IER News & blogs

As a part of the LEGACY project, Dr Heike Behle recently presented a paper in which two ways to measure learning gain were critically assessed: Credentials and self-assessed improvement of specific skills.

Both ways have drawbacks: Credentials can be an effective way of measuring student learning within a particular class, since most institutions have a scaled grading system already in place. It is problematic, however, to use across classes and institutions and it does not measure the ‘distance travelled’ during higher education. On the other hand, self-assessed improvement of skills will always be subjective and will differ according to individuals’ personality and their personal and HE-related circumstances such as gender and subject studied. It is also important to notice that both data is censored, i.e. improvement is not