YOUTH CIVIC

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interns finding a job. 49 In some cases, however, internships run the risk of being used for purposes other than learning. The surge in the number of internships over the past five years has heightened debate over the conditions under which internships take place—in particular the unpaid ones, which in some countries have been the subject of scrutiny for their alleged use as a way of obtaining cheap labour and replacing existing workers or entry-level jobs. Against this backdrop, a number of national and international institutions, youth organizations, researchers and media entities have started looking into the benchmarks and elements that define quality internships and identifying mechanisms to ensure that internships are a valuable learning experience and that the rights and entitlements of young interns are respected. THE RISE OF INTERNSHIPS: A GLOBAL TREND Internships were first introduced in the United States of America in the nineteenth century. They later spread to other developed countries and have more recently been established in several low- and middle-income countries. Until the 1930s, internships in the United States were only offered in the medical profession. They were then extended to liberal-arts-based professions and later to white-collar occupations in public administration and political organizations. 50 From the 1970s onwards, internships spread throughout most advanced economies and are now increasingly a feature of the education and labour market systems of low- and middle-income countries. Internship arrangements can be found in several industries and occupations, in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, and within both the public and private sectors. The number of young people participating in internship programmes has also drastically increased. In the early 1980s as few as 3 per cent of college students in the United States secured an internship before graduation. Today, that figure is as high as 75 per cent. 51 Similarly, in France, the number of young people taking on internships has more than doubled in six years. 52 In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development estimated that more than one in five employers planned to hire interns between April and September 2010; this represented a potential offer of a quarter of a million internships. MAIN TYPES OF INTERNSHIPS There are three main types of internships whose features are worth analysing to identify what constitutes a quality internship. They include those forming part of education programmes, those linked to youth employment policy, and those offered in the open market. 49 See, for instance, the results of the Internship and Co-op Survey, an annual survey of employers with internship and cooperative education programmes that is carried out each year by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The 2013 Survey reported that among young people who found jobs, 63.1 per cent had participated in a paid internship programme, 37 per cent had served as unpaid interns, and 35.2 per cent had not participated in an internship. 50 For the history of internships in the United States, see Ross Perlin, Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy, chap. 2 (London and New York, Verso, 2012). 51 For more information, see Ross Perlin, “Five myths about interns”. Available from http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ five-myths-about%20interns/2011/05/09/AFbWmT2G_story.html. 52 The Conseil économique, social et environnemental estimated that this number increased from 0.6 million to 1.6 million between 2006 and 2012 (L’avis du CESE: L’emploi des jeunes [September 2012], available from http://www.lecese.fr/travaux-publies/ lemploi-des-jeunes-0). 37
Internships linked to educational programmes. These types of internships are part of a school’s curriculum, be it higher vocational education or academic education. Young people alternate between studying in an institution and learning practical, job-related skills in the workplace and often receive learning credit for the time spent as an intern. In France, for instance, an internship must be an integral part of a learning activity associated with an educational programme. A negotiated agreement (convention de stage) is signed by the sending educational institution and the internship provider. This agreement should include a work plan, the start and end dates of the internship, the hours spent at the workplace, the stipend that will be provided, the social protection entitlements, and the supervision arrangements. 53 Similar programmes exist in most European countries, in Northern America and Latin America, and in several countries in Asia and the Pacific. The educational institutions involved in the negotiation of internship programmes usually specify the learning purpose and other conditions under which the internships take place. Typically, both the institution and the enterprise have a certain level of bargaining power, and this ensures a balance of the interests of both parties in the negotiation. Educational institutions also participate in the monitoring of the internship, though as the numbers of internship positions rise, institutions have less time to devote to monitoring during implementation, which can reduce the learning value of these programmes. Internships linked to youth employment policy. Government policies and programmes targeting the employment of young people are increasingly including measures that promote internships as a way for young people to gain practical experience. The extent to which these kinds of internships are regulated varies across countries. 54 In Portugal, the Programa de Estágios Profissionais (Professional Traineeship Programme) targets young people who have completed secondary or tertiary education. The programme lasts from nine to twelve months and is regulated by law, with monitoring provided by labour market institutions. 55 The National Internship Programme in Botswana provides work experience for unemployed graduates. Legal and administrative procedures are usually detailed in standard agreements that specify the conditions under which these internships take place. The conditions apply to all enterprises participating in the programme. Like many youth employment interventions, the internship programmes are usually monitored by institutions governing the labour market (such as employment offices and labour inspectorates), which can also write off implementing partners that do not respect the terms of the agreement. Internships in the open market. In recent years there has been an upswing in the internships young people undertake in the open market after graduation. These internships are usually advertised by enterprises, and their terms and conditions are negotiated directly between the employer and the intern. The latter usually has little 53 See article L. 412-8 of the French Code de la sécurité sociale. Available from http://legifrance.gouv.fr/affichCodeArticle.do?cidTex- te=LEGITEXT000006073189&idArticle=LEGIARTI000031087963&- dateTexte=20151126. 54 Kari Hadjivassiliou and others, Study on a Comprehensive Overview on Traineeship Arrangements in Member States: Final Synthesis Report (Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2012). 55 Ibid. 38
Page 1 and 2: YOUTH CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Page 3 and 4: World Youth Report Published by the
Page 5 and 6: Peace Bell Ceremony to commemorate
Page 7 and 8: CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 10
Page 9 and 10: EXPLANATORY NOTES The terms “coun
Page 11 and 12: CHAPTER 1
Page 13 and 14: CHAPTER 1 SITUATION OF YOUTH The tr
Page 15 and 16: CHAPTER 1 YOUNG PEOPLE TAKING ACTIO
Page 17 and 18: CHAPTER 1 Introduction (chapter one
Page 19 and 20: ENGAGED CITIZENSHIP The discourse o
Page 21 and 22: Interaction theory posits that the
Page 23 and 24: social actors. It has been argued t
Page 25 and 26: eal, substantial, and significant.
