Learning in work: perceptions from working teenagers

ABSTRACT

Research within the United Kingdom has shown that it is common for school students to combine full-time education with part-time employment. Attention has tended to focus on the negative impact this may have with limited consideration to the potential benefits. Some studies have indicated that skill acquisition may be one such benefit, but studies typically pay little attention to the views of young employees and fail to explore potential variations in skill development between age groups and job sectors. This study addresses this gap. Younger (14 and 15 year olds) and older (16 to 18 years) school students working in the retail and catering industries participated (n = 35). Two interviews were carried out facilitated by workplace observation and on-the-job event recording. Results suggest that opportunities for acquiring skills are common for both younger and older workers in both retail and catering jobs. Differences in perceptions between age groups and job sectors were small with the exception of the areas of future learning and the types of skills. In addition, retail workers tend to see more opportunities for learning than those in catering. These results support those who see such employment as potentially valuable.

KEYWORDS:

• School students
• part-time employment
• skills acquisition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amanda Simpson

Amanda Simpson is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of the West of Scotland. Her research focuses on the skills and abilities that young workers are exposed to in the work place. She recently completed a UWS-Oxfam partnership project on young people’s views of decent work. In addition, she has worked on several child employment projects. These include a project for the Department for Education that explored child employment policy and practice in England. [email: [email protected]]

Jim McKechnie

Jim McKechnie is a Professor of Psychology at the University of the West of Scotland. His research focuses on national and international aspects of child workers and early experiences of the workplace. As a founder member of the Child Employment Research Group, his work has included government funded projects into the nature and extent and policy and practice relating to child employment. [email: [email protected]]

Sandy Hobbs

Sandy Hobbs is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Psychology at the University of the West of Scotland. He is a founder member of the Child Employment Research Group which has been involved in researching child employment for over two decades. His research has explored young people’s experiences of work and government policy and practice in protecting young workers. [email: [email protected]]