Unpaid internship access ‘unfair’ to working class, students say

Unpaid and low-paid internships are “unfair” to working-class graduates, students say, as a new study suggests that these opportunities increasingly favour those from a middle-class background.

Research from the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity, says the gap between the two demographics is growing – driven by employers continuing to underpay interns, and giving opportunities to family and friends rather than advertising them.

A poll of more than 1,200 recent graduates shows half have undertaken an internship, an increase of 12% since 2018, but the gap between working-class and middle-class graduates has widened in that time from 12% to 20%.

Speaking to the BBC, one student says she has had to turn down “potentially wonderful” opportunities as she was not able to afford working for free.

Erin Cruickshank, 20, said one of those was an unpaid internship in London last summer that she ultimately turned down.

The cost of staying in the capital – where she had no family or friends to stay with – would have left her “worse off,” she said.

The 20-year-old, from West Lothian, called the situation “unjust and unfair”.

Unpaid “or unfairly paid” positions are commonplace, Erin said, and many take place in “affluent areas” like London.

“I’ve had to turn down experiences – potentially wonderful ones – because I couldn’t stay in London to have them,” she added.

The proportion of working-class graduates completing an internship is now 36%, compared to 55% for their middle-class peers, the Sutton Trust said.

Graduates in London were significantly more likely to have undertaken an internship than those in the West Midlands, Yorkshire, Scotland and Wales, its research showed.

Around three-fifths of internships undertaken by recent graduates were unpaid or underpaid, the study indicated.

Erin, a French and social anthropology student, decided to take a paid position at a charity in Edinburgh for the summer rather than an unpaid role.

She said: “To others who search for larger internships – from their perspective, maybe that wasn’t the best choice. But for me it was… I had a great experience.”

Since she often funds her own accommodation at the University of St Andrews she only applies for paid positions. She is currently on a year abroad working in France.

“If that means I’m not taking experiences in what others might consider a large name or big business, I take experiences I know will still expand my skillset and help me take steps towards my future.”

In many cases, those undertaking unpaid internships were able to do so because they received money from parents, lived at home or with family or friends, or used savings, the Sutton Trust’s research found.

Chiera Mclaughlin, a fourth year law student at the University of Glasgow, said the decision for many was “balancing whether you want to get experience in the industry you want to work in, or if you have money for food”.

“There’s not that freedom to accept unpaid positions,” she added.

From her experience in the law industry, she said that paid internships were “rare” and “to get any early work experience in law, it’s expected that you wouldn’t get paid for it”.

The Sutton Trust’s research also found that internships were almost twice as likely to have been found through family and friends in an organisation compared to an advertisement, further contributing to the widening access gap.

“If I was trying to get experience in say corporate law or at a law firm of some sort, it seems really difficult to even get your foot in the door if you don’t maybe know someone there,” Chiera, who is now doing a paid internship in an adjacent sector, agreed.

“I’m the first person from my family to go to uni and I don’t really have any family connections, or anyone in my social circle, that’s in the industry.”

As part of its ‘Make Work Pay’ plan issued before the election, Labour said it wanted to ban unpaid internships, aside from those that form part of an education or training course. Details on when that might happen have not been confirmed.

Politics student Erin Dunne said “pretty much every internship” she had come across in the sector was unpaid.

The 20-year-old works at a bar alongside her studies in Cardiff, and said she had to miss shifts to take part in an unpaid politics scheme in London.

“A train from Cardiff to London and back is nearly £100,” she said, “so I haven’t been able to attend as much as I’d like to”.

She added most paid opportunities take place in the summer – the time “for the majority of people who go to uni and are working class… you work full-time to fund being at uni”.

“The pay you’d be getting is lower than working your normal job.”

Another hurdle was a “huge gap in connections” between middle-class and working-class students, she said.

“I know someone who’s studying law who just received an internship through his dad at a top law firm.

“I’ve tried to contact PR agencies, political communication places… they just turn you away.”

“Who you know not what you know is really true in that regard.”