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IER newsletter - February 2016


IER Newsletter - February 2016

In this month's issue...

 
 

IER visitors

IER warmly welcomes two visitors in February

Sudipa SarkarSudipa Sarkar from the University of Salamanca in Spain, will be an IER Visiting Fellow until June. Sudipa is a labour economist with additional interests in the economics of education and development economics. She has published a number of articles on poverty, skills and occupational change in India and also a report on pay and job quality in India for Eurofound, where she was working part of last year. Sudipa will be working with a number of colleagues in IER over the next few months.

Welcome also to Dr Zaiton Hassan, a senior lecturer at the Department of Human Resource Development, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia. Zaiton is visiting IER while on sabbatical leave from February to July 2016. During her time at IER, she plans to complete a book on Work-Life Balance in Malaysia and to publish articles from her PhD research. Zaiton will be in discussions with IER colleagues over the coming months about work-life balance research and will be presenting a workshop in May.
 

Events

CREW Special Seminar on 2 March

Connecting Research on Employment and Work (CREW) is hosting a Special Seminar on Wednesday 2 March from 2 to 4 pm in the Wolfson Research Exchange, Library, University of Warwick. The seminar, entitled 'The changing composition of employment in Europe: upgrading or polarisation?' will be presented by John Hurley, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

Based on the annual European Jobs Monitor reports, the presentation will detail shifts in the employment structure at Member State and aggregate EU level over 2011–2014, when employment in Europe started to rise after the financial crisis. It will discuss the extent to which recent shifts are polarising, arising from a decline in mid-paid jobs, or upgrading as a result of growth in high-paid jobs. The analysis finds that the most recent pattern is more downwardly skewed, mainly as a result of stronger growth in less knowledge intensive services.

Tea and coffee will be served after the seminar. For catering purposes, please let us know if you will attend by emailing crew@warwick.ac.uk.

Free seminar: Prolonging working life through ICT on 3 March

There are still some places available for the one day seminar on 3 March exploring how crowdsourcing has changed the boundary between work and home, enabling people to achieve a new work-life balance and remain part of the labour force. Confirmed speakers include Professor Ursula Huws from the University of Hertfordshire Business School, Jayne Cravens from Coyote Communications, Professor Leela Damodaran from Loughborough University and Professor Chris Warhurst from IER. If you are interested in attending, please register at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/research/balance-network.
The seminar is being funded by the EPSRC Balance Network.

The role of employers in tackling youth unemployment

Gaby Atfield was invited to attend a workshop on Employer Engagement Strategies hosted by Support Staffordshire at Lichfield Cathedral on 22 January. The event was organised as part of Talent Match, which is a Big Lottery-funded programme aimed at tackling youth unemployment in 21 areas across England, with a particular emphasis on supporting those who are furthest from the labour market. IER, together with CRESR at Sheffield Hallam University, are evaluating the programme.

Gaby presented findings from a report written with Anne Green and Sally-Anne Barnes on 'Employer Involvement and Engagement (Talent Match Case Study Theme Report)' which uses case studies from the Black Country, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire and is available here.

Research on IBCP

Heike Behle presented findings based on the International Baccalaureate Careers-Related Programme (IBCP) project at an internal IER workshop on 19 January. The IBCP is a secondary school-leaving qualification which combines both vocational and academic education for young people. In the workshop, it was reported that many young people used their time during the IBCP to gain information to support their career decisions. Many young people reported that they used the skills and knowledge they gained in the IBCP in their post-secondary activities.

Scottish Parliament report 'Taking the High Road'

Director of IER, Chris Warhurst, cited as an influence in the new Scottish Parliament report Taking the High Road – Work, Wages and Wellbeing in the Scottish Labour Market. The report is the outcome of an inquiry by the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee into improving job quality that ranges over information and data needs to setting standards to create fair work practices in Scotland. See the Scottish Parliament's report here.

 

Publications

Barnes, S-A. and Brown, A. (2016). 'Stories of learning and their significance to future pathways and aspirations', British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, Online First, DOI: 10.1080/03069885.2016.1145194

Bimrose, J., Mulvey, R. and Brown, A. (2016). Low qualified and low skilled: the need for context sensitive careers support, British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, Online First, DOI: 10.1080/03069885.2016.1145190

Bimrose, J. and Brown, A. (2015).Forskning om studie- och yrkesvägledning. [Research on educational and vocational guidance. In Swedish]. In A. Lovén (Ed.) Karriärvägledning - En forskningsöversikt, pp. 49-62, Lund: Studentlitteratur. ISBN: 9789144097435.

Brown, A. (2016). Career adaptability and attitudes to low-skilled work by individuals with few qualifications: ‘getting by’, ‘getting on’ or ‘going nowhere’. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, Online First, DOI: 0.1080/03069885.2016.1145196.

Green, A., Atfield, G., and Purcell, K. (2016). Fuelling displacement and labour market segmentation in low-skilled jobs, Environment and Planning A 48 (3), 577-593. DOI: 10.1177/0308518X15614327

Clare Lyonette was invited to contribute a short written piece on part-time work to WorkCareShare, a group of campaigners for equal opportunities for women and men at work and at home. For more, see: http://www.workcareshare.com/part-time-work-fathers/
 

New Projects

Employers' behavioural reaction to the Apprenticeship levy (with IFF Research) commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Proposals to review the evidence of the impact of careers education funded by the Education Endowment Foundation

International policy and practice review: how do cities lead and inclusive growth agenda? commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation


For more information on these or any other IER projects please get in touch.

 
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