Student Agency and the Possibility of Institutional Changethrough Harvard’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Offices
52 student interns, many belonging to marginalized groups, are employed through internship programs at four offices under the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion branch of the Harvard College Dean of Students Office. This project explores student perception of the roles,their compensation, and their ability to effect change at both an office-wide and institutional level. Generally, student interns believe that they are fairly compensated for their labor.However, they do not feel appreciated by Harvard or believe that their roles matter, and a generalconsensus amongst student interns reveals that they perceive little ability to effect institutionalchange above the level of their office. This paper then offers a number of policyrecommendations in order to both improve the EDI intern role and further EDI-related goals atHarvard.
