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The problem with unpaid internships, especially the ones at the national level, is that they restrict the access of students and young professionals who do not have the financial resources to support themselves while they work at unpaid internships.

I am m a Masters Degree student at PSU; my parents and I immigrated to this country 14 years ago with little but the clothes our backs; since I entered college as a freshman many years ago, I have found that I do not have the option to work a full or even a part time internship which is unpaid.  For years now, I have been restricted to looking for only paid internships in order to contribute my share to the family’s finances. 

As someone who is very interested in politics and has studied political science, I have found that this means most of the internships in Washington, DC, for example, or even some internships at the state level, are not ones that I can afford to participate in simply because they are unpaid.

This is essentially a kind of economic stagnation: because I cannot afford to take unpaid internships, I have less experience than some of my more well-off friends and because I am less experienced, I am less employable. 

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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