When Gaining Experience is a Hurdle

Free Internships are for the Privileged

While my oldest sons have gone through the college admissions gauntlet, I’ve had the liberty of experiencing the college path through a completely different set of eyes. The Business of Sports School in Hell’s Kitchen has had to approach the idea of college from the viewpoint of students that are still deciding if it’s valuable to attend high school, much less graduate.

BOSS is a high school lead by Principal Joshua Solomon. I was introduced to the board by a mentor five years ago and have watched freshman grow to graduates. The experience is fulfilling, but not without its challenges. There commitment to finding mentors for every student by partnering with iMentor has increased the odds of these students — many of which come from immigrant families with lower than average test scores — graduating high school.

The idea of college is a tall order.

Hakeeb Lanlokun, Director of College Counseling for the not-for-profit CollegeBound Initiative — CBI, promotes the concept of college readiness from the first days the freshmen enter the building BOSS. Students graduating from CBI partner high schools achieve four-year college degrees at approximately double the rate of their peers, with approximately 80% of CBI graduating seniors being the first in their family to attend college.

Like most high schools, though, the push for college preparedness and tours starts in that all-too-important junior year. There are a host of programs dedicated to providing these students free test prep and assistance in filling out applications for admissions and scholarships.

One morning during a board meeting, mostly composed of business leaders from the sports world, Mr. L — Mr. Lanlokun’s knickname in the school — walked us through the upcoming college readiness programs. He spoke of both his concerns and his optimism.

I raised my concern that engaging with these students in the 11th grade was too late and I was immediately contradicted by one of my closest friends on the board. Her son was a sophomore at college and she remembered how much attention was devoted to college during that 10th grade year.

I simply asked her how many college campuses her son had stepped foot on before he entered high school.

She smiled.

Because if the answer was more than one, she understood my point.

Most of the students at BOSS didn’t live in a household that promoted college. For many of them, high school would be the first place they would encounter a realistic expectation that college was an option. The hurdle wasn’t even financial. The concept of graduating from high school was abstract for many families that assumed their child was going to start working more to support the family.

Yes, more.

Many of these students routinely missed school to watch after younger siblings. Many of the students couldn’t attend SAT prep because they had to go to work. The long term benefits of focusing on an education struggled against the realities of needing to pay the bills today. All of the exposure to colleges and free test prep in the 11th grade don’t often outweigh the prior 15 years without exposure to college. Dr. Solomon and Mr. Lanlokun were fighting an uphill battle. The BOSS staff does an amazing job of preparing these students but the hurdle is still very high.

Candice Haynes knows this problem all too well.

As the co-founder of Minorities in Sports, a collection of professionals of color in the business of sports, Candice specializes in creating opportunities for under-represented talent in business. What began as a small group chat of like-minded individuals evolved into a chain of over 1000 individuals discussing every facet of their careers. Naturally, businesses saw an opportunity to tap into MiS’ diverse college and professional networks. From entry level to management positions, businesses throughout sports and entertainment have realized MiS as a primary resource for elite talent.

Candice is also the founder of Prodigy, a not-for-profit platform empowering youth to use sports to create opportunity for themselves and their communities. The majority of participants are from under-resourced areas where opportunity and access often do not match talent and drive. Sports are often viewed as a lottery ticket to financial freedom, an unrealistic approach given basic probability. Yet instead of dampening the passion many kids have for sports, Prodigy harnesses their interests to expose them to careers and economic empowerment in roles beyond athlete.

However, exposure can only take youth so far. Opportunity requires access.

When specifically discussing the development of pipelines to entry level positions, a clear barrier began to emerge. Unfortunately, companies in the sports and creative industries often offer a solution that comes with a hurdle that is taller for this population — unpaid internships.

For the privileged, unpaid internships are often a rite of passage, with compensation an afterthought to the work and life skills developed over summer break during high school. However, by necessity — not choice — many high school students simply cannot afford to work for free.

For students in MiS’ college network — hypermotivated as they are, with lofty goals of working in the industry — the lack of income is sometimes exacerbated by the costs associated with having to relocate to a bigger city for an unpaid, summer internship. Thus, opportunity falls on those with enough of a support system to take advantage.

Solutions that would actually benefit both the intern and the company’s bottom line exist in the continued development of partnerships between the corporate sector, not-for-profits like Prodigy, and professional networks like MiS.

I have watched businesses provide opportunities and exposure to students for college credit. The availability of inspired workers looking to build there resume is abundant — but that abundance often excludes those individuals that are in need of a steady income. Given the choice of working in the mall for a paycheck or working in a front office for free is not an easy decision for everyone.

Earlier this year, Elizabeth Segran‘s article in Fast Company shared her experience in the fashion world. She was frustrated by the expectation of keeping up with the mostly wealthy young women that worked for almost nothing because their expensive lives in an expensive city were supported by their wealthy parents.

The overlap in the thought process of ‘cheap labor’ in music, fashion and sports is not surprising given the similar business models and celebrity influences, but the reality is that the same practice is prevalent in other industries where relevant experience is a must.

I’ve always been an advocate for people to get experience where ever some one is willing to entrust you with the opportunity. No one asks you how much you were paid for the experience you received.

However, if businesses truly believe that diversity in their everyday decisions is important when it comes to their bottom line, they will understand that free internships are another hurdle that reduces the chances of landing an underrepresented employee.

Thanks to Candice Haynes for inviting us to be a part of her work and instigating this conversation.