(17/02) A productive conversation with LSE Generate

Last Thursday, we connected with Joanna from LSE Generate, who manages the core entrepreneurial support programmes, and had a wonderful conversation about Catapult and the way that it can impact students and companies.

We learnt that LSE Generate tried to have a similar initiative for PhD students and term-time internships, but that this project did not move forward due to regulatory red-tape as a university-body. This means there is space and need for Catapult!

We also discussed the ways LSE Generate could help us with reaching out to students and startups in the Generate network, through their slack channel and newsletter.

Joanna brought up an interesting question of the ethics of an unpaid internship. She told us that LSE Generate has an internal policy against sharing unpaid internships. At the same time, she also noted that many startups in the Generate network might be pre-revenue, and if they were required to pay for an internship, they might opt to not take an intern.

Our view at Catapult is that it is up to the companies and students to decide. When the internship is done primarily for the benefit of the students' learning, and tailored around the students' study schedule, we think it's fair for the students to participate on a work experience basis. When the internship results in substantive value for the company, we would encourage companies to compensate the students.

So at Catapult, we allow both the students and companies to come to an agreement. We allow companies to choose what opportunities to post, and students to choose from both paid and work-experience basis internships. This way, both parties can have a mutually beneficial internship!

Of course, we recognise that there is a scenario where there is an interesting company that is not in a financial position to offer a paid internship, and this might discourage students from disadvantaged backgrounds from exploring this opportunity. Thus one of our efforts is to get sponsors on board to sponsor such internships!