Workplace-Based Learning: significant Dimensions of a Productive Training Environment in Danish VET Apprenticeships

Context: Danish VET programmes face recruitment challenges and high dropout rates, partic-ularly in the transition from school to workplace-based training.Approach: This article explores how 18 training workplaces support apprentices’ learning, drawing on interviews with apprentices, supervisors, and directors.Findings: The empirical study shows that three dimensions are central to productive training environments: inclusive social communities, structured training programmes, and diverse, prac-tice-based training methods. Findings highlight a need for workplaces to make implicit training practices explicit and to address how access to learning is shaped by the workplaces’ percep-tions of the “ideal apprentice.”Conclusion: Training workplaces play a vital role in shaping apprentices’ development. By deliberately working with social inclusion, structure, and pedagogy, workplaces can foster en-vironments where all apprentices access meaningful learning and professional growth.