Page 71 - guidance-supporting-europe-s-aspiring-entrepreneurs-policy-and-practice-to-harness-future-potential

Guidance supporting Europe’s aspiring entrepreneurs
Policy and practice to harness future potential

3.1.1. Work placements and company visits
It is increasingly common for IVET institutions to involve employers in guidance.
Some of the mainstream ways of doing this include work placements, visits to
work places and lecturers by employers. Cooperation with enterprises is well
established in countries with a dual system, like Germany and Austria.
Placements are also a statutory requirement in countries such Bulgaria,
Denmark, Spain, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia, Finland and the UK
where vocationally orientated schools provide all students with work-related
learning. In many other countries (e.g. Estonia and Poland), this type of activity is
not centrally regulated but depends on the initiative of teachers. Company visits
and/or lectures by employers and other business professionals are common in
countries like Belgium, Denmark, Malta and Netherlands.
Work placements in many cases have an entrepreneurial dimension,
especially when they are organised in SMEs. However, the common weakness of
work placement schemes is that while they introduce pupils to specific
occupations and economic activities, placements in larger companies less
commonly promote entrepreneurial values or aspirations. This was mentioned by
several national experts, including those from Belgium and UK. In many cases,
work placements do not specifically target self-employed people or business
owners and no explicit links to business creation are made, so they do not
necessarily encourage young people to be more entrepreneurial. Instead they
involve young people in activities that give a taste of different careers, but not of
entrepreneurship. In principle, work placements should build entrepreneurial
skills and promote entrepreneurship but, in practice, unless they are tailored to
the entrepreneurship agenda they support more general employability goals.
Some schools and countries are making a conscious effort to involve more
self-employed people and business owners in company visit/work placement
schemes, especially in sectors characterised by high proportions of self-
employment. In Malta, the IVET sector aims to support entrepreneurial goals
through work placements and visits to local businesses. Business visits include
meetings with entrepreneurs and ex-students who have started their own
business successfully. They provide an opportunity for students to talk with
entrepreneurs about their experiences, the skills they require and those they
have acquired. Particularly when ex-students are involved, students can identify
with them and realise that they can follow a similar career path. A similar practice
is in place in Slovakia where a system of business professionals/volunteers has
been established. The volunteers visit schools and training institutions which run
entrepreneurship activities and give business advice.

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