Could it not be that it all depends on your income level/class, instead of two weeks being fine?

I think these are all things one should examine instead of just making arbitrary decisions on what's fair and what isn't.

It may not be exploitation from your perspective - but is it still not keeping those without parents/relatives at cool jobs out of such experience?

Also, fyi, some organisations run continuous two-week slots, changing people, but keeping the unpaid 'job' whatever boring work it might entail - is this not also exploitative?

Mico Tatalovic, BA (Oxon), MPhil (Cantab), MSc & DIC (Imperial)

Date: Tue, 31 May 2011 18:23:40 +0100
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PSCI-COM] : Re: Unpaid Intern Court Victory (changed from digest)
To: [log in to unmask]

I agree with you. I don't really see two-weeks of work experience by the children of staff as interns.

I don't think anyone has suggested that this is naughty exploitation.

I hope not. It is the sort of thing we did all the time on New Scientist, way back in pre e-history. It was a good way of persuading sprogs that there were better ways of earning a crust.

From: psci-com: on public engagement with science [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Owen Appleton
Sent: 31 May 2011 10:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PSCI-COM] PSCI-COM Digest - 28 May 2011 to 29 May 2011 (#2011-137)

Michael, in general I agree with you, interns should be paid, but a small note on what you said about CERN.

They take both paid and unpaid interns. Paid ones (I was one) are paid partly because almost everyone has to fly there and find somewhere to stay in a foreign country. The program I was on was 50/50 funded by CERN and either your home institute or an industrial sponsor. Unpaid interns are 'stagiaires' and are generally the children of staff you have the chance to spend 2 weeks in a department unpaid.

In general I think there is a difference between two weeks of work experience, which is decent CV fodder and you can live at home nearby, and several months of internship, for which one should pay. That said, CERN has an employment structure from the late 50s, when indeed you did pay to train up your staff. That's why all the professional communicators I knew there had posts intended for junior postdoc technical researchers!

Owen

Emergence Tech Ltd.

From: Michael Kenward <[log in to unmask]>

Date: 29 May 2011 14:48:07 GMT+01:00

Subject: Re: Unpaid Intern Court Victory

How many research scientists face the same challenge? Are they expected to
put in many months of slave labour for nothing? (I know that PhD students
don't live in the lap of luxury, but they do get something.) Does CERN take
in unpaid interns?

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