Latest / The Diversity Career Podcast with Fexingo: Inclusion, Equity, and Underrepresented Professionals / How One Company Made Its Internship a Pipeline for Underrepresented Talent
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this idea floating around that the way to diversify your workforce is to fix your college recruiting pipeline. And a lot of companies talk about it. But one mid-sized healthcare company based in the Midwest actually did it — they completely redesigned their internship program, and the results are pretty striking. Luna: I've seen that case — they're not a household name, but the changes they made are really concrete. What was the before picture? Lucas: Before the redesign, their intern class was roughly 70% white and about 60% male. Very typical for the industry. They were drawing from maybe five or six target schools — all big state flagships. And their offer acceptance rate was around 60 percent, which sounds okay but wasn't where they wanted it. Lucas: So in 2023, they decided to treat the internship not as a summer filler but as a real pipeline for junior talent. And they made four specific changes that are worth walking through. Luna: And if you're listening and you've ever thought about how to make your own hiring more inclusive, this is the kind of nuts and bolts stuff that actually moves the needle. Lucas: Exactly. And before we get into the details — you know, if this podcast has helped you think through a career move or decision, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small thing, but it makes a real difference. Luna: Yeah, every bit helps keep the show ad-free and focused on the substance. Okay — let's get into those four changes. Lucas: Change number one: they removed the GPA requirement. This is a big one. They had been filtering out anyone below a 3.3. And research has shown for years that GPA correlates weakly with job performance, especially for entry-level roles. But it disproportionately screens out students from under-resourced high schools, first-gen college students, and students who work part-time. Luna: Right — because if you're working twenty hours a week to support yourself, your GPA might be a 3.0, but you've also got real-world time management skills. The GPA filter just cuts you out before anyone even sees your resume. Lucas: Exactly. They replaced the GPA screen with a short, work sample style exercise — a case study related to healthcare administration. They gave applicants 48 hours to submit a two-page response. And the hiring managers said the quality of candidates actually improved, because the exercise tested for the skills they actually needed. Lucas: Change number two: they expanded their school list from six to twenty-two. And they specifically added community colleges, HBCUs, and Hispanic-serving institutions. They also partnered with a nonprofit that connects first-gen students to corporate internships. Luna: So they went from recruiting at a handful of elite flagships to casting a much wider net. That's not rocket science, but a lot of companies resist it because they think it's more work. Lucas: It is more work. They had to send recruiters to more campuses, build relationships with career services offices that didn't know them. But they treated it as a multi-year investment. And the payoff was that their applicant pool went from about 300 to over 1,200 in one cycle. Luna: That's a huge increase. And it's not just volume — it's different demographics. So what was change number three? Lucas: Change number three: they paid interns a living wage. Before the redesign, the internship was unpaid — which, in healthcare, is still distressingly common. That alone filters out anyone who can't afford to work for free for a summer. So they set the hourly rate at $20 an hour, which in their Midwest market is actually a decent wage. Luna: And they also provided a housing stipend for interns who didn't live within commuting distance. That's another barrier that disproportionately hits low-income and first-gen students. Lucas: Right. The housing stipend was $2,500 for the summer. That's not huge, but it's enough to make the internship feasible for someone who doesn't have family support. And they saw a big jump in applications from students who indicated they were first-gen. Lucas: Change number four: they assigned every intern a mentor from day one — not just a buddy from HR, but a senior manager in their department who met with them weekly and had a structured curriculum for the summer. And they trained those mentors on how to give constructive feedback and how to advocate for the intern during the full-time hiring process. Luna: This is the part that often gets overlooked. You can recruit diversely, but if the interns don't feel supported, they won't accept the full-time offer. Or they'll leave within a year. So the mentorship piece is critical for retention. Lucas: Exactly. And the numbers bear that out. After these changes, the intern class in 2024 was 45% people of color and 52% female. The offer acceptance rate jumped to 90%. And the first-year retention rate for those who converted to full-time was 95% — compared to about 70% before. Luna: So it's not just about getting more diverse bodies in the door — it's about creating an environment where they actually want to stay. That's the real win. Lucas: And I think the broader lesson here is that diversity work is systemic work. None of these changes was a silver bullet on its own. But together, they reshaped the entire pipeline — from application to offer to retention. Luna: One thing that stood out to me is that they tracked all of this data. They knew their baseline numbers, they set targets, and they measured outcomes. A lot of companies don't even know what their intern demographics are. Lucas: That's a great point. They published their diversity data internally every quarter, so managers could see progress. And they tied a portion of the recruiting team's bonus to hitting those targets. Not just the hiring numbers, but the retention numbers too. Luna: So there was accountability baked into the system. That's rare. A lot of companies treat diversity as a nice to have, not something that affects anyone's bonus. Lucas: Right. And I think that's why this program worked. It wasn't just a summer project — it was a strategic priority with resources and consequences attached. Luna: So what's the one thing you'd tell a listener who wants to push for similar changes at their own company? Lucas: I'd say start with the data. Find out what your current intern demographics are, what your offer acceptance rate is, and what your first-year retention rate is for interns who convert. Then pick one barrier — like a GPA requirement or an unpaid internship — and build a case for changing it. You don't have to do all four at once. Lucas: And if you can get a pilot program going with just one or two changes, you can show results. Then you have proof of concept for the bigger investments. Luna: That's a smart approach. It's easier to get buy-in when you can point to a successful test. And this company's experience shows that the changes don't have to be perfect — they just have to be intentional. Lucas: Exactly. And the interns themselves noticed. In exit surveys, they said the paid wage and the mentorship were the top two reasons they chose the company. Not the brand, not the campus recruiting events — the concrete support. Luna: That's a powerful reminder that inclusion isn't just about messaging. It's about the actual experience. And when you get that right, the talent comes. Lucas: Yeah, I think that's the headline here. And it's a lesson that applies far beyond internships. But for now, maybe the takeaway is: if you want a more diverse workforce, look at your earliest entry points first.