At best, speaking up against your boss might make your boss-employee relationship momentarily awkward, but demonstrates independence of mind, thoughtfulness and drive for doing your job to the best of your ability. At worst, however, it may jeopardize your job and the prospect of jobs followings, or at least make the rest of the current internship an unpleasant and even hostile experience. At same time, the consequences of following morally questionable orders might be far worse — a reputation of willingly obeying unethical orders might be harder to defend, and quicker to spread, than a reputation of going against authority.
Speaking up is very hard — as someone who has a tough time speaking against anything or anyone, I’m well aware of how hard this is. Talking with friends and family, especially those who have similar issues, often helps me. While all of us alone might have an especially hard time raising concerns, mutual support pushes us to do difficult things.
Talking with others might also help us empathize with the person we speak against, which is a crucial step — most people recognize when they’re doing something unethical, and most people don’t begin completely complicit to immoral deeds. Understanding the underlying motivations for doing an unethical task can help in approaching the issue as a concerned team member, not an angry whistleblower.
Finally, having a plan is useful in any sort of confrontation — when we’re faced in stressful situations, we tend to forget obvious facts and talking points, and one wrong move can turn the tone of the situation upside down quickly.
