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.