Equitable Access to For-Credit and Paid Internships

Abstract

This article shares a working group’s self-study and report on equitable access to for-credit and paid internships at a large public university. Academic internships or other forms of field experience are high-impact practices that offer many potential benefits for students, including real-life applications of theoretical knowledge, pre-professional training and socialization, career exploration, and, in some cases, career opportunities after graduation. The opportunities for academic internships, however, may not be distributed equally particularly for Black, Latinx, and other minoritized students. In this report, we apply an equity-minded framework to examine available campus data on the state of internships and other paid employment across our university and the potential barriers to access and participation. Based on the evidence presented in this report, we offer several recommendations for our campus that also may inform similar student success initiatives at other institutions.