Internship Participation in the United States by Student and School Characteristics, 1994 to 2017

Abstract

College internships have become seemingly ubiquitous, yet evidence of when and for whom participation has changed over time remains limited. This visualization uses data from the College Senior Survey, an annual nationwide exit survey of baccalaureate graduates, to document internship participation by student and school characteristics between 1994 and 2017. Recent graduates are more than twice as likely to participate as those from the mid-1990s; however, the results indicate significant and sustained inequalities for lower income students, first-generation students, public school students, and students from less selective schools. These ongoing participation gaps for students with less individual and institutional privilege underscore the need to consider internship access as a form of educational and labor market disadvantage.