An article at The Atlantic looks at a program at L'Ecole de Gouvernance et d’Economie, an expensive private economics college in Rabat, Morocco. Students are required to complete an internship at a regular job.
The purpose of the internship is to expose wealthy students to people of various classes, who they've been insulated from for most of their lives. It's a peek at "how the other half lives," so to speak. What if such a program became common in America? The United States has more income inequality than Morocco. Would spending every day with coworkers and customers outside their experience create a more egalitarian view among privileged students? After all, in any comment thread about tipping, you see that those who once worked for tips tend to leave tips faithfully because they've been there.
But there's no guarantee that such a program will result in changed attitudes. Walking in someone else's shoes for a year is far different from walking in them for a lifetime. And sadly, in poor economic times, even low-status internships may be taking Mcjobs away from people who really need them. As it is now, the ability to take low-pay or unpaid internships that lead to elite jobs is restricted to those who don't have to earn a living. What do you think?
(Image credit: Flickr user _BuBBy_)
Secondly, just having "been there" for a brief while isn't what makes a real difference in people's behavior and treatment of others. You don't treat waitresses nicer because you know what it's like to wait tables. You don't treat store cashiers nicer because you've run a register. You treat waitresses and cashiers nice because you are a decent human being who has empathy and common courtesy and respect for other human beings. Treating others well isn't shaped by having done their jobs or been around people like them for a few hours a day for a few months. It's about the bigger picture. If the basic "We're all people. These are humans that I'm interacting with. We should be good to them." is not instilled well enough in someone for whether they've personally done their job for a little while or not to matter, doing that job for a little while isn't going to amount to much at all.
Personally, I would find it annoying. I'd rather have a straightforward and simple transactional relationship with a college: I pay X amount of money for access to classes A, B and C. I'd see a requirement like this as a needless complication.
I didn't have internships during college. I worked at a big box retailer cleaning bathrooms and floors and stocking shelves. It was not beneath me--no honest labor is. I don't think that I missed any important opportunities. Instead, I learned how to do a job well and get along with people who were different from me.
As a middle class kid, the last part was really valuable because it was my first prolonged experience to people from a different social/economic class. It gave me a different perspective on how people lived their lives.
I once had a girlfriend who grew up rich and had never worked a day in her life. She was utterly shocked when I told her that most people in America didn't go to college. She could have benefited from a low-wage job.
What you do with knowledge is another matter. For me it brought humanity in my business decisions. For people I know, well, they went to finance and sucked the world dry anyway :S
Italy used to have a year of mandatory military service or a year of volunteering. It was for men only and just ended in 2005. I like the idea of serving your country either through military service or by helping the disadvantaged. It put everyone on a level playing field for a year.