The role of unpaid work in expanding the foundation of 'employability'

Event Date: 22 March 2017

Speaker: Paula McDonald, Professor of Work and Organisation, QUT Business School, Queensland University of Technology

Time: 4pm-5pm

Location: Strathclyde Business School, Cathedral Wing, CW4.04a

Abstract: A growing trend amongst young people seeking to gain employment following tertiary study is their participation in unpaid internships and other unpaid work. This seminar explores the prevalence and nature of unpaid work experience through a critical 'employability' lens. The term employability has gained significant currency in public and media rhetoric, employer agendas, and educational policy. The seminar presents the findings from a large, representative national survey of unpaid work experience in Australia as well as interviews with final year university students. Engagement in unpaid work was reported as extensive, not only amongst young people but across the working age population. However, it was also perceived as an inevitable part of the shifting employment landscape, where the acquisition of networks and capacities is essential in order to gain entry to the labour market. The research also indicates that some young people are paying for the privilege of unpaid work experience by funding their own insurances and/or for the services of internship brokers. These findings are discussed in light of the tensions between unpaid work as a practice which enhances opportunities, but which may also be exploitative.

Published: 22 February 2017