RUNNING HEAD: Unpaid Internships

Exploiting Students: Harsh Reality of Unpaid Internships

In the article “Jobs Few, Grads Flock to Unpaid Internships,” Stephen Greenhouse writes about the harsh reality of internships in the United States (2012). Greenhouse, the labor and workforce reporter for The New York Times, explains in his article the specific stories of unpaid interns and lawsuits filed against companies who did not compensate these individuals. The internship programs that Greenhouse reports on oppress both women and men with unfair work expectations and poor opportunities for advancement. With the help of this article and other supporting materials, I will clarify the relationship between these unpaid, exploited students and the material covered in my Women Studies class. In the article, Greenhouse points out that since 1985, the unemployment rate for graduates twenty-four years old and younger has risen 9.4 percent (Greenhouse, 2012). Speculators estimate that this number is increasing so rapidly because of students’ willingness to work for free in internship positions. The article explains this phenomenon stating that many students feel this is the best way to get a foot in the door with a possible future employer. More and more businesses are refusing to hire students who have not completed an internship program. However, Greenhouse explains that even after the completion of an interning program, many students are left uneducated about the type of work done in the field they are hoping to pursue. This point of the article can tie in with an essay read in class titled “Claiming an Education” by Adrienne Rich (1977). In her essay, Rich explains how students must not simply go to school to receive an education, but instead should claim one (1977). Similarly, a student partaking in an internship program that feels unfulfilled in his or