To study employer motivations for participating in school-to-work (STW) programs, researchers sought programs with a strong work-based learning component, specifically those where employers took students as interns or apprentices for one or two school years. In 1995 and 1996, 1 or 2 site visits were made to each of 12 programs. Researchers toured schools; interviewed students, teachers, counselors, principals, and intermediaries who helped broker employer participation; observed classes; visited worksites; and interviewed employers. The 12 work-based learning programs were divided into 3 categories according to whether they lacked students, employers, or neither. Earlier research identified three types of motivation that affect employers' decisions to participate in STW programs: philanthropic, individual, and collective. Researchers engaged in strategic thinking and planning regarding employer recruitment and retention, pondering which type of appeal would convince which type of employer. The philanthropic approach could backfire if the implication was that employers did not already give to their communities. Employers saw these individual benefits: public relations and use of students as needed temporary help. One type of collective motivation was the goal of marketing an industry as a whole to young people. Future research topics were identified: STW acceptance and student demand, integration between work-based and student-based learning, and work-based learning and attention to quality. (YLB)