Danish Supervisors’ Reasons for Hosting Lower Secondary Students in Work Experience Placements

The article explores placement supervisors’ reasons for hosting lower secondary
students (ages 13-16) in work experience placements (WEP) in Denmark. The theoretical framework employs critical psychology to examine societal conditions, subjects’ interpretations of these, and their reasons for actions, focusing on the perspective of placement supervisors as participants. Based on interviews with five supervisors who have hosted WEP, we describe five thematic groupings of reasons: providing an insight into the world of work; expanding young people’s horizons and basis for making educational and vocational choices; recruiting apprentices and employees to the company and the field of work; added value for the company’s activities; a sense of community responsibility. The reasons seem intertwined and not directly attributed to the interests of either the lower secondary students, the host companies or society. Finally, we discuss implications for practice and underline the significance of understanding supervisors’ reasons for hosting lower secondary students in WEP.