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‘I Had to Take a Casual Contract and Work One Day a Week’: Students’ Experiences of Lengthy University Placements as Drivers of Precarity

Author

Listed:
  • Nicole Oke

    (Victoria University, Australia)

  • Lisa Hodge

    (Charles Darwin University, Australia)

  • Heather McIntyre

    (University of South Australia, Australia)

  • Shelley Turner

    (Monash University, Australia)

Abstract

University students are increasingly required to undertake lengthy unpaid placements, and for many students this needs to be balanced with the paid work they already do. The literature about internships has focused on whether internships help students get jobs post-graduation, or if placements are exploitative, given pay is minimal or non-existent. This article contributes to this literature by examining how placements affect students’ current paid employment. Vosko’s framework, published in 2010, which identifies the precarious features of the employment relationship and interrogates the social context and location of this employment, is drawn on here. The article is based on a quantitative and qualitative survey of social work students at an Australian university, who need to complete a lengthy placement. The argument made here is that the requirements of lengthy placements restrict the conditions in which students can engage in the workforce and by doing so increase the precarity of their workforce participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicole Oke & Lisa Hodge & Heather McIntyre & Shelley Turner, 2023. "‘I Had to Take a Casual Contract and Work One Day a Week’: Students’ Experiences of Lengthy University Placements as Drivers of Precarity," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(6), pages 1664-1680, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:37:y:2023:i:6:p:1664-1680
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170221091679
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stewart, Andrew, & Owens, Rosemary J. & Hewitt, Anne. & Nikoloudakis, Irene., 2018. "The regulation of internships a comparative study," ILO Working Papers 994987592002676, International Labour Organization.
    2. Zoe Adams & Simon Deakin, 2014. "Institutional Solutions to Precariousness & Inequality in Labour Markets," Working Papers wp463, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    3. O'Higgins, Niall. & Pinedo, Luis., 2018. "Interns and outcomes just how effective are internships as a bridge to stable employment?," ILO Working Papers 994999791602676, International Labour Organization.
    4. Ginny M Sargent & Julia McQuoid & Jane Dixon & Cathy Banwell & Lyndall Strazdins, 2021. "Flexible Work, Temporal Disruption and Implications for Health Practices: An Australian Qualitative Study," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(2), pages 277-295, April.
    5. Zoe Adams & Simon Deakin, 2014. "Institutional Solutions to Precariousness and Inequality in Labour Markets," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 779-809, December.
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