Nothing for Money and Your Work for Free: Internships and the Marketing of Higher Education

American universities have significantly increased their marketing expenditures over the last decade. The high cost of education, reductions in government funding, and precipitous declines in the traditional college-aged population (18-21 year olds) are some of the key factors forcing universities...

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Main Author: Mara Einstein
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group 2015-09-01
Series:tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/595
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author Mara Einstein
author_facet Mara Einstein
author_sort Mara Einstein
collection DOAJ
description American universities have significantly increased their marketing expenditures over the last decade. The high cost of education, reductions in government funding, and precipitous declines in the traditional college-aged population (18-21 year olds) are some of the key factors forcing universities to be more aggressive with the promotional techniques they use to attract prospective students. In this competitive marketplace, schools promote the attributes they believe will be most compelling to high schoolers and their parents, including academics, sports, campus life, and careers. Tied into this last factor is the promotion of internship opportunities. While some of these hands-on experiences lead to jobs, there are no guarantees that attending college and engaging in an internship will translate into full-time employment. Using content analysis and auto-ethnography, I examine how universities use internships to market higher education, and argue that this is a particularly pernicious practice within the area of media studies.
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publisher Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group
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series tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique
spelling doaj-art-19762cf06db44bf3976253988eb888e22025-08-20T03:39:18ZengPaderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research GrouptripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique1726-670X2015-09-0113210.31269/triplec.v13i2.595595Nothing for Money and Your Work for Free: Internships and the Marketing of Higher EducationMara Einstein American universities have significantly increased their marketing expenditures over the last decade. The high cost of education, reductions in government funding, and precipitous declines in the traditional college-aged population (18-21 year olds) are some of the key factors forcing universities to be more aggressive with the promotional techniques they use to attract prospective students. In this competitive marketplace, schools promote the attributes they believe will be most compelling to high schoolers and their parents, including academics, sports, campus life, and careers. Tied into this last factor is the promotion of internship opportunities. While some of these hands-on experiences lead to jobs, there are no guarantees that attending college and engaging in an internship will translate into full-time employment. Using content analysis and auto-ethnography, I examine how universities use internships to market higher education, and argue that this is a particularly pernicious practice within the area of media studies. https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/595InternshipsMarketingBrandingCorporatizationHigher Education
spellingShingle Mara Einstein
Nothing for Money and Your Work for Free: Internships and the Marketing of Higher Education
tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique
Internships
Marketing
Branding
Corporatization
Higher Education
title Nothing for Money and Your Work for Free: Internships and the Marketing of Higher Education
title_full Nothing for Money and Your Work for Free: Internships and the Marketing of Higher Education
title_fullStr Nothing for Money and Your Work for Free: Internships and the Marketing of Higher Education
title_full_unstemmed Nothing for Money and Your Work for Free: Internships and the Marketing of Higher Education
title_short Nothing for Money and Your Work for Free: Internships and the Marketing of Higher Education
title_sort nothing for money and your work for free internships and the marketing of higher education
topic Internships
Marketing
Branding
Corporatization
Higher Education
url https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/595
work_keys_str_mv AT maraeinstein nothingformoneyandyourworkforfreeinternshipsandthemarketingofhighereducation