Due to the specialized nature of retail and fashion, training “on the job” has always been an integral part of the industry. In some cases, this learning was informal, particularly in family run businesses, but it was also formal through apprenticeships, where young people were hired to learn a trade at an atelier with the goal for them to become full-time employees. These individual apprenticeships also led to internal certification programs--especially at larger retailers--wherein this learning could be provided at scale, albeit still at a local level. For example, Neiman Marcus’ training program in Dallas or Macy’s training program in New York City. However, as fashion became more corporatized and globalized, these informal and formal types of learning largely disappeared, or shifted to an HR function, leaving a gap in the employee training process.

Concurrent with the shift of fashion education into degree-focused programs was the growth of internships, wherein companies would collaborate with academic institutions to hire non-paid workers to do low level jobs--with the promise that students would get real-world experience and training, and possibly a job at the end of their internship. In theory, this system seemed to benefit all students, especially if an internship was built into a program. But in practice, internships have largely favored the economically advantaged, has normalized unpaid work, and often doesn’t lead to a full time job.  

First, internships have largely favored the economically advantaged for a few reasons. One, students who have more economic means have a stronger network--often through their parents--to access internships in general, and better internships more specifically. Two, because internships are tied to credits (as a way to legalize unpaid work), students are essentially paying for their own internship. So students must make a decision between paying for an internship, or paying for another elective, not to increase their base tuition. Those with economic means can more easily do both. And three, students often must work in order to pay for their college experience. Doing an internship on top of school and a paying job is almost impossible. And it’s rare that schools will allow a paid job to count as an internship--and if they do, then students are essentially paying to work their own job and not benefitting from additional courses in their major. On top of this, many students will choose schools in areas such as New York City or London to study, in order to access internships. The cost of living and studying in these areas is substantially more than at local universities. The net outcome is that students with means have more opportunities for internships and then jobs upon graduation. And this means that the funnel of incoming employees doesn’t match the diversity of the student population, thus perpetuating systemic racism within the retail and fashion industries.

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