The impact of unpaid internships on professional development in the heritage sector.

1. Research
Objectives
- Determine whether or not the poor
Why economic climate has influenced the amount of
unpaid internships offered by heritage institutions, and
buy the Cow when you moreover the level experience expected of a qualified
applicant when seeking their first professional job.
get the Milk for free? - Explore whether advantage in the job market (being able
The impact of unpaid internships on to accept unpaid internships) is becoming equated with
professional development in the personal traits (commitment, perseverance, hard work) and
heritage sector. thus reshaping employers concepts of professional value
and expectations of young professionals.
- Establish whether there are hierarchies of value
attributed to specific placement opportunities (i.e. the
Imperial War Museum vs. your local records office),
and assess whether this perceived value incentivises
unpaid working schemes and/or influences future
employers.
Background
- Explore whether internship & volunteer programmes are
9% of B.A. graduates in
1992 the U.S. take on unpaid
displacing and/or replacing formerly entry-level positions.
internships.
- Determine to what extent young professionals are self-
80% of B.A. graduates in the directing, or self-selecting, their options when starting their
2008 U.S. take on unpaid internships. professional careers, and how this behaviour corresponds
with possible shifting definitions of professional value
from an employer’s perspective.
The Milburn Report warns of
2009 unpaid internships creating a
“glass ceiling” blocking
disadvantaged applicants.
Museum Galleries Scotland receives
2011 3200 applicants for 20 paid
methodology
internships.
- Develop two separate questionnaires, one of
which will be sent to recent graduates of selected Archival
programmes, the other circulated to a number of
organizations offering internships in the sector.
- Create a body of data specific to the effects of
internships in Archives, including information on:
· Whether the amount of qualified applicants
willing to accept unpaid positions has
increased under recent circumstances.
· Whether internship programmes have
evolved to incorporate more applicants or
have merely become more selective.
· The average gap between graduating with a
professional qualification and entering the
professional workforce.
· The average qualifications expected of
volunteers in contrast to interns, and finally
in contrast to entry level employees.
· How the organizational contributions of
interns, volunteers, and entry level
employees are defined, supervised and
assessed.