The Unpaid Internship Is a Toll Booth, Not a Door

Unpaid internships are defended as door-openers. Look closer: they are toll booths. And the evidence suggests the toll buys less than advertised. Compared with graduates doing something else, unpaid interns were only 6.4 percentage points more likely to be very satisfied with their careers three years later [S1900]. Unpaid internships weren't significantly linked to a first job that counts as a career, while paid ones were [S1901]. Meanwhile, low-income graduates, women and non-binary students are more likely to hold the unpaid version [S1902]. Some are never posted at all, passed through whisper networks [S1903]. So the real filter isn't talent; it's who can afford to work for free and whose parents know someone. The internship may confirm a career interest or build a network, but that's a consolation prize. I'd rather have fewer unpaid internships and more paid ones than another earnest panel about access.