By: Youssef El-Sayes
Choosing a degree and career path is not an easy task. Students pursuing a degree in science have a wide variety of available career options. These range from positions in research, industry, medicine, illustration and so much more. It almost seems like the possibilities are endless.
But how does one truly understand their goals without experiencing their options? Many professionals end up with a job that they thought would interest them but eventually learn otherwise.
This issue has become so commonplace that institutions like McMaster University have developed strategies to help students gain a variety of experiences outside of their chosen undergraduate program. A great example are the interdisciplinary experience courses, offered by the school of interdisciplinary science.
For a full credit, students can choose from a wide array of IE courses that cover topics such as three-dimensional printing, visiting Kentucky for a caving fieldtrip or hiking Algonquin park while learning about Canadian history, geography and literature.
IE courses serve the purpose of introducing students to a variety of disciplines that will help broaden their perspectives and opinions towards science. By providing students with active learning opportunities, they can develop a personal connection and a deep motivation for the subject.
The idea of active learning has been studied for decades. In essence, active learning requires students to be engaged with the delivered content while critically thinking about the activities they are working on.
Current research suggests that fostering engagement in class activities is more likely to improve student learning compared to simply spending extra time on a topic. This is why IE courses available at McMaster University consist of short workshops, field trips or tutorials that keep students motivated and prove that learning does not need to be time consuming.
These experiences are especially rewarding for students because they earn a credit for their work. The results of IE courses are also long-lasting. For example, upon completion of IE courses, many students often undertake related volunteer positions and internships, in order to put what they have learned into practice.
Aside from personal growth, IE courses also provide a multitude of professional benefits. Due to the small class sizes, students can engage in one-on-one interactions with instructors or guest speakers and build valuable networking skills.
These experiences also set students apart by giving them something distinct and unique to include on a resume. Overall, IE courses allow students to build on their academic, personal and professional qualities and become multi-faceted individuals.
McMaster University has always led the path for innovative teaching and learning, and offering IE courses is no exception. Students should always challenge themselves to step outside of their comfort zone in order to find their real interests and ambitions. By doing so, students can become professionals in their fields that truly love what they do.
It is clear that experiential and active learning opportunities are able to foster skilled and competent individuals who are willing to create a brighter future, and this is exactly what McMaster has been striving to do. So the next time you are enroling for courses, consider taking an IE class.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
By: Sunanna Bhasin
I remember scrolling through endless lists of summer jobs last year trying to find something worth my time. I had specific criteria to fill when looking at potential job, the biggest one being a job that actually offered to pay me. Students want experience, yes, but most of us would like to pay off our student loans or help our parents out. Some of us would even like to save for post-graduation. So when I see unpaid internships plaguing job listings when I have bills to pay, just like any other working adult, I can’t help but clench my fists at the blatant disregard for the hardworking, often loan-bearing post-secondary students.
Unpaid internships are a means of manipulating post-secondary students into doing free labour. Students are told that they need real-life work experience to get anywhere after graduation, and so they feel compelled to take whatever they can get. However, there are students who are struggling to pay their tuition and still require that important experience. Should they be expected to compromise and work for free? Companies who leech off unpaid internships are well aware that students will likely work without complaint because they are looking for reference letters and likely hope to receive a full-time job offer at the end. Companies may also exploit their interns by giving them gruelling tasks that may not provide them with the skillset they’re looking for, or set ridiculous hours for students who are often not in a position to reject them.
Economically speaking, it makes little sense that companies would want to have students work for free. Efficiency wage theory states that firms that pay efficiency wages, or wages that are higher than the market equilibrium or average, do so in order to avoid shirking on the job, reduce turnover, and attract productive employees. There is the possibility that students won’t neglect their job because they are looking for other rewards, such as the aforementioned reference letter (so that they can get a paid job in the future). However, the third point about attracting productive employees is out the window. Just as I scroll past unpaid internships, I’m sure there are many others who refuse to work for free. These are students who would potentially make very valuable employees.
The unpaid internship is a loophole in Canada’s labour laws. The minimum wage laws do not cover every single type of employment, and internships happen to be one of them. This needs to change. If a company is making profit, it has no right to ‘hire’ individuals to work for them without pay. Using the label “volunteer position” in place of “unpaid internship” does not suddenly make the practice okay. Volunteer positions should exist only at non-profit organizations because they don’t have a means to pay all employees. It is ridiculous to be able to take advantage of students who need experience in a certain field but also bear the burden of debt on their shoulders. Students should be able to obtain valuable work experience while at the same time making money to put towards continuing education or to pay off existing bills.
Ultimately, the unpaid internship is a means of exploiting students by perpetuating the notion that experience should be their primary concern and that everything else should be secondary, when in fact, students have real financial worries that need to be addressed while they are still in school, rather than later in life, when they are knee-deep in debt.
Would I rather be unemployed, or work for free? That’s a question many of us face at some point during our time at university and after we graduate.
Internship season is well underway and those of us who aren’t already employed are probably looking for positions that will open doors. Job-hunting beats watching another rerun of that show we hate (in theory). But the reality is that a lot of internships for students don’t pay very much, if at all. In industries like arts, culture, and journalism, the number of qualified applicants far surpasses supply of internships (even unpaid ones). I’ve come across many enticing job postings that pay about minimum wage, are unpaid internships, or are labeled as “volunteer/internship” (it’s confusing because I don’t think of the two as the same, and yet I see the terms conflated or used together more often).
Scrolling through job ads, the question comes up again: Sit around for X months or make an effort to gain “valuable experience,” even if that means you’re not earning an income?
For some, the answer to that question will be fielded by asking other questions: “Do I need more experience in this industry?” “Will this internship actually provide me with valuable experience?” “Will doing unpaid work pay off later?”
For others, the decision hinges mainly on affordability. A recent article in the Guardian contends that “Unpaid internships and a culture of privilege are ruining journalism”—in other words, unpaid internships open the door to those who can afford to be journalists and discourage those who can’t buy their way in. Students who don’t receive financial support need to pay for groceries, housing and utilities before anything else. Taking on a part-time job while doing an unpaid internship is an option, but it’s tiring and it means you’re not at the same start line as everyone else. Transportation costs add up, too. If it’s a two-hour commute per day, that turns out to be a large chunk of the summer—time that could be spent launching a start-up, taking a course to get ahead, or just taking time off to relax.
It’s not just a moral issue but a legal one as well. Media coverage has been picking up on what kinds of internships are legal and which aren’t. It’s one thing to volunteer for a non-profit organization that you care about—it’s another to replace a paid employee. If you’re doing work you didn’t sign up for or aren’t getting any training out of an unpaid internship, the position may be illegal.
When it comes to job hunting, it can be shortsighted to give ourselves ultimatums that revolve around unpaid work (“Should I take this unpaid internship now or do nothing?”). That mentality makes it easier for us to neglect our other options and disregard our potential as self-starters. When faced with a tempting unpaid internship, we should instead be asking: “Why should I take this? Is it the best fit for me right now, and would I get the same out of it as my employer?” Forget everything you’ve read or heard about ‘entitled millennial’ – an unpaid stint is at best an exchange between intern and employer (labour for training and experience). At worst, it’s an exploitative measure that makes it more okay for other companies to keep posting volunteer positions without looking at funding options.
Even if you barely have any job experience, I’d encourage you to think twice about digging into an unpaid internship. Ask why you need it, if you really do. If you feel like it is a good fit for you, be upfront about your goals and find out if they’re attainable before you go through with it. Learn as much as you can.
