Literature Review ii

Literature Review ii

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard/2012/dec/07/fight-against-unpaid-internships

'Join the fight against unpaid internships'

Libby Page’s article argues a very valid point, as well as highlighting that ‘unless students refuse to work for free, employers will continue to exploit them’, she also states that ‘If she were personally to take on unpaid work now, she would be very aware that, by doing so, she is saying that she doesn’t deserve a wage’.

Libby stated that initially ‘a big step for her was finding the confidence to value herself enough to warrant a wage. Although we all feel grateful for experiences gained within companies, we shouldn't underestimate the work we do there, or what we have to offer’.

I thought this concept was very interesting, that 1 word 'deserve', 

de·serve  

/dəˈzərv/

Verb Do something or have or show qualities worthy of (reward or punishment).

Synonyms merit - earn - rate - be worth

Why do interns, generically speaking place themselves in this unworthy, undeserving box?  I guess the answer is - 'because if I don't someone else will'.  Throughout my inquiry this is the most common answer I hear repeatedly.  I truly believe the only way the unpaid internship epidemic can be cured is if the government put into place the illegality measures to ensre internships can be carried out as fair practice for all involved.

Libby also points out that ‘students and graduates need to stand firm on this issue. We may not have the benefit of paid employment, but we do have voices, and we should be using them’.  I completely understand Libby’s take on this, but I also think it depends on the industry you are in.  Personally, I have my internships to thank for where I am today.  Using this and knowing the nature of my industry, I would not want to jeopordise anything to detriment to my success, but on the other hand I do appreciate unless more people fight for the interns justice then – in theory we are fighting a losing battle.  Is this why so many people are worried about speaking out?

"Fundamentally, we need to stop the practice of unpaid internships, and stand up for all those who feel forced to work for free, as well as those who are not able do so.”

As this article was published Labour MP Hazel Blears won a vote to bring forward a bill to outlaw the advertisement of unpaid internships.

As it stands currently, although it is not widely known (especially by the past and current inters I have interviewed for my inquiry) ‘under minimum wage legislation, everyone who works, including interns, are entitled to the national rate, currently £6.19 an hour for those aged 21 and over. But unpaid internships are still endemic in many industries’ – this is escalated due to companies having the ability to currently still legally advertise them, as Gus Baker co-founder of Intern Aware states,

"This bill not only raises the profile of the issue, but would give the government the power to prosecute companies who advertise illegal unpaid internships."

Literature Review i

Literature Review i

http://www.badgeronline.co.uk/2012/02/nick-clegg-criticised-by-nus-over-unpaid-interns/

The University of Sussex’s online newspaper published a very interesting article, regarding the current deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – controversial? Considering unpaid internships are actually illegal, I would say - very.

The article highlighted that the Vice-President of the NUS had criticised Nick Clegg for ‘allowing members of his party to recruit unpaid interns despite his pledge to abolish unpaid placements’.

The prime minister also described these internships as “the almost exclusive preserve of the sharp-elbowed and the well-connected.”

The above statement simply highlights how many graduates there are in the wings ready and waiting, employers can literally have their pick!  We are keen for any relevant opportunity to gain that invaluable experience, be it paid or otherwise.  Bother interns and employers are aware of this.

It was also highlighted that a fellow member of parliament, Lynne Featherstone, Minister for Equalities and Criminal Information was similarly condemned after advertising for unpaid internships on their ‘work for an MP’ website.  Hypocritically advertising unpaid work whilst her party leader is telling others not to!

As Danny Grufferty, the NUS Vice-President for Society and Citizenship, stated “MPs of all parties must take a moral lead on this issue and commit to paying all their interns a living wage.”

I agree with Danny Grufferty completely, but does Nick Clegg?  The messages are mixed, to the press he appears on the interns side, fair and honest, yet behind the scenes budgets have been cut and internship wages are not important enough.  Worringly, the government support is essential in bringing an end to the epidemic of unpaid working.

Youtube link to Campus Session 2

Hi all, 

As mentioned reviously, yhe link to Paula's video can be found here if you havent seen it already,
http://www.youtube.com/BAPPMDX
(you may have to copy and paste the link above into your search bar)

:)

Updates...

HI all,

So I am finding my time for this module being even more precious than the last 2 and I don't know why, I am getting a little stressed out about it eeeeekkk...

On a lighter note I have set aside the entire weekend for non-stop module 3 lovin' (something like that!) so I am hoping to feel far more positive come Sunday evening!

