Examining the systemic racism of summer internships

As the spring semester wound down, many college students found themselves gearing up for their entry into corporate America through summer internships. This can be a very nerve-wracking moment for students since they know that they could be leaving these internships with a full-time job offer after graduation. The pressure is on to make a good impression, make the right connections, and do everything that is needed to secure that offer. 

There is no question that this is a great opportunity for those who are able to participate in it, but every year thousands of students are left out of the opportunity to participate in summer internships for more reasons than there simply are not enough open positions. 

These students overwhelmingly identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). It’s systemic racism that acts as a barrier to keep them from taking part in a vital program that will help land them their first professional job after college.

That systemic racism begins at the very start of the summer internship recruitment cycle with how students are recruited. Most companies have a list of colleges that they spend time and money actively recruiting from. It’s no surprise that these colleges tend to be top-tier institutions that lack a diverse group of BIPOC students. 

In fact, according to the Hechinger Report, in 2015, only 5% of students at the nation’s flagship public colleges were black. So, at the very start of recruitment, BIPOC students are already at a disadvantage since companies are not actively seeking them out. Of course, this doesn’t mean that they can’t still apply; it does mean, however, that it will be that much harder for their applications to get noticed. 

Once a BIPOC application does get submitted, that student meets the next gates of discrimination. Companies place a lot of parameters around what makes a candidate qualified. These parameters typically consist of a base GPA (think nothing lower than a 3.0), academic level meaning rising junior/rising senior, anticipated graduation date, full-time status, and prior work experience. On the surface, these parameters don’t sound racist. They might even make sense. 

Why shouldn’t companies put standards around who they hire? 

Here’s why. Base GPA, academic level, graduation date, and the requirement that a student be full time and have prior work experience are all stipulations with built-in bias against students who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds, many of whom are BIPOC students coming from underdeveloped urban areas, as reported by the Department of Education. And according to Inside Higher Ed in 2019, it’s these students who have majorly increased their enrollment at colleges, which indicates this is the population that would be applying to summer internships. 

Many students coming from low socioeconomic backgrounds have demanding obligations that can’t be ignored and therefore pull their attention away from school. These are obligations like having to work full-time jobs – either to support themselves, pay for college, or help support their family –  or take care of their own children, younger siblings, or older relatives. As a result, education gets pushed aside, which can lead to lower GPAs and the inability to take classes in a timely manner, which delays their academic standing and graduation dates.

Even when these students do beat the odds and land summer internships, there are still obstacles in place that make success harder for them than non-BIPOC students. One primary barrier is that many of them will end up on teams or in situations where they don’t have a BIPOC person as a mentor, manager, or leader. This feeds into the classic saying that “you cannot be what you cannot see.” 

While there are many issues with that saying, it’s true that it can be very discouraging for a student to not see someone like themselves in a leadership position. The lack of representation shows that there is little hope for them to progress to the level of their dreams. 

How we change things

Despite there being many notable hurdles in place that keep BIPOC students out of summer internships, it is possible to tear these down and make summer internships an achievable and welcoming experience for these students. To start, companies can make conscious decisions to actively recruit BIPOC students. This is easily done by targeting schools based on the diversity of the student population and not the prestige of the name. They can also reach out to ethnic student clubs on campuses to advertise their positions. 

Setting standards around how many positions will go to BIPOC applicants is another way; a quick fix to achieve this is enacting a policy that ensures the percent of students accepted matches the applicant pool. Note: This only works if companies are actively raising the number of BIPOC students applying. 

“In 2015, only 5% of students at the nation’s flagship public colleges were black.”

Of course, getting rid of dated parameters around what makes a qualified candidate is another easy way to attract and let in a more diverse applicant pool. Lastly, companies can make sure that there is a BIPOC manager or mentor on all intern teams to show that diverse leadership is important, and they can connect their interns to the employee resource groups (ERGs) within the company to ensure that they have a place for support and honest conversations while they’re going through their internships.

BIPOC students participating in summer internships is important because research consistently shows that diversity of talent and increased inclusion in the workplace create better. ROI for companies through the creation of better products and the retention of staff. In addition, these initiatives benefit all employees, not just those who are BIPOC. 

And honestly, having more diversity is just the right thing to do.