt of any race, which makes taking on even more for an internship seem ridiculous. Intern Bridge, a company that facilitates and researches internships reported that in 2010 three of every four unpaid interns were women. This statistic is a piece of the gender pay gap that exists in America, putting women at a disadvantage before they have even fully entered the workforce.

There is heavy resistance to changing the practice of unpaid internships, as many people still see unpaid internships as free experience rather than work. In 2020 internships are crucial for anyone looking to have a legitimate career, so not offering pay seriously handicaps people living paycheck to paycheck, making upward mobility harder than it should be. 

So how can we fight back against the inequality of internships? Wayup has started an initiative called Pay The Interns. This initiative aims to combat unpaid internships through petitions and encourages students to call their state representatives and push for change. 

Internships provide students with an opportunity to experience a real work environment but they also provide companies with valuable labor. All industries have standards for the rights of their workers and internships should not be exempt. Interns should have protections against racial discrimination and pay disparity just like any other industry.