Internships can be a gateway to a career for some young people. But not all internships are created equal. Today in The Conversation Canada, Saul Carliner of Concordia University reflects on the recent strike by Québec students who demanded that internships be paid. There are many issues to consider when it comes to internships – including how unpaid internships favour young people from prosperous families over those who need to be paid for their work.

A new Mexican government will be sworn in on Dec. 1. Sergio Daniel Michel Chavez of Carleton University has provided an analysis to help Canadians understand how Mexico has elected a left-wing government when other countries in Central and South America have moved to the right.

The explosion of social media and online news sites means we’re often confronted with unpleasant and disturbing images. Isaac Nahon-Serfaty of University of Ottawa has looked at how the “grotesque” is often used to capture the attention of the public.

If you’re a woman and you work in a workplace that’s made up mostly of women, then chances are it’s a happy place. Yue Qian of the University of British Columbia tells us about her research that reveals women are much happier when they work with other women, as opposed to men.

And finally…in all the debate about climate change, there’s a tragedy that is often overlooked. Anastasia Riehl of Queen’s University writes about how environmental catastrophes brought on by climate change can wipe out languages because many “small linguistic communities are located on islands and coastlines vulnerable to hurricanes and a rise in sea levels.”

Regards,