Why Unpaid Internships Hurt Women

By Jossie Warnant

Art by May Thet Naing

Pop culture tells us that getting a job in a creative industry often involves working for free – think Hannah in Girls or the career climbing socialites of MTV’s The Hills. This meant I was ecstatic when I landed my first internship at a lifestyle website. The position was unpaid but I hoped it would give me the professional skills I needed to get ahead.

During the three-month internship, I worked two days a week whilst studying full-time at university and commuting an hour each way from my home. The work I did was published by the organisation but I will never be paid for the content I created or the hours I spent at the office.

Don’t get me wrong, I learnt a lot from my internship. I learnt how an office worked, improved my writing skills and made industry connections. I know my story is one of privilege. The only reason I could complete an internship was because I had financial support.

During my time at the company, something else struck me. None of the unpaid interns were male. All around me the interns were female, as were the ones we replaced, and the cohort that would replace us.  

Research by Interns Australia, an organisation that advocates for fairer internships, reveals three times as many interns are women, showing “a significant gender aspect related to unpaid internships.” They also found unpaid internships were most common in female dominated industries such as media and non-profits.

Unpaid internships, which are disproportionately completed by women, reinforce the idea that women’s work is less valuable than men’s. Madeleine Schwartz writes that the “compliant, silent and mostly female” unpaid intern labour force are now the “happy housewives of the working world”, completing often unsatisfying tasks for no payment whilst being expected to be grateful for the opportunity. This reflects the view that women do not need payment because they can rely on family or spousal support. For many, of course, this is not the case.

Unpaid interns also miss out on important workplace protections. They have limited options to investigate harassment or unfair dismissal. As Sarah Ahmed writes in Living a Feminist Life, interns are vulnerable because of the belief that “if you complain you will hurt your career.” This allows workplace harassment and discrimination to continue.

In Australia, the gender pay gap currently sits at 13.1%. Unpaid internships are an obstacle to closing this gap.  A 2015 study found unpaid internships often do not lead to paid employment. This means many interns string together multiple unpaid internships with periods of searching for paid employment. Allowing unpaid internships that don’t have a clear career structure is contributing to Australia’s gender pay gap.  

Unpaid intern culture rides on the backs of young women. Hollywood has convinced us these internships are the domain of middle-class girls who want to work in coveted creative industries. But this issue runs deeper, with countless women from diverse backgrounds feeling obligated to give away their labour. This feeds into the idea that earning a wage is not important when it comes to women’s work. Women deserve better.

Pulp Editors