I have started my artefact which is coming along nicely, and I am currently very happy with it, as have decided on a leaflet, which is turning into something I myself would have found very useful pre interning!  I am trying to keep it current, fresh and yet still informative!
I am still deciding whether to have this printed up as a hard-copy that can be kept in reception areas of universities and colleges as hand-out/pick me up's, or whether I am looking to have this as an electronic version to be posted on relevant websites.  I am still waiting to hear back from internaware.org which would be amazing if I could go down this road as the amount of people who will have access to this will be much higher, but will people be more drawn to the leaflet if they can physically pick it up there and then??  I am considering both - any opinions would be most welcome?

How is everyone else getting along?

I am hoping to really get my teeth into my literature reviews today as have come across a few useful literary pieces via summon - if you haven't already used this I definitely suggest using this for the more adverse literature you may not have found yourself coming across - it's very easy t use and right at the tip of your fingertips!!!

Keep going!!

Session 2 Catch up...

Hi all,

I attended Session 2 the week before last and am yet to blog about it, so here I am.
After a recent skype session with Nina Standen feeding back to her the main point from the session I wanted to blog them also for my personal record as well as spreading the word for those unable to attend.

Agan, we went through a slideshow that I believe Paula will be blogging, I'm finding these really useful and insightful and suggest anyone unable to attend the sessions to read through thee slide shows that really help update you as to where you need to be etc.
http://paulanottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/campus-session-3-slides-for-module-3.html 

We briefly touched on the critical reflection, and how it is to be primarily written, but should you need to use visual or audio aids with reference to your practitioner research then feel free to include this also.

Moved on to the professional artefact, discussing that this can actually be a WiP work in progress) it does not necessarily have to be a finished article.  The main aim is that is has to inform others in your community of practice, being aware of your audience.  Your artefact should emerge from your inquiry - it can be in the form of a document, event or even activity if relevant so think outside the box if you're stuck!!

We also discussed the structure of our writing and how we must ensure that our critical and literature reviews must take the form of being academically structured.  A session took place on Weds 20th March with Peter Thomas who we were told is a brilliant literature lecturer/advisor when it comes to academic writing.  I believe one of the advisors will be blogging about his session so will be worth keeping an eye out for this.

Paula highlighted how important it was to keep interacting with your SIG's as much as possible, Nina Standen and I had a great catch-up Skype session (as mentioned earlier) where we discussed the results of my focus group and the results from one of Nina's recent interviews with a social worker, although we aren't doing the same topic or even a similar subject it was good for both of us to almost be an outsider looking in on someone else's topic - refreshing to hear her point of view and vice versa.

I am aiming to make a start on my critical review whilst being snowed in this weekend...putting pen to paper!!  I am now very conscious of time and want to get cracking!!

Happy writing everybody!

Module 3 - 1st Blog

Hi all and welcome to module 3 - are we all ready...

I attended the 1st campus session lead by Paula on Friday which was really useful in terms of putting oneself back into the think tank after what felt like such a long time off!

I was able to get more clarity for module 3 which helped immensely, there is a lot of hard work to do, but I have now entered the tunnel, hoping to see this light at the end!  
Paula went through a powerpoint presentation, breaking down module 3 in a simpler form,  in terms of what is expected of us to form our inquiry etc it was really useful, and I suggest if you couldn't make the session definitely downloading the presentation.  I will be going over it often!  

We started the session by discussing the real basic question of 'what actually is an inquiry', basically what are we all doing??
We can use the below 'inquiry cycle' with regards to any particular topic.



The above is also relevant to Kolb's cycle that we looked at in Module 1.  Connecting the 2 more closely I think will be very interesting to look further into.
We need to ask questions, read & learn, look & listen, analyse & interpret, start & plan...

We also discussed literature reviews and how Summon as a tool - found on the libguides is great for finding literature, it's split into genres by articles - press reviews, trade reviews etc which is really helpful, especially if you're like me and through your own research have found the most interesting or relevant articles to be taken from press, at least now I can back up my discussions further where necessary with some sound academic literature.

We discussed how it was important to keep a 'where are you now timeline', just to ensure that you don't get on top of yourself, especially as we have all come this far, we really need to keep on trck for this final, but oh so important module!

We were asked to send our advisors feedback and a loose breakdown of where we are now, at first I wasn't sure what to write, but once I put pen to paper it all became a little clearer.

Everyone is at a loose end where to start, but I suggest putting pen to paper and making a head-start, as the sooner you do this, the sooner your inquiry will begin to take shape.

Happy inquiring...

Intern related articles...

  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/29/anna-wintour-internship-a_n_557656.html

http://collegecandy.com/2010/04/05/should-unpaid-internships-be-illegal/

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/05/unpaid-internships-bad-for-students-bad-for-workers-bad-for-society/256958/

http://blog.prmoment.com/an-interns-view-on-unpaid-pr-internships/

http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2012/07/27/are-unpaid-internships-worth-the-effort/