Working to Learn

From “punks” at school to “superstars” at work: Social capital and educators’ asset-based perspectives of students in high school internships

“…The goals of many high school internship programs, particularly those aimed at serving Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) youth from low-income backgrounds, are to level systems of inequity and privilege and to connect students to employers in ways that foster future life success. Programs often are designed to provide opportunities to young individuals from low-income families, ideally enabling them to enter the labor force as more attractive employees, receive support during the transition to higher education, and expand their educational and career aspirations and networks (Anderson and Nieves, 2020). When high schools offer internships on top of traditional curricula, they create potential avenues for increasing social mobility and equity, thus helping youth overcome structural barriers as they pursue their academic and professional goals (Angelique, 2001;Wright and Mulvey, 2021).…”

“…Collaborative efforts between schools, universities, employers, and government agencies are crucial for transforming youth internships into social mobility catalysts (Anderson and Nieves, 2020). Welldesigned partnerships can minimize the barriers that impede disadvantaged students in these programs.…”

“…We also are cognizant that it is important to nuance and critique existing conceptualizations of social and cultural capital, particularly since those beliefs can privilege middle−/upper-class and White norms as more valuable (Yosso, 2005;Cartwright, 2022;Kundu and O'Brien, 2022). For example, as young people acclimate to and learn the cultural norms of professionalized workplaces that may be unfamiliar to them, they may experience implicit and explicit biases as well as internal pressures to uphold or reject certain identities in order to "fit in" (Aronson et al, 2002;Anderson and Nieves, 2020;Kundu, 2020;Kundu and O'Brien, 2022). In these instances, it is imperative that resource-limited young people are viewed through asset-based perspectives.…”