The Success of Apprenticeships

29Research on Apprenticeships

29.1. Introduction

Research on apprenticeships can help to better understand their importance in the business world and in the contemporary economic system, especially in the context of unemployment in the European Union. This research is also useful in understanding the motivations and needs of young people in order to help organizations develop better apprenticeship contracts oriented towards realistic objectives.

Figure 29.1. Proposals for a research program on apprenticeships

This chapter, organized into four different themes, provides a comprehensive picture of apprenticeships by presenting their various components and outlining a profile of the stakeholders. The objective is to better understand how the different actors contribute to the apprenticeship process. This chapter also proposes a research program focused on four main themes, summarized in Figure 29.1.

These themes are presented successively before research avenues are sketched out.

29.2. First theme: understanding apprenticeships

Apprenticeships inform how individuals react when they experience changes in perceptions, behavior, values or attitudes in their workplace. They also contribute to the development of self-esteem, competence and effectiveness (Gouillart and Kelly 1995). It is therefore important to conceptualize apprenticeships and analyze the relationships between the ...