Professor Peter Elias has just celebrated over 40 years at the University of Warwick, which was recognised at a special long service awards ceremony with guests and other members of the university.

At IER, Peter has developed methods for the measurement and analysis of labour market dynamics and has a keen interest in the classification of labour market activities. His most recent work has been on occupational classification which has taken him to over 50 countries.

Find out more about Peter's time at the university.

In late September, IER's Anne Green travelled to South Africa at the invitation of the Human Sciences Research Council under the auspices of a National Research Foundation Knowledge, Interchange & Collaboration Grant. The purpose of her visit was to exchange knowledge on tackling unemployment issues in the UK, in order to feed into learning on poverty and inequality issues in South Africa. Anne gave a presentation at the Society of South African Geographers Centenary Conference in Stellenbosch and then travelled to Pretoria where she gave a Workshop and a Seminar on unemployment issues and labour market geographies.

A recent IER report prepared for HEFCE and SRHE IER's Dr Heike Behle compares the early pathways of graduates from two leaving cohorts: those who graduated in 1999 (‘class of 1999’) and those who graduated from three year courses in 2009 and from four year courses in 2010 ('class of 2009/2010'). It shows that the proportion of employed graduates working in non-graduate jobs during their first year after graduation has remained high with approximately 36 per cent of all employed graduates from three year courses and, respectively 30 per cent of all employed graduates from four year courses working in non-graduate jobs fifteen months after graduation.

Behle, H. (2016) Graduates in non-graduate occupations (Report prepared for HEFCE and SRHE). London: Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The increase in the proportion of graduates working outside traditional areas of graduate employment, changes in technology and the labour market, and the shift in the definitions of skill towards encompassing interpersonal abilities, have redefined the concept of ‘graduate’ jobs. This seminar provides a unique opportunity for expert discussion of the developments in graduate job classifications and their contributions to understanding the recent changes in the graduate labour market. The seminar is being organised by Dr Daria Luchinskaya, who joined IER in September.

More information and to register for the seminar on 9 November.

Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE, IER's Principal Research Fellow,was invited by the Chair of the Education Select Committee to facilitate a breakout session on the theme of 'Employability and Functional Skills' at their conference on 14 September. More than 100 guests attended a series of breakout sessions, during which a number of subjects arising through the Committee’s inquiry were discussed. These included primary and secondary assessment, parental engagement, social mobility in education, employability and functional skills, standards, behaviour and discipline, educating outdoors, expressive arts and creativity, and wellbeing and mindfulness.The conference finished with a keynote speech from academic and broadcaster Professor Mary Beard.

More information on the Education Select Committee Conference.