Arts universities to oppose unpaid internships

Careers departments won't advertise work that involves students supplying their skills for free

If you're an arts student you will probably have experienced unpaid internships first hand. But is your university doing anything to tackle the issue of unpaid work?

"Unpaid internships are a huge problem in the creative industries and have been for a long time," says Katie Mills, who is responsible for student enterprise and employ-ability at the University of the Arts London (UAL).

Students have long campaigned for an end to unpaid work, and now their institutions have started to back them. Several arts universities – UAL, Falmouth, Kingston, the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) and Goldsmiths – have decided not to advertise for unpaid work, in line with national minimum wage legislation that says that interns doing real work during set hours are entitled to payment.

At UAL, the careers department made the decision in April last year to stop advertising any kind of unpaid work on their jobs site for students. Previously, unpaid work was advertised if it was part-time and less than eight weeks long, but Mills says that the old system had loopholes.

"We were getting feedback from students and graduates saying that they had undertaken an internship that was supposed to be part time but wasn't, and that they would sometimes continue unpaid after eight weeks," says Mills.

"We realised that we had a fuzzy system and needed to draw a line in the sand."

There've been changes at UCA, too. Its careers and employability adviser, John Watts, says: "It had been under discussion in the careers service for some time, but following representations from the student union, it was clear that there was significant student feeling about this issue.

"We decided that the time was right to change the policy and to add our voice to the campaign."

But choosing not to advertise unpaid work has ruffled the feathers of some employers.

"We get employers phoning up saying 'well I did an unpaid internship and it didn't do me any harm' and 'my company can't afford to pay someone but this is a really good opportunity'," says Mills.

"That's quite a good phone call to have actually, because it's an opportunity for us to say that legally you have to pay them if they're coming in for set hours and you're expecting them to do set tasks. Many employers don't know that."

In some instances, employers have stopped advertising when they learned they would have to pay.

Watts says: "One or two were vociferous in their opposition, and no longer advertise. But a number appeared to be unaware of the legislation and, once it was explained to them, were happy to offer a salary or fee."

It's not just troublesome employers that careers services have to deal with – university staff can put a foot in the closing door of unpaid work too. "There are some tutors and teaching staff who don't necessarily think that unpaid internships are always a bad thing," says Mills.

"Some tutors have very longstanding fantastic relationships with certain businesses. Tutors will refer students to these businesses in the hopes that they will then get the opportunity to work for that brand."

However good the official line on unpaid interships is, if individual lecturers are still encouraging students to work for nothing, it can make it difficult for them to get out of the cycle of working for free.

An anonymous fashion design student at the University of Kingston says: "Our tutors have always told us not to take unpaid internships and I think they're all quite passionate about that. In second year, we do competitions as part of our course, and the winners of these are offered a paid internship, often with accommodation provided too.

"But ultimately only a small percentage of people win these competitions, or obtain internships at big brands who can afford to pay you.

"The emails lecturers forward from brands who have contacted them don't necessarily pay minimum wage – instead they offer travel costs."

At the Arts University Bournemouth, a recent graduate who prefered to remain anonymous says: "Tutors usually warn us that some companies may not pay a penny, but they tell us that the experience pays off."

Vanessa Freeman is senior careers consultant at Goldsmiths, where unpaid internships have not been advertised by the careers team for the past four years.

She says: "Many of our tutors work in industry, so they know the reality at ground level. It's tricky for them, because they want to provide students with accurate support and advice. There's no point telling students that there are loads of paid internships in the sector when there are not."

As well as banning the advertising of unpaid internships, some universities are developing programmes to teach students more about national minimum wage legislation and their rights. Campaign group Intern Aware ran workshops last year at UCA, UAL and Middlesex, where students learned more about internships and picked up tips on finding good placements.

At Middlesex, media students working with Intern Aware as part of a campaigning unit in their syllabus, gained 1,600 signatures in support of paid internships in three days.

This year UAL is launching a graduate internship scheme: the university will match half the cost of a graduate salary (at the London living wage), leaving the company with only half the salary to pay.

Falmouth students can take on paid placements at their own uni. And many courses at arts unis include work placements that can be a good alternative to unpaid internships during the holidays.

Freeman says: "Having embedded placements within courses can be a way of giving students quality work experience that isn't exploiting them in the way that an unpaid internship would.

"During the work placements in term-time, students usually work on a project and they produce a report that counts towards their grade. While that placement might be unpaid, it's not taking away from the student's ability to work part time or come in to college."

Arts universities have realised unpaid internships are a key issue faced by students, and are keen to back their calls for ending the practice.

Watts says: "It is important to us, because if a situation develops where only those who can afford to take long-term unpaid work in London can gain the advantages such a placement in the industry can provide, this would not be inclusive or in the best interests of our students."

Chris Hares, campaign manager of Intern Aware, says: "Universities are more focused than ever on ensuring the employability of their students, and it's encouraging that many of them are taking action to ensure that internships are about talent and hard work, rather than simply the ability to work for free."

(Source: The Guardian)