Shiksha Opinion: Disparity between MBA and non-MBA interns - why?
Ipsita Sarkar Gupta | shiksha.com
Ok, so I have nothing against an MBA grad or an MBA degree. Neither do I have a special affinity for the non-MBA fellows. But something always nagged me. In all my years of working, what has particularly been apparent is not just the difference in salary of MBA vs non-MBA grads (we will leave that debate for another day), but even during internship, the difference in what a potential MBA earns is many times that of a potential non-MBA. Not just that, there seems to be a huge disparity between grads from top B-schools (think IIMs) and the rest.
Take summer placement reports of any IIMs. For two months, an IIM candidate can earn anywhere from Rs 50,000 to Rs 3,00,000. ET even did an article on how IIMs are lagging behind in summer placements, yet earning fat packages. We spoke to an ICICI Bank official (on condition of anonymity) for internship data of their firm. According to him, a candidate from a top B-School gets around Rs 50,000. Graduates from other B-Schools are paid in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000. While the grads from these other B-schools have reason to carry some angst about the unfair stipend scales, let's also take the case of media or humanities graduates.
Most respected news organisations and advertisement agencies do not pay any money during the entire internship period. According to a senior journalist and professor, it is a highly exploitative sector. Students work for an entire year or more without any remuneration. The only bright spark is that a few broadcast and web companies are evening out the scale somewhat with stipends between Rs 5,000 and 10,000 to non-MBA interns.
The case is not that different with law interns. Read this excerpt.
For me, the basic question is: What is an internship? An on-the-job training during your course of study that enhances your skills in a particular field. An intern is supposed to learn the basics of a particular job skill-set and understand the inner workings of the industry he or she is contemplating being a part of, post graduation. An intern, any intern, brings some basic skill-sets that are of value to not just them but also to the company they intern with. But an intern is only a potential future employee, not necessarily signed, sealed and delivered as one.
Then why is there a wide disparity between MBA and non-MBA interns? If the stipend is a measure of them or their skills, some get paid Rs 50,000, some Rs 5,000 and others nothing. While, on the one hand, we have a debate on whether MBA is gradually losing its sheen, what message does this difference in treatment convey to potential candidates? As students gear up for their summer internships, now is probably a good time for us to relook at this and create a more level playing field.
