How workplace experiences while at school affect career pathways

This report describes and analyses how work activities undertaken by students while at school affect their post-school pathways into work and between work and study.

• Workplace engagement while at school provides many benefits, including the development of employability skills, confirmation of skills and interests, specific experiences in preferred jobs, which can confirm or deter entrance to that career, and the potential for gaining permanent employment at the same workplace, or through contacts made at work.
• The broader the range of workplace experiences, the more options appear to open up for young people.
• Students participating in school-based New Apprenticeships tend not to undertake other forms of workplace experience. These apprenticeships do, however, lead to positive post-school employment options in the areas with which they are associated.
• Part-time jobs while at school are important, less as career pathways than as earning opportunities and a means of supporting other study and career options.
• As part-time jobs often lead to post-school employment in the same industry, industries currently experiencing difficulties in attracting labour should consider making part-time jobs available for students where possible, and where legislative requirements allow.
• An adaptable model is suggested, which describes the links between school workplace experiences and post-school activities. However, it is important to highlight that workplace experiences are only one group of factors affecting young people's decisions about post-school options and subsequent careers. Workplace experiences are of more importance to some young people than to others.

This report describes and analyses how the work activities undertaken by students while at school affect their post-school pathways into and between work and study. Increasingly, students are involved with workplaces while still at school. The three major ways in which this is happening (in order of extent of engagement) are through work experience, paid part-time work, and VET in Schools programs, which generally include structured work placements (Smith & Green 2001). A special form of part-time work, which also involves gaining vocational education and training (VET) qualifications is a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship (collectively known as school-based New Apprenticeships).

The research questions for the project were as follows:

• To what extent does involvement with workplaces (including multiple involvement) while at school affect school leavers' subsequent pathways, and in what ways?
• How can multiple pathways be described and conceptualised?
• What are the students' views about the worth to them of their different involvements with workplaces? (This question will include exploration of the role of such involvement in the decision about when to leave school.)

A fourth question about equity groups could not be answered due to the lack of respondents from recognised equity groups.

The main research method was a comprehensive survey sent to respondents from two previous projects (Smith & Green 2001; Smith & Wilson 2002) who had indicated their willingness to undertake follow-up research. The first project yielded a database of 424 potential respondents from 13 schools in two states, and the second yielded a database of 375 potential respondents who were school-based apprentices and trainees in three states. Seventy from the first database responded to the survey, as did 56 of the latter (16% response rate overall). The school-based apprentices and trainees were a representative sample of the total numbers of young people in these jobs in the states selected. The vast majority of the respondents had left school in 2001 or 2002, and almost all had completed their schooling to the end of Year 12 (and in a few cases Year 13).

The survey data were supplemented by telephone interviews with 18 respondents. Data from telephone interviews were consistent with the findings from the survey and added descriptive richness to the findings.

The following is a summary of the main findings of the survey.

• Work experience performed a useful function in opening respondents' eyes to career possibilities.
• Those who had undertaken school-based New Apprenticeships had a smoother transition into secure and substantial post-school activity than those who had not, but this activity was not likely to be a full-time university course.
• Even after leaving school, the jobs of both groups were concentrated in the industries of retail and fast food/hospitality, the areas in which school students typically worked.
• Part-time jobs acquired by students while at school remained important after leaving school, occasionally as the only activity, but more commonly as a supplement to full-time study or another full-time job.
• A school-based New Apprenticeship could confirm their decision for those who had decided upon their careers; it could also deter them from that career.
• School-based New Apprenticeships were likely to provide a pathway into apprenticeships or traineeships in a similar industry area, but the long-term career plans of those who had undertaken them were less likely to be within that industry area.
• Work experience and school-based New Apprenticeships both had some influence on respondents' study intentions. For nearly one-quarter of those participating in school-based New Apprenticeships their participation contributed to a decision to stay at school longer. Work experience was likely, for nearly a quarter of school-based apprentices and trainees and an eighth of the respondents who had not done a school-based New Apprenticeship, to lead to a decision to undertake further study after school. For the latter group, engagement with workplaces while at school, and especially part-time jobs, generally had only a limited effect on study intentions.
• A high proportion of the respondents held VET qualifications: two-fifths had completed a certificate II and one-quarter a certificate III. About one-eighth were currently enrolled in either certificate III or certificate IV qualifications.

