A British study has shown that graduates who take unpaid internships can expect that "opportunity" to cost them big bucks when they finally find a paying job.
The Guardian reports that the study, conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, reveals that nearly "every graduate taking an unpaid internship can expect to be worse off three years later than if they had gone straight into work."
This disheartening news comes from the "first survey of its kind of the career trajectories of tens of thousands of students over a six-year period" that finds that, three-and-a-half years after graduating, former interns make approximately £3,500 ($4,617.68) less than those who went straight into paid work, and £1,500 less than those who went into further study.
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Interns who were privately schooled or had parents in professional occupations also found themselves worse off, if perhaps not to such a degree; on average, they earned £2,000 less. Those from more disadvantaged backgrounds, the study adds, were more than £4,000 worse off than peers who went into paid work.
The study also confirmed that graduates from advantaged backgrounds were more likely to find prime internships, while those from disadvantaged backgrounds ended up having to take unpaid work because of limited job offers.
In addition, those who took internships were less likely to go on to professional or managerial roles or be satisfied with their career, compared with those who had gone straight into paid work. But it doesn't stop there; when compared with those who went onto further study, an internship also lowered the probability of a graduate working in a professional or managerial role, or being very satisfied with their career, by 15 and 8.8 percentage points, respectively.
Dr Angus Holford, who carried out the study, says in the report that many graduates who took internships would end up disappointed if they thought it would put them on the path to success in a favored career.
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