Conclusion
Overall, the resources, funding, and structure exist for zoos and
aquariums to develop a paid internship program. Results from financial
data and interviews reveal that it is a matter of making it a priority
in the budget and having discussions at the management level.
Information gathered from interviews and questionnaires revealed that
students’ voices are essential in these decisions and help motivate
leaders to make changes in their programs.
Unpaid internships have been getting a lot of attention lately due to
many individuals’ recent interests in addressing equity issues. Often,
non-profit organizations are defended for their lack of funding
available, but is this the case? The results from this study conclude
that there are AZA-accredited 501(c)(3) facilities with available
funding to compensate interns, and their revenue and expenses do not
differ significantly from other AZA-accredited 501(c)(3) facilities.