Universities can offer resources such as legal advisors and counseling services to help students who find themselves in exploitative situations.

: Studies consistently show that women's work is undervalued relative to men's, both in formal employment and in freelance arrangements. Exploiters consciously or unconsciously leverage this bias.

Ultimately, Misty’s "free work" is a misnomer; it is a high-cost exchange where students trade long-term privacy and digital agency for short-term survival in an increasingly expensive academic landscape.

If you or someone you know is experiencing exploitation in the workplace, there are resources available to help:

In a small, coastal town, a group of college girls, all in their early twenties, were fed up with the usual monotony of part-time jobs that barely covered their living expenses. They were ambitious, eager to make a difference, and passionate about environmental conservation. The group consisted of friends - Emma, a marine biology major; Rachel, an environmental science major; and Olivia, a communications major.