Practical Training – A Challenge for Higher Education. Analysis of Students’ Satisfaction with Traineeships

Students` practical training is the key element that facilitates the transition to active life. Throughout traineeships, students gain important knowledge, skills and experiences that prove to be extremely useful when entering the labor market. If the content of practical training complies with the occupational requirements, the methodology and strategy used for organizing and implementing the traineeships prove to be successful. The present study aims to investigate the way of organizing and implementing practical activities within three Romanian universities: University of Oradea, University of Bucharest and “Aurel Vlaicu” University of Arad. Data were collected within the project “Traineeship Program for Students: Child Protection from theory to practice” (mentioned in the paper as PractiPASS), and represent the results of monitoring and assessment activities. Students included in the PractiPASS project participated in three academic traineeships and the evaluation of their activities was carried out at the end of each stage. The research was conducted on three waves: the first wave included 498 subjects, the second one 437 subjects, and the last wave 496 subjects. The analysis focuses on investigating students` satisfaction with their practical training. The main results show that the students` satisfaction follows an ascending trend on all three waves, with a higher increase between the first and the second stage of traineeships. At the same time, the levels of satisfaction differ according to universities and educational cycle.