How to make ‘intern nation’ work for low-income kids

06-01-2011

Guest blog by Dana Goldstein/Washington Post

I recently picked up Ross Perlin's "Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy." The book is a scathing critique of intern culture, which Perlin indicts as "unethical" and "illegal" for all the expected reasons: Low- and middle-income students don't have equal access to the best internships; many internships don't provide real learning opportunities; and internships have replaced good, paid, entry-level jobs at many companies and nonprofit organizations. Where I take issue with Perlin is his solution to these problems: He proposes an "Intern Bill of Rights" that would require employers to pay almost all interns at least minimum wage. This would most certainly result in fewer internships, when what we really need to equalize opportunity are more internships organized through the school system. (more...)

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How to make ‘intern nation’ work for low-income kids

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