Page 27 and 28: 2CHAPTER Teenagers at Instituto Rec
Page 29 and 30: 2CHAPTER Young people typically exp
Page 31 and 32: 2CHAPTER Meanwhile, developed econo
Page 33 and 34: BOX 2.3. TRAINING AND SKILLS DEVELO
Page 35 and 36: 2CHAPTER vulnerable position than t
Page 37: IN SEARCH OF BENCHMARKS FOR QUALITY
Page 41 and 42: and create more detailed guidelines
Page 43 and 44: Duration. The duration of an intern
Page 45 and 46: of the global jobs crisis on young
Page 47 and 48: Lain, David, and others. Evaluating
Page 49 and 50: BOX 2.5. YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN
Page 51 and 52: Of equal importance are those assoc
Page 53 and 54: need to work together to improve en
Page 55 and 56: Schoof, Ulrich, and Amina Semlali.
Page 57 and 58: LABOUR MARKET TRENDS AMONG YOUNG WO
Page 59 and 60: membership for young workers is sim
Page 61 and 62: if they are to participate fully in
Page 63 and 64: 3 CHAPTER © UN Photo/ Paulo Filgue
Page 65 and 66: 3CHAPTER With the global youth popu
Page 67 and 68: 3CHAPTER NEGATIVE ENGAGEMENT When y
Page 69 and 70: YOUTH ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION James
Page 71 and 72: TABLE 3.1. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Page 73 and 74: FIGURE 3.2. PARTICIPATION IN ELECTO
Page 75 and 76: circumscribed political action have
Page 77 and 78: FIGURE 3.4. PARTICIPATION IN ISSUE-
Page 79 and 80: While many highly educated, relativ
Page 81 and 82: Blais, André. Political participat
Page 83 and 84: TRANSITIONS IN POWER: YOUNG PEOPLE'
Page 85 and 86: Young people in both Egypt and Tuni
Page 87 and 88: Five-Year Action Agenda. As the int
Page 89 and 90:
concept remain cognizant of the his
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fraternity of believers, or of Neo-
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demagogues, gangs and violent crimi
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Address socioeconomic inequality. G
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crowdsourcing or peer production—
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and use an array of media activism
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against them. Several lampooning me
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it can pose risks to participants t
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Technologies and communities that o
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It is essential to look to the futu
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4CHAPTER
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4CHAPTER Involving youth—as colla
Page 113 and 114:
4CHAPTER helping those “without
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BOX 4.2. BENEFITS OF YOUTH ENGAGEME
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CHAPTER BOX 4.3. APPROACHES TO PEAC
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4CHAPTER emotional development and
Page 121 and 122:
RECONCEPTUALIZING YOUTH VOLUNTARISM
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Girl Guides. Youth volunteering pro
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young women and men. 233 Below is a
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KEY CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES So
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themselves, their families and comm
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violence—structural, 249 cultural
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• Financial and material support
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other youth to engage civically thr
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Policymakers: • Policymakers shou
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YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN SPORT FOR DE
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BOX 4.6. SPORT AND THE ENGAGEMENT O
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Provide Funding and Infrastructure.
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5CHAPTER
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5CHAPTER YOUTH POLICYMAKING: LESSON
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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ECONOMIC ENGAGE
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CHALLENGE POLITICAL APATHY AND EMPO
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TRANSITIONS IN POWER OPEN CHANNELS
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Youth should be developing digital
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PEACEBUILDING DEEPEN UNDERSTANDING
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ANNEX AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES Chapter On
Page 161 and 162:
Perceptions and Behaviours of Young
Page 163 and 164:
A volunteer paints a fresco on a wa
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YOUTH CIVIC

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