Reinventing Master’s Theses as Work-Integrated Learning: A Multi-Stakeholder Approach

how to shape the master thesis to be a coherent WIL experience in a work-study program, that would meet stakeholders’ expectations, whether it is the organizations, the students or the university? How to develop adapted tools and support for the student to create such master’s thesis? These questions arose early in the development of work-study master’s programs at a Belgian university, confronted with differing stakeholders’ expectations. In order to answer these questions, a two-step plan was conducted. It started with an analysis of the situation and of the stakeholders’ expectations and needs. It resulted in a report that pictures master’s theses in work-study programs function as a complex negotiation space between universities, students, and partner organizations (Derinöz 2025). Second, based on these insights, several experimentations on the change of the master’s theses formats and on ways of supporting students are currently processed.