The Baby and the Bathwater: Making a Case for Work Experience

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Few Australian school students, particularly those completing their senior secondary years, now leave school without some experience of workplaces. While well over half of school students now have part-time work, the traditional work experience program is still the most common way in which secondary students gain some knowledge of workplaces. However, little policy attention is expended on work experience and it is viewed in some quarters as a ‘poor relation’ of structured work placements, which form part of VET in schools programs. This article presents findings about work experience derived from a recent study of school students' learning in workplaces. School-based case studies and employer interviews were used to augment the data from a survey of 1451 school students. Despite other forms of workplace engagement becoming more common, it is argued that work experience should be retained. While aspects of work experience can be improved, it is argued that the baby should not be thrown out with the bathwater.