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Vocational profiles and internship quality among Portuguese VET students

  • Vitor Gamboa
  • Maria Paula Paixão
  • Saúl Neves de Jesus
Article
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Abstract

The provision of workplace-based experiences (internships) is an important component of the training program for students attending vocational education courses. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between internship quality and students vocational development, considering students’ vocational profiles, in a sample of 346 twelfth grade students from southern Portugal, using a longitudinal design. Results show that internship quality is associated with the career development of students, mainly concerning the process of career exploration, and has an effect that appears to be more pronounced for some of the clusters. Implications for career intervention are discussed.

Keywords

Vocational profiles Career development Internship quality 

Résumé

Les profils vocationnels et la qualité des stages chez les apprentis portugais. L’introduction d’expériences en milieu professionnel (stages) est une composante importante des programmes de formation professionnelle des apprentis. Le but de cette étude était de clarifier la relation entre la qualité du stage et le développement vocationnel des apprentis, en tenant compte de leur profil vocationnel. Les données ont été recueillies à l’aide d’un dispositif longitudinal auprès d’un échantillon de 346 élèves de douzième année, provenant du sud du Portugal. Les résultats indiquent que la qualité du stage est associée au développement professionnel des apprentis, principalement au niveau du processus d’exploration de carrière. Cet effet semble être plus prononcé pour certains groupes. Les implications pour les interventions de carrière sont discutées.

Zummerfassegang

Berufsprofile und die Qualität von Praktika bei portugiesischen Jugendlichen in der beruflichen Grundbildung. Die Teilnahme an Praktika im realen Arbeitsumfeld ist ein wichtiger Bestandteil des Ausbildungsprogramms für Schüler und Schülerinnen in der beruflichen Grundbildung. Das Ziel dieser Untersuchung war es, den Zusammenhang zwischen der Qualität der absolvierten Praktika und der beruflichen Entwicklung der Schüler zu untersuchen, wobei deren Berufsprofil berücksichtigt wird. Die Untersuchung basiert auf eine Stichprobe von 346 Schülern im 12. Schuljahr aus dem Süden Portugals. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Qualität der absolvierten Praktika mit der beruflichen Entwicklung der Schüler in Zusammenhang steht—insbesondere mit dem Prozess der beruflichen Exploration—und dass der Effekt für bestimmte Cluster stärker zu sein erscheint. Implikationen für berufsberaterische Interventionen werden erörtert.

Resumen

Perfiles vocacionales y calidad de las prácticas entre estudiantes de formación profesional portugueses. La oferta de experiencia laboral (prácticas) es un componente fundamental en un programa de formación para estudiantes que asisten a cursos de formación profesional. El objetivo de este estudio era clarificar la relación entre la calidad de las prácticas y el desarrollo vocacional de los estudiantes, teniendo en cuenta los perfiles vocacionales de los estudiantes, en una muestra de 346 alumnos de 12º grado (último curso de educación secundaria/formación profesional) del sur de Portugal, utilizando un diseño longitudinal. Los resultados muestran que la calidad de las prácticas se asocia con el desarrollo profesional de los estudiantes, sobre todo en lo concerniente al proceso de exploración de la carrera, y tiene un efecto que parece estar más pronunciado para algunos de los clusters. Se discuten las implicaciones del estudio en relación a la orientación para la carrera.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Vitor Gamboa
    • 1
  • Maria Paula Paixão
    • 2
  • Saúl Neves de Jesus
    • 1
  1. 1.Faculty of Human and Social SciencesUniversity of AlgarveFaroPortugal
  2. 2.Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesUniversity of CoimbraCoimbraPortugal

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