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The study aims to explore how the collective representations of stakeholders associated with an Executive MBA (EMBA) apprenticeship are conceptualised, and what value elements are perceived as relevant for personal, professional and organisational development.

Forty stakeholders participated in a mixed methods-based group concept mapping (GCM) approach, representing the tripartite relationship of an EMBA apprenticeship. This approach allowed the deconstruction and shared understanding of the value proposition of higher degree apprenticeships.

Analysis identified seven conceptualised value clusters around an eight central cluster “Professional Development”. Two regions of meaning were identified: the personal dimensions of apprentices and their contribution within and to their organisation. Findings showed that a work-based designed curriculum improves confidence and communication skills and that much of the value proposition is personal and self-managed by the apprentices. The tripartite relationship was shown to be incomplete and inconsistent, particularly regarding mentoring and reflective practice.

The pandemic has brought about significant changes in business practice. This study identifies several areas for improving higher degree apprenticeship pedagogy in readiness for the new business landscape, as well as identifying limitations of the tripartite relationship.

The study addresses a gap in the literature by exploring the value proposition an EMBA apprenticeship programme. The interrelatedness of cluster concepts has identified value elements missing from previous apprenticeship delivery. Deconstructing the senior leader apprenticeship enables educators to redesign and refine models of engagement for improving the apprenticeship experience.

This paper provides an overview of the role and contribution of mentoring in the context of a degree programme in which students spend their second and third years in‐company. As well as describing the process within the context of the degree, the paper examines the particular mentoring design features. Of specific interest is the shared mentoring role of academic members of staff and in‐company managers, and the variety of roles adopted by each of them, including coacher, facilitator, networker, counsellor. In addition, the mentors share a role in assessing students’ work in relation to their skills development, focusing on transferable skills, namely: communication, teamworking, adaptability and leadership. This paper draws upon findings of primary research conducted with the mentoring teams that exist within the wide range of consortium companies that sponsor the second and third years of the degree programme and Nottingham Business School. The paper reports the perceived benefits of such a mentoring process for academic and practitioners working in partnership to support and enhance the students’ learning experience.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study where student peer mentors were employed to motivate and assist undergraduates to secure optional professional placement positions.

The paper describes the reasons for establishing the project, the recruitment and work carried out by the mentors. It explains a survey of students who had not undertaken placements the previous year to try to identify the activities that would be most effective on the part of the mentors. The mentors, together with the placement co‐coordinator, devised support ranging from one‐to‐one mentoring, drop in “clinics”, online support and large group talks. It discusses the results of this work and evaluates the responses of both mentors and mentees.

Those mentees who took part in the mentoring were typically those who were already enthusiastic about placement opportunities. The majority of students did not take advantage of mentoring support, including support on a drop‐in basis or one‐to‐one basis or support available online through a social network. It was found that the mentoring scheme did not significantly affect the proportion of students seeking or securing placements. However, the mentors themselves gained tremendous benefits from the mentoring scheme, in particular developing their communication skills and confidence.

A thorough survey of potential mentees was not carried out after the project to ascertain the reasons for their lack of engagement.

There are two separate implications of this project. First, the mentoring scheme was valuable primarily for the mentors and not the mentees; and second, the level of support provided by the University is not the main factor in the low take up of optional placement opportunities. If these are felt to be sufficiently valuable for the student learning experience they need to be compulsory with appropriate support available – a mentoring scheme might then be of far more value to mentees.

There is very little published concerning the use of mentoring to facilitate work‐based learning so this paper is valuable for that alone. Furthermore, most published work on mentoring is located in the “best practice” school of pedagogical research where it is implicitly assumed that one must report on the success of an intervention. Frequently it is more valuable to examine more unexpected results of an intervention. This paper however shows much greater benefits achieved by the mentors than the mentees.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the key challenge(s) experienced by employers, employees and academics during work based learning (WBL) programmes at undergraduate level. The idea of academic mentors is proposed as an aid to addressing the challenges common to WBL programmes.

The case study presented in this paper involves a large multinational organisation and a higher education institution, both of which are based in Ireland. Interviews were used to explore the outcome(s) of a WBL programme.

The challenges associated with WBL place demands on the design of curriculum, pedagogy and accreditation. The use of academic mentors can help translate academic knowledge into workplace practice; and address challenges which are common in WBL programmes.

The understanding of best practice in the design of WBL programmes is enriched. A role for academics as mentors is identified and the implications explored.

The success of WBL can be linked to the relationships that form between employers, employees and academics. There is evidence that the academic is central to the development of these relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues and challenges facing employers as they manage degree apprentices in the workplace. It examines the relationship between managers and apprentices undertaking a work-based degree. This research is of particular relevance at this time because of the UK Government’s initiative to expand the number of apprenticeships in the workplace to three million new starts by 2020, inevitably bringing a range of pressures to bear on employers (BIS, 2015). The purpose is to share early experiences of employer management of degree apprenticeships, and provide a range of recommendations to develop and improve employer and higher education institution (HEI) practice.

This paper combines desk research with qualitative data drawn from interviews with a range of cross-sector organisations to investigate the employer’s experience of developing the new degree apprenticeships. Data are explored inductively using thematic analysis in order to surface dominant patterns and considers the implications of findings upon current and emerging HEI and employer practice and research.

There were a number of key themes which emerged from the data collected. These included the need for effective, employer-led recruitment processes, careful management of expectations, sound HEI retention strategies, employer involvement and board-level motivators to ensure organisational benefits are derived from effectively situated workplace learning and a focus upon effective, empowering mentoring and support strategies.

