The Carleton chapter of the Ontario Public Research Interest Group (OPIRG) began a campaign raising concerns over unpaid work requirements for university students across campus.
As part of an effort to combat unpaid labour in university, the group is also conducting a survey of students to understand the concerns and experiences of those who do unpaid labour.
Michelle Macland-Hambleton, a fourth-year social work student doing her plac
ement at OPIRG Carleton and a leader of the campaign, said she decided to work on the idea because of her own experience.
“There are students that come in and have already been working in the field, and they’ve already been doing social work stuff, and yet we’re still told we have to go out and do 700 field hours and it can’t be paid,” she said.
The group put up posters that show average salaries that graduates and undergraduates from several programs earn.
“Far too many students are having to choose between paying the rent or doing the practicum,” the poster said.
“I went back to school and I made my whole family take this massive financial hit, so that I could try to finish my degree so that I could get them ahead,’ Macland-Hambleton said.
Some programs at Carleton require students to take part in unpaid work placements as part of the program. This includes the journalism program that requires students to participate in unpaid apprenticeships, and the social work program that has unpaid field placements.
Israel Ozonwanji, an international student from Nigeria in the global and international studies (BGInS) program, said he has also personally experienced the financial struggle because BGInS students must study abroad or take an unpaid co-op.
“It might not actually be worth it for me in the long term to do a co-op because I would be in a lot more debt,” he said.
Programs such as public affairs, business, and engineering, however, offer paid co-op terms.
Brad Envoy, OPIRG Carleton’s volunteer outreach and programming coordinator, said responses to the survey so far have shown that students with unpaid work placements are more stressed and financially insecure.
“Ultimately, these are thousands of dollars in work hours that folks are putting out there for their academic betterment,” he said. “It really puts a lot of pressure on students to essentially make sacrifices for their paid work.”
“The broader recognition that student work is work is something that this campaign really builds on,” he added.
Photo by Lauren Hicks
