Interns Speak
Myself and four other UI Museum Studies students combined various non-field-specific research on internships and our personal experiences with internships in the field to formulate best practices for museum internships. Our goal was offer improvements and ideas for both students and museum supervisors at institutions throughout the state of Iowa.
Goals
The aim of this research was to provide institutions in Iowa with best practices for museum internships, for both the student and the museum. We also wanted to do share about the nature of internships being collaborative and communicative efforts between the students, the museum supervisors, and the educational mentors.
On a personal level, I wanted to use this research to reflect on my previous internship experiences, considering what was beneficial, what was problematic, and how improvement could happen all around.
Methods
1. Academic Research: read generalized articles about internships to gain formal knowledge on the topic
To make unpaid internships still worthwhile for students, supervisors should take time to guide projects, ensure learning, provide support, and show appreciation. Helping interns work toward paid positions at your museum or others would be a HUGE step forward for the field.
The museum internship environment is exclusive and especially discouraging of participation when most opportunities are unpaid. This set-up fuels a cycle which limits diversity in museum employment. Many students must take paid positions in other fields rather than gain experience in museums without pay; however, those unpaid internships are seen as vital prerequisites to gaining full-time employment down the road.
Unpaid internships create barriers for certain groups of people trying to enter the museum workforce. Thoughtful discussion from the field and vocalization from those affected are necessary to solve this problem.
2. Personal Reflection: considered how previous internships demonstrated best practices or exemplified room for improvement
3. Collaboration: worked with other students to describe how research and experiences translated into advice for the field
Presentation
All five of us students, along with our mentor, Dr. Lung, presented as the keynote speakers of the emerging professionals session at the Iowa Museum Association Annual Conference in October 2019. Using what we had gathered from our research, we answered the following questions:
What is an internship? (also, what is NOT an internship?)
Why should my museum offer internships?
How do internships impact student learning?
How can both museums and students facilitate best internship experiences?