Abstract
Field-related experience can be essential for students to secure jobs upon graduation, and student affairs practitioners are often tasked with supporting students through internships and other high-impact practices. This case examines ethical boundaries between employer and university relations in the context of internships. It specifically addresses how to support students experiencing discriminatory or inappropriate behaviors from employers who have ties to the university.
Key Words: workplace discrimination, employer/university relations, career services, advising and support
Primary Characters
Nora (she/her) serves as the Internship Preparation Coordinator in the Career Center. In this position, Nora meets with students for career counseling appointments and provides internship preparation workshops to guide students through all stages of the application process. She is in her third year in this role and finally feels like she has her feet under her.
Tim (he/him) is the Industry Partnership Coordinator in the Career Center. In his role, he is responsible for establishing partnership programs with local employers and hosting campuswide career fairs. Tim has been in his current position for the past six years.
Jayda (she/her) is a senior industrial engineering student. Last year she attended several of the internship preparation workshops put on by Nora. She completed an internship this summer at Manufacture It, a large manufacturing company local to the area that donates heavily to CSU. She is attending this semester’s career fair in hopes of finding a full-time job.
Dominic (he/him) is a Project Manager at Manufacture It. He is an alumnus of CSU and started at the company as an intern after he got connected to them at a career fair. He has been with Manufacture It for five years full-time and loves to recruit at CSU because he can talk about his experience transitioning from intern to full-time. He particularly emphasizes the family feel of the company and says coming to work every day feels like hanging out with the bros.
Marie (she/her) is a sophomore mechanical engineering student. Prior to this year’s career fair, she attended several internship preparation workshops hosted by Nora and now feels confident she can land an internship at the fair.
Institutional Context
Central State University (CSU) is a mid-size public four-year institution located in a metropolitan area in the southeastern United States. Due to CSU’s low in-state tuition and generous merit-based scholarships, most of its student population are in-state residents. The University prides itself on contributing to the city economy while preparing students for the job market through several strong industry partnerships with local companies. CSU has a strong Career Center that facilitates these partnerships and puts on several campuswide career fairs to connect students with internship and full-time job opportunities.
Case Study
Nora is excited about the career fair this semester. Over the past couple of years, she has seen several students who attended her internship preparation workshops leave the career fair with interviews and secure offers shortly afterward. For the past few weeks, she has hosted workshops and met with several students one-on-one to help them prepare for the career fair. At this fair, she is working the student information desk. She enjoys being right by the student check-in, so she can see the students she has worked with and encourage them.
Toward the start of the fair, Nora notices one of her former students, Jayda, at the student check-in. Nora has not seen Jayda since she completed her summer internship at Manufacture It. Nora wants to hear about Jayda’s experience and her goals for the fair. Jayda meets Nora’s enthusiastic greeting with apprehension. When asked about her summer internship, Jayda’s responses are short and vague. Jayda says she’s looking for a full-time job in “anything but manufacturing.”
After some follow-up questions, Jayda admits that she had a rough internship experience. She was the only female-identifying intern in her division, and she received fewer projects than her male intern peers. Of the projects she did receive, none of the line workers took her improvement suggestions seriously, so she was unable to make substantial progress. When she brought these issues up with her supervisor, Dominic, he dismissively said, “If you’re going to make it in manufacturing, you need to man up.”
Jayda says she only met with Dominic five times and that the interactions were 15 minutes at the most. The recurring theme was for Jayda to try harder, but he did not give any specific additional guidance or suggestions. However, Dominic met with the male CSU intern weekly for at least an hour and regularly took him out to lunch.
Nora thanks Jayda for confiding in her and says that she will try to identify changes to ensure other students do not experience this. Nora adds that because Manufacture It is a CSU industry partner, she is not sure how it will go, but she will do her best to address this issue. Jayda is grateful for Nora’s support and says she will follow up with her about how the fair goes.
Nora knows Dominic is working the Manufacture It table today, but she wants to avoid a confrontation with the employer. She schedules a meeting with her colleague Tim to discuss the situation after the fair.
As the fair starts to wrap up, Nora spots Marie with whom she worked extensively to prepare to find an internship. She asks Marie how the fair went. Marie says she has some good leads but was a little disappointed by her top choice, Manufacture It. Since Marie wants to go into manufacturing engineering and they are the leading manufacturer in the state, she was hoping to get a spot in their CSU internship partner program.
However, after having a good conversation with the recruiter and handing him her resume, she noticed later that he had reached out to add her on Snapchat. Marie is concerned because her Snapchat is not associated with her full name or linked anywhere on her professional documents, as she only uses it to share photos with close friends. Marie shows her the message that was sent with the request, which says, “Hey it was great meeting you. We should talk more about manufacturing someplace more chill than a career fair.” Nora notices from the screenname that the recruiter is Dominic, the same employee that Jayda expressed concerns about. Marie says she is uncomfortable because, given the context of the message, she is not sure of his intentions. However, she is worried that making a negative impression could impact her future in manufacturing.
Nora encourages Marie to pursue the leads she has from companies she feels more comfortable with. Nora is not sure what other advice to give Marie without consulting with more seasoned professionals first. She schedules a time to meet with Marie next week to discuss the situation further.
A few days after the fair, Nora meets with Tim. While she has information that fits with the inappropriate behavior Marie experienced, she does not have anything other than Jayda’s word about that situation. Nevertheless, Nora decides to bring up both issues in her meeting.
Tim says he is “honestly shocked by this information.” He reveals that he was at CSU with Dominic and they were part of the same fraternity, and he couldn’t see him doing this. Tim also brings up how Manufacture It is one of CSU’s strongest industry partnerships, so he is worried these allegations may negatively impact that. He tells Nora he would need more evidence of Dominic’s behavior and proof that these are recurring issues before he would feel comfortable bringing this situation to higher-ups and possibly jeopardizing the relationship CSU has with Manufacture It.
Nora is discouraged after meeting with Tim. She believes his judgment may be clouded by his connection to Dominic and is not comfortable with the decision he made. She feels a responsibility to support the students and make the workplace safer for them. However, Tim outranks her in role and years of experience, so it would not be wise to go above him with these concerns. Nora is not sure how to approach this situation in a way that aligns with her values and ethics but also respects her coworker’s decision and the employer’s partnership with CSU.
Discussion Questions
- How would you respond to this situation if you were in Nora’s shoes?
- What role does gender play in the power dynamics present in this case study?
- How could you ensure the students’ concerns are heard while not jeopardizing this partnership?
- What parameters could Nora put in place so students do not run into similar issues in the future?
- Who else might Nora consult with about this situation?
Author Bio
Lia Fiore (she/her) serves as the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Off-Campus Internships in the Center for Career and Professional Development at Clemson University. She is also pursuing her Master of Education in Student Affairs through Clemson.