Abstract

The article focuses on the case of Italian psychologysts in order to examine how internship is connected to precarity. In this case, unpaid training enjoys strong legitimacy as it is imposed by the law and represents the prerequisite for the profession. The article investigates the institutionalisation of unpaid training and its consequences for the development of the psychologysts’ professional profile. It also examines the consequences of this institutionalisation for the profession, arguing that both top-down and bottom-up incentives for change are absent. Precarious psychologysts find it very difficult to exert voice or ally for political action, whereas employers enjoy free labor force while carrying no responsibility for their working conditions or career development. The article concludes by contributing to the wider debate on training-precarity nexus, which is crucial as the divide between work and training is more and more blurred.