Congratulations to SSI Affiliate and OSU Sport Management Prof. Kwame Agyemang for being recently awarded with a 2021 Best Paper honor from the Sport Management Education Journal.

His co-authored study, led by Nefertiti Walker from the University of Massachusetts, investigated the institutionalization of internships in the sport industry and its logics and effects.

Among the major findings from a critical analysis of the practices of such internships and in-depth interviews with 17 sports management students were that unpaid internships disadvantage students from less privileged backgrounds and subsequently seem to result in a more homogenous, privileged workforce in the sport industry. They also appear to benefit sports industry employers by offering them inexpensive laborers.

Nevertheless, there has been little pushback to the practices of expecting sport industry internships, often requiring them, and frequently not paying the interns.

Other co-authors included Marvin Washington (Portland State University), Lauren Hindman (Stonehill College), and Jeffrey MacCharles (Michigan State University).

The full study is available with open access.

For more, listen to Prof. Agyemang discuss the study on a recent podcast