Disparity learning during youth internships in Singapore

ABSTRACT A great deal of hope is pinned on experiential learning initiatives for young people. This hope is in line with policy approaches adopted by global organisations such as UNESCO and the World Bank in which learning is characterised as the vehicle through which transformation, self-actualisation and social development can occur. In order to provide young people the opportunity to experience such self-discovery, there has been a growth in internships which serve to facilitate young people’s transition from education to work. This paper explores the more sinister sides of such experiential learning. We map the ways in which youth learn about racial inequalities and class privilege through internships. Drawing on focus groups conducted with youth in Singapore, a global city with a multiracial population and a strong orientation towards meritocracy, we explore young people's discussions of their ‘disparity learning’. During internships, youth learn about workplace exclusion on the basis of race and gender, social structures of privilege and the hegemony of corporate power. We suggest that the recognition of disparity learning opens up the potential for the design of internships which provide opportunities for challenging race and class based inequalities embedded in workplace cultures.