Fostering work-related learning within education and its relevance for early career success.

The current research project focuses on how future work-related learning can be fostered among students from vocational/higher education before graduation and during their first experiences on the labour market. Prior research has shown that the initial level of education is one of the main predictors for participation in learning activities, however little is known about (1) what education can do to foster future participation in work-related learning and (2) whether and how this affects the early career. We address these questions from a resource-based perspective. Concerning (1), we start from the Job Demands-Resources model to probe a) whether autonomy and workload in education foster students personal resources and b) ultimately work-related learning. Concerning (2), we use insights from the Conservation of Resources Theory to investigate a) whether work-related learning affect the early career, and b) the transfer of personal resources from education to labour market, accounting for work-related learning and career outcomes. Participants will be followed from their final year of education until two years after graduation in two longitudinal mixed methods studies.

Keywords:Transition from education to work, Work-related learning, Career success, early career employees

Disciplines:Education curriculum, Education systems, General pedagogical and educational sciences, Specialist studies in education, Other pedagogical and educational sciences, Applied psychology