The qualitative data provided the following additional insights.

• The school-based New Apprenticeship pathways overall showed that this group of respondents were more aware and confident in their decisions, as they knew more about the industry areas of interest and were provided with support and advice through the process.
• Many respondents from both groups mentioned the potential of more than one pathway and/or involvement with more than one industry in their future careers, with flexibility possible.
• Those going directly to university, in most cases from the group not involved in school-based New Apprenticeships, mentioned that, in a number of instances, the university course(s) was not what they had expected. Some respondents had changed direction, and others planned to change pathways in the future.
• Descriptions of individual pathways demonstrated the uniqueness and variety of each respondent's circumstances, opportunities and perceptions.
• Work experience was of value to respondents, particularly in the group not participating in school-based New Apprenticeships, in both selecting and rejecting career options, despite the fact that work experience was also criticised by many respondents for its brevity and the nature of the experiences.
• Although perhaps obvious, the qualitative data showed that the more time respondents spent in workplaces during school, the more influence this had on their subsequent choices, particularly on first leaving school.
• While questions were not specifically asked about resources and opportunities, a number of respondents reported how availability or lack of resources had affected their choices—either directly or indirectly.
• Part-time jobs were important less as career pathways than as learning opportunities and a means of supporting other study or career opportunities. They also provided significant opportunities for respondents to learn about some of the realities of work.

An adaptable model is suggested in the report. This model can describe links between workplace experiences undertaken by students while at school and post-school activities, but it needs to be stressed that these experiences comprise only one influence on young peopleís pathways and plans after school.

A number of implications for policy and practice arise from the project.

• Experiencing the workplace while at school can provide students with a great deal of information about their own abilities and interests prior to their making pathway decisions and career choices. Experiencing the workplace also enables students to make networks of contacts and become aware of a range of opportunities.
• Workplace opportunities may also provide generic skills which enhance their employability. Employability skills could be fostered, monitored and developed through career education or other school curriculum prior to and in conjunction with workplace experiences of all types.
• Policy-makers and schools need to ensure that undertaking a school-based apprentices and trainees does not narrow students' options. This can be avoided by ensuring that school-based apprentices and trainees also undertake work experience, and providing encouragement and support to those who wish to continue to aim for university entrance.
• The learning that many school students experience through part-time work while at school is very influential in terms of motivation and the knowledge to underpin choices of future pathways. Part-time jobs could therefore be formally considered by policy-makers as well as teachers and career advisers as part of a wider network of learning opportunities beyond the classroom.
• The industry areas school students are able to access through part-time work are limited, typically in many cases to retail and fast food/hospitality. Broader opportunities are only available through VET placements and work experiences. As part-time jobs often lead to post-school employment in the same workplace or industry, industries not currently offering part-time employment to school students might consider the advantages to be gained by creating work opportunities. Industries expecting labour shortages could benefit from this.
• Apprenticeships and traineeships offer low wages to people in the initial stages of the program and this could affect their ability to live independently, and/or complete the qualification. The findings suggest this did not necessarily deter many respondents, but may have been a problem for some.
• Many of the respondents continued in their part-time jobs after leaving school in a permanent or interim capacity, or primarily to fund further study. It is important therefore to conduct further research on the significance and effects of part-time student-working. A particular concern may be the disadvantages that may now be associated with the lack of a part-time employment record.
• There is a perception of a lack of current effective career advice. Comments about deficiencies related both to job information and to university course information.
• It is important to ensure that careers in the industries in which young people typically work, both during their school years and subsequently, are given equal prominence with other industry areas, in terms of advice and information offered to young people while at school.

Additional information relating to this research (appendices A—F) can be found  in the downloads as a supporting document.