For many college students, completing an internship is a valuable opportunity to network, gain exposure in their desired field and perhaps secure full-time employment after graduation. However, a 2020 study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that minority students are at a disadvantage when it comes to securing paid internships, accounting for a lower percentage of paid internships than they represent among all the students who responded to the survey. Black students, for example, account for 6.6% of total students but only 6% of paid internships, while Hispanic students account for 10% of the whole but only 7.9% of paid internships.
Unpaid internships also worsen the equity gap within the workforce, as many students of color do not enjoy the same economic flexibility as their white peers to pursue unpaid opportunities. To address this issue, internXL announced a new commitment to prepare the “next generation of Black innovators” for jobs through free training courses and certifications from leading corporations. internXL is a digital platform and internship placement program from Fund II Foundation and Robert F. Smith, who is founding director and President of the Foundation.
As part of its new commitment, internXL will visit Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) during the 2022-2023 academic year to offer students free career-readiness training and resources. This effort will complement internXL’s previous HBCU-focused investments, including a $15,000 donation to Alabama-based Tuskegee University that provided students with professional headshots and business attire.
“If America is to remain competitive in the rising global digital economy, business and academia must collaborate to engage diverse talent,” said Robert F. Smith in a July 2022 press release announcing the tour. “We built internxl.org – to create pipelines and opportunities for minority students to work with many of the top tech companies in the world, providing experiences that many students never thought were accessible.”
Robert F. Smith’s Push to Invest in Next-Gen Leaders
As the flagship program of Fund II Foundation, internXL exemplifies Smith’s passion for helping the future generation of leaders reach their full potential. In fact, the program was inspired by Smith’s own positive internship experience at Bell Labs as a high school student, which led to a job that helped him pay for college.
internXL matches students with top companies in the business and STEM fields for placement into paid internships. The program also gives employers a chance to connect with more candidates of color to discuss potential employment opportunities. Finally, the digital arm of the program offers over 1,300 online educational courses that give candidates the opportunity to obtain various certifications at no cost, including in “the cloud, cybersecurity, Salesforce and project management.”
To date, internXL has provided over 220 organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, with access to over 16,000 entry-level candidates.