As degree apprenticeship standards and programmes are currently at the early stages of implementation, and opportunities, funding and resourcing are rapidly changing in the context of government policy, so too will employer appetite and strategies for supporting degree apprentices, along with apprentice behaviour. This means that additional findings, beyond those highlighted within this paper, may emerge in the near future.

There are a number of practical implications supporting managerial development and support of degree apprentices in the workplace from this research. These are reflected in the findings, and include the development of flexible and collaborative processes, resources, mentor training and networks.

This paper is one of the first published accounts of the employers’ perspective of managing a degree apprenticeship within the new policy context in the UK. As a result, the work offers a unique insight into the emerging challenges and issues encountered by managers working with degree apprentices in the twenty-first century business environment.

The purpose of this paper is to review a range of mechanisms used by universities to support employers to facilitate effective “on the job learning” for apprentices. It reflects on how these mechanisms can be used to address some of the challenges, reported in the literature that employers face to in supporting apprentices in the workplace.

A short questionnaire administered to colleagues prior to attendance at a workshop, identified a range of activities, at various stages of engagement with employers that were used by universities to facilitate effective workplace learning and also to address some of the challenges faced by employers. These activities were then discussed and explored within the workshop to identify areas of best practice from the HEI sector to promote effective workplace learning.

Engagement with employers needs to occur from the outset of the development of the apprenticeship. Embedding the on the job learning within the design of the academic programme, with explicit links between the theoretical learning (knowledge element of the apprenticeship standard) and practical application of learning (skills and behaviours within the apprenticeship standard). Regular interactions with a range of staff within the employer ensure that there is a clear understanding throughout the apprentice’s journey, of how to promote an effective learning environment for the apprentice within the context of the organisation. The role of the workplace facilitator/mentor key. A range of approaches to providing training and ongoing support for facilitators/mentors was identified.

The study was limited to the participants within the workshop at the conference, a self-selecting group from a relatively small number of HE providers. The HEIs represented provided apprenticeships in a range of subject areas, working with both public sector and private sector providers. Further studies are required to encompass a broader range of providers, including drawing on best practice from the FE and independent sector, and applying principles used there in the context of HE.

Engagement with employers from an early stage of the development of the apprenticeship is imperative, viewing the apprenticeship holistically, rather than as an academic programme with some work-based activities. Resources need to be devoted to regular and frequent contact with a range of personnel within the employer organisation, so that a partnership approach to supporting learning is developed. Training and ongoing support for work-based mentors/facilitators continues to be a key success factor. This needs to be managed to balance the learning needs of the mentors with the potential impact on workplace productivity.

The paper identifies a range of approaches that will enhance the effectiveness of learning in the workplace. This will both enhance the apprentice’s learning experience and ensure that higher and degree apprenticeships are developed holistically, meeting the academic requirements of the university and the workplace needs of the employer. This, in turn, will enhance success rates and reduce attrition rates from apprenticeships, which, in turn, may encourage more employers to engage with higher and degree apprenticeships.

The paper collates a range of best practice from the sector to promote effective workplace learning.

Suggests that more and more organizations are attempting to establish a culture of learning that values the knowledge that employees have derived from learning how to perform effectively in the workplace. Reviews recent contributions to the literature on aspects of managerial learning and addresses the question “how do managers learn best in the workplace?” Draws from articles published between 1994‐1996 in eight journals: Executive Development; Journal of Management Development; Journal of Organizational Change Management; Leadership & Organization Development Journal; Management Development Review; Team Performance Management; The Journal of Workplace Learning; The Learning Organization. Focuses on four themes: managerial learning and work; coaching, mentoring and team development; competences, managerial learning and the curriculum; work‐based action learning. Concludes with a summary of the implications for managerial learning.

Describes the main features of a unique management development programme devised by Shepherd Construction Ltd and Leeds Metropolitan University, which features work‐based learning, mentoring and accreditation of prior learning and has resulted in the first group of Shepherd managers recently receiving their postgraduate awards. Demonstrates that industry and higher education can get together and do new and exciting things.

This paper examines some issues that arise from recent research on mentoring across a range of professional settings including teaching, nursing, medicine and social work. It discusses different models of mentoring and their potential relevance to the professional development of specialists and non‐specialists involved in health promotion. It recommends the development of an agreed and clear operational definition of what mentoring is and what it is expected to achieve, a policy framework so that those in mentoring relationships are aware of aims and expectations, good “fit” between the underlying ethos of health promotion and the model of mentoring adopted and proper resources and administration. It also suggests that mentoring schemes need the support of senior managers, clear arrangements for the recruitment, training and support of mentors, careful consideration of the basis upon which mentors and mentees are matched, and ground rules for the mentoring relationship, including those relating to confidentiality.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to extend existing knowledge on the nature, reach, causes and consequences of judgementoring; second, to present a new framework for mentoring beginner teachers that has the potential to forestall and combat judgementoring, and enable the full potential of institution-based mentoring to be realised.

The paper draws on a thematic analysis of: previously published findings from three empirical studies undertaken between 2003 and 2015; new data from two empirical studies undertaken between 2012 and 2016; and recent literature (2013-2016) on judgementoring.

The paper provides further evidence of the nature, reach, causes and consequences of judgementoring as a national and international phenomenon. In doing so, it extends previous knowledge about the conditions that enhance or detract from the successful enactment of beginner teacher mentoring.

The findings presented have implications for the work of education policymakers, school and college leaders, mentor trainers, mentors and others concerned with enhancing mentorship and effectively supporting the professional learning, development and well-being of beginning teachers.

The paper presents ONSIDE Mentoring as an original, research-informed framework for mentoring beginner teachers. The framework may also be applicable to other contexts, especially for the mentoring of early career professionals.