The importance of the psychological contract for effective learning in apprenticeships

This paper looks at apprenticeship learning and training from a new standpoint – the psychological contract. The notion of the psychological contract is commonly used in the human resource management field to understand the nature of employment relationships. It has not previously been applied to apprenticeships in any systematic manner. This paper reports on a research project that applied a preexisting instrument to apprentices and employers and also included qualitative case studies in nine companies.