ERIC Number: ED477496
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2003-Apr
Pages: 25
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Learning in the First Professional Job: The First Year of Full Time Employment After College for Accountants, Engineers and Nurses.
Eraut, Michael; Maillardet, Fred; Miller, Carolyn; Steadman, Stephen; Ali, Amer; Blackman, Claire; Furner, Judith
Learning in the first professional job was examined in a study of 40 nurses, 27 engineers, and 16 accountants who were in their first full year of full-time employment after college in hospitals and firms located in the United Kingdom. Data were collected through the following activities: (1) interviews with the respondents; (2) 1- to 2-day visits to their workplaces; and (3) interviews with their managers/mentors and significant others in their workplaces. The first few months of full-time employment presented very different challenges and experiences across the three sectors. The accountants had 3-year contracts that included both training for professional examinations and work-based induction into the profession through a tightly structured apprenticeship system. Although the nurses had already qualified for their profession, they still faced a difficult transition because of their sudden assumption of extensive responsibility and immersion into a highly demanding, high-pressure environment with a very heavy workload. The engineers' workplaces all had accredited graduate training schemes. Across the occupations, informal support proved more important than formal support and social relationships were a significant factor in learning. (The bibliography lists 13 references. Appendixes constituting approximately 50% of the document contain excerpts from the field notes on and discussions of the experiences of new accountants, nurses, and graduate engineers.) (MN)
Descriptors: Accountants, Apprenticeships, Case Studies, College Graduates, Competence, Education Work Relationship, Employment Qualifications, Engineers, Entry Workers, Environmental Influences, Foreign Countries, Higher Education, Influences, Informal Education, Job Performance, Job Skills, Learning Motivation, Learning Processes, Mentors, Nurses, Peer Relationship, Prior Learning, Professional Occupations, Skill Development, Work Environment
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A