A poll on the Museums Association website has found that 71% of the sector believes that “unpaid internships in museums are exploitative”. Amidst the emotive language, no one has stopped to clarify exactly what constitutes an intern.
The OED definition, “a student or trainee who works, sometimes without pay, in order to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification”, includes students who complete placements in order to gain qualifications. Do we believe this is exploitation?
For example, the Horniman Museum’s recently reported 29 interns provoked censure; however, the vast majority were students attached to universities. Their work here formed an integral and compulsory part of their studies, giving them useful exposure to a museum environment and allowing them to develop their professional skills.
There exists a distinct and important difference between the internships that we offer to university students and the unpaid, unstructured internships into which young people are often lured by a putative promise of future employment.
In our stampede to condemn “bad” internships, we risk trampling over a well-oiled system that gives students the workplace experience they need in order to gain a valuable qualification, providing high-quality graduates to the sector. We consider this a responsibility that museums should do their best to accommodate, despite challenging times.
As a learning institution we take our responsibility towards students very seriously. Placements are for a pre-determined length of time; travel expenses are paid and student finance arrangements cover interns’ living costs. Students are never given a false expectation that their placement will lead to a job here.
And what of internships that do not form part of a degree? We along with others are navigating a very difficult landscape in which many highly trained young people are desperately seeking internships in the hope of improving their employment chances.
We accept that this creates a major challenge in terms of diversity. One ray of hope is the opening up of new funds to help support these young people. For the first time this year, we have been able to offer two salaried intern positions funded by third parties.
The Institute of Conservation’s Heritage Lottery Fund-supported scheme is a flagship in providing salaried workplace training.
Is there a danger amidst all the criticism that organisations will shy away from interns? Let’s move the debate onto more constructive ground such as how can we encourage more funders to support future workplace diversity through salaried internships.
Janet Vitmayer is the chief executive of the Horniman Museum, London
The OED definition, “a student or trainee who works, sometimes without pay, in order to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification”, includes students who complete placements in order to gain qualifications. Do we believe this is exploitation?
For example, the Horniman Museum’s recently reported 29 interns provoked censure; however, the vast majority were students attached to universities. Their work here formed an integral and compulsory part of their studies, giving them useful exposure to a museum environment and allowing them to develop their professional skills.
There exists a distinct and important difference between the internships that we offer to university students and the unpaid, unstructured internships into which young people are often lured by a putative promise of future employment.
In our stampede to condemn “bad” internships, we risk trampling over a well-oiled system that gives students the workplace experience they need in order to gain a valuable qualification, providing high-quality graduates to the sector. We consider this a responsibility that museums should do their best to accommodate, despite challenging times.
As a learning institution we take our responsibility towards students very seriously. Placements are for a pre-determined length of time; travel expenses are paid and student finance arrangements cover interns’ living costs. Students are never given a false expectation that their placement will lead to a job here.
And what of internships that do not form part of a degree? We along with others are navigating a very difficult landscape in which many highly trained young people are desperately seeking internships in the hope of improving their employment chances.
We accept that this creates a major challenge in terms of diversity. One ray of hope is the opening up of new funds to help support these young people. For the first time this year, we have been able to offer two salaried intern positions funded by third parties.
The Institute of Conservation’s Heritage Lottery Fund-supported scheme is a flagship in providing salaried workplace training.
Is there a danger amidst all the criticism that organisations will shy away from interns? Let’s move the debate onto more constructive ground such as how can we encourage more funders to support future workplace diversity through salaried internships.
Janet Vitmayer is the chief executive of the Horniman Museum, London
