Purpose: This paper seeks to challenge the view that student part time employment detracts from academic attainment and presents evidence that when linked to formal undergraduate study provides rich learning experiences. It also explores the extent to which formerly accepted pre-requisites for work based learning (WBL) apply in this model and how…

A project carried out in New South Wales and South Australia examined ways in which Year 10, 11, and 12 students experience workplaces. A questionnaire administered to students in 13 schools received 1,451 responses. Case studies in five schools included interviews and focus groups with students and teachers. Interviews and focus groups with…

A research study in Australia examined the nature, extent, and methods of workplace learning for school students. Following a literature review that found that the proportion of school students who work part-time is increasing but that there is relatively little research on the learning outcomes of either work experience or work placements,…

A study was conducted in six south central Mississippi counties (1) to determine the incidence of part-time employment of in-school youth by age, grade, sex, and race; (2) to determine types of part-time jobs held by youths while in public school and their available work experience alternatives; (3) to obtain employed youth and their parents'…

Australian school students' views regarding their learning from paid and unpaid work in the workplace were examined. The data sources were as follows: (1) a questionnaire administered in 13 schools in New South Wales and South Australia to students in years 10, 11, and 12; (2) school and locality-based case studies; and (3) interviews with…

The mission of the Student Training at Retail Stores (STARS) project was to develop and implement, with the collaboration of local business and the New York City Board of Education, a 3-semester program (January 1989 through June 1990) of intense occupational, vocational, and career education. Its purpose was to enhance job skills and secure…

A study of high school work experience programs was designed to explore the work environment in regard to employer policies, practices, processes and program ingredients to gauge their impact on high school student workers during the school-to-work transition. Two work experience programs were analyzed (North Terrytown, New York, and in Newark,…