Oh, I just stumbled upon this, and I thought you'd get some milage out of it. It's an interview piece with Sarah Kendzior discussing the issue of unpaid internships, and the idea that we used to have a meritocracy, but it has morphed now into a "prestige economy", where on -the-job training where high schoolers could be hired has been replaced by expensive degree requirements, and entry level paid positions have been replaced by unpaid interships that only the wealthy can afford to take, making it no longer a matter of getting one's foot in the door, but requireing money to hold it open. This has obvious implications for social mobility, and whether or not the system is propping up existing power structures at its expense.
Money quote: "Mistaking bad luck for bad character is one of the great cruelties of our time."
http://www.policymic.com/articles/48829 ... internship