Project

On-the-job trainers: their trajectories within the current socioeconomic context. The case of the French-speaking region of Switzerland

In Switzerland, upper-secondary level vocational education and training (VET), is the most frequently chosen path for young people coming out of lower-secondary education (OPET, 2012). Swiss dual-track VET programmes place host companies at the heart of the training process. And yet, very little research has been done on the main actors involved in this process: namely the apprenticeship trainers.

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This thesis is part of a Swiss National Fond (SNSF) funded research project entitled “Apprenticeship trainers, key figures in professional socialisation”, which is being led by Prof. Dr. Carmen Baumeler, Prof. Dr. Nadia Lamamra and Prof. Dr. Jürg Schweri.

This thesis is intended to fill this gap in knowledge in relation to apprenticeship trainers. The aim is to examine their personal trajectories more closely, focussing specifically on the situation in the French-speaking region of Switzerland.

The aim is to gain a clearer understanding of these trajectories within the context of current transformations taking place on the labour market. More specifically, this thesis aims at analysing how one becomes an apprenticeship trainer, the meaning that these persons give to their activity, and their training experiences within the current working context.

This research project draws inspiration from what is known about the sociology of professional groups in an effort to shed light on how work is organised, work-life balance considerations and occupational health issues faced by apprenticeship trainers.

This thesis will contribute to existing knowledge on apprenticeship trainers, highlight current transformations on the labour market and the impact that these transformations have had on apprenticeship trainers.

Supervisors of the dissertation:

Prof. Nicky Le Feuvre (University of Lausanne)
Prof. Dr. Nadia Lamamra

Method

This will mainly be a qualitative methodological approach (biographical interviews, observations, focus groups); analysis of the content of legislative and formal frameworks governing access to the apprenticeship training profession and corresponding activities; cantonal statistical data.

Publications

Transfer into practice

Presentations

On-the-job trainers: their trajectories within the current socioeconomic context. The case of the French-speaking region of Switzerland

Besozzi, R. (2022). Les personnes formatrices d’apprenti·e·s en entreprise : parcours professionnels et rapports à la fonction en Suisse romande. Thèse de doctorat. Lausanne: Université de Lausanne.

Manzoni, B. (2022). «Il punto di vista di chi forma gli apprendisti», intervista con Roberta Besozzi. Azione - settimanale d'informazione e cultura della cooperativa Migros Ticino, 14.12.2022.

«Più valore al tempo», Intervista con Roberta Besozzi. Cooperazione, 34, 23.08.2022.

Besozzi, R. (2018, décembre). Les formateurs et formatrices en entreprise : une typologie de trajectoires et manières d’investir la fonction. Communication présentée au séminaire « Chantier de recherche » du Gresco, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.

Besozzi, R., Duc, B. & Lamamra, N. (2018, octobre). Que révèle la socialisation des apprenti-e-s du rapport du dispositif d’apprentissage au marché du travail? Communication présentée aux 9èmes rencontres Jeunes & Sociétés en Europe et autour de la Méditerranée, Lausanne, Suisse.

Besozzi, R. (2018, April). On-the-job trainers: their trajectories and their practices. Paper presented at the Colloquium "Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik", Institute of Education, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Besozzi, R. (2018, February). On-the-job trainers in Switzerland: a life-course perspective. Paper presented at the 7th LIVES Doctoriales, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Besozzi, R. (2016, February). On-the-job trainers: their trajectories within the current socioeconomic context. The case of the French-speaking region of Switzerland. Paper presented at the LIVES Doctoriales, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Besozzi, R. (2015, November). On-the-job trainers: their trajectories within the current socioeconomic context. The case of the French-speaking region of Switzerland. Paper presented at the Journée de la recherché SSP, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Besozzi, R., Lamamra, N. & Duc, B. (2015, September). On-the-job trainers: their trajectories and function within the current working context. The case of the French-speaking region of Switzerland. Paper presented at the ECER Conference, Budapest, Hungary.