Experiencing the workplace
The importance and benefits for teenagers
The OECD Career Readiness project makes use of quantitative evidence to identify how
teenage career-related activities and attitudes are linked with better adult employment
outcomes. Review of multiple national longitudinal datasets confirms that teenage
experiences of the workplace through part-time working and volunteering are routinely
associated with better prospects in work during adulthood. While the evidence base
is much weaker, it is also likely that students who undertake workplace placements
through their schools can have much to gain. This policy brief draws on evidence from
longitudinal studies and beyond to explore the following questions:
Why is it important for secondary school students to have first-hand experience of
work?
What difference does workplace experience make?
And how can schools and education systems best optimise its benefits?
Published on November 04, 2021
In series:OECD Education Policy Perspectivesview more titles