College students so often get advice that sounds something like, "Take the unpaid internship; it's a great experience."

But the problem is experience doesn't pay the bills.

These internships are seen by many as crucial to getting hired full time, as studies show 60% of employers prefer candidates have internship experience. They're also praised as ways to build industry connections early in life, and to pick up on specific skills, before even being hired into a position.

But not every student can afford to take on an unpaid internship.

A glaring aspect of the situation surrounding unpaid internships is that it clearly benefits a class of individuals who can afford to work for free.

In many cases this limits the pool of candidates for the internships and ultimately limits the pool of candidates for the full time jobs as well, creating class or racial diversity issues in numerous industries.

This hour we're going to dive into growing debates around the merits of paid and unpaid interships, and we hope you share some of your experiences.

For the second half of the program, we return to the declaration of racism as a public health crisis, and you'll hear portions of a conversation organized by the Leage of Women Voters of Ohio made up of healthcare officials speaking on the subject.

Guests:
Brian Matthews, assistant director, experiential learning, Case Western Reserve University
Key-Jo Lee, director of academic affairs and associate curator of special projects, Cleveland Museum of Art
David Maywhoor, executive director, Ohio Public Health Association
Charles Modlin, M.D.; surgeon and urologist, Cleveland Clinic; founder, Minority Men's Health Clinic
Iris Harvey, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio,
Yvonka Marie Hall, executive director, Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition
Ronald Hickman Jr., Associate Dean for Research, School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University