IER Newsletter - March 2019

Dear IER stakeholders,

The Brexit referendum result in 2016 was very unhelpful and the Brexit process since then has been very messy. What will happen over the next month is still unknown. However, I want to assure you that it is the intention of IER to maintain its collaborations with all of its EU-based research partners. We greatly value these partnerships, understanding that they work to our mutual benefit – and often, of course, to the benefit of the European Commission and its agencies. How we maintain our collaborations will depend on the outcome of negotiations between the UK Government and European Commission both in the immediate and longer terms. In the meantime, IER is working on an initiative with the University of Warwick to provide more certainty. I will provide you with more details of this initiative over the next few weeks.

Very best wishes,
Professor Chris Warhurst
(Image: Pixabay)

New PhD Studentship: Understanding employer delivery of good work in the UK

IER is inviting applications for an ESRC-funded PhD studentship from the Midlands Graduate School Doctoral Training Partnership. This Studentship is offered through IER in collaboration with the Living Wage Foundation. It will focus on 'Understanding employer delivery of good work in the UK' and will be supervised by Professor Chris Warhurst and Sally Wright. For full details about the scholarship click here and for information on how to apply here.

Application deadline: Thursday, 18th April at 12 noon. Interviews will take place on Monday, 29th April.

Working Futures 2017-2027

IER, in collaboration with Cambridge Econometrics, are currently producing a new round of Working Futures projections for the Department for Education. This will be the seventh in a series of formal quantitative assessments of the UK’s employment prospects using the Working Futures labour market model developed by IER and Cambridge Econometrics. These projections are the most detailed and comprehensive of its kind for the UK, providing a picture of employment prospects by industry, occupation, qualification level, gender and employment status for the UK and for nations and English regions up to 2027. The Working Futures report, to be published later this year, makes an important contribution to the understanding of likely trends in the labour market in the medium to longer term.

Presentation at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce

On 7th of February 2019, Daria Luchinskaya gave a short presentation on graduate skill utilisation in small firms at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce Business Breakfast Briefing, held at the BMW Group Plant Hams Hall. This activity was part of Daria’s participation in the ESRC-sponsored Warwick ‘Venture Into Business Engagement’ programme, designed to help early career researchers collaborate with businesses.

Is there a business case for good work?

Chris Warhurst and Derek Bosworth are leading new research exploring the business case for good work. More specifically, the research analyses the relationship between job quality and productivity. The project is commissioned by the Carnegie UK Trust and is chaired by Matthew Taylor, who sits on the Industrial Strategy Council. Other research team members are Sudipa Sarkar and Wil Hunt. (Image credit: Carnegie UK Trust)

New report published on the educational psychologist workforce

IER was commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) to conduct research into the educational psychologist (EP) workforce in England. The report draws on mixed-methods research to map the current distribution and demographic profile of the Local Authority (LA) EP workforce in England and, where possible, also the non-LA EP workforce; to provide evidence on factors driving shortages of trainee and qualified EPs in LAs facing recruitment and retention difficulties; and makes recommendations on the current training model for EPs.

Lyonette, C., Atfield, G., Baldauf, B. and Owen, D. (2019) Research on the Educational Psychologist Workforce. Research Report. London: Department for Education.

PhD training module: Researching gender(ed) work

Erika Kispeter is one of the conveners of this new, one-day training module for PhD students. The module seeks to explore interdisciplinary perspectives on gender and work and is delivered by members of the Connecting Research on Employment and Work (CREW) network at the University of Warwick. It is open to all research students at the Midlands Graduate School Doctoral Training Partnership institutions, including all years of the MPhil/ PhD programme. It is not credit bearing, but provides an opportunity for students researching topics on work, gender and family to meet each other. More information and the booking form is available on the workshop's webpage.

Date: 2nd May, 2019
Location: University of Warwick

(Image credit: Lego Grad Student)

Other publications

Bailey, D., Driffield, N. and Kispeter, E. (2019) A no-deal Brexit could put nearly 20% of British jobs at risk and disproportionately hurt weaker regions. The Conversation.

Bimrose,J. , Brown. A., Mulvey, R., Kieslinger, B. and Dewanti, R.T. (2019) Transforming identities and co-constructing careers of career counselors, Journal of Vocational Behaviour, Volume 111, April, pp. 7-23. The article can be accessed on the journal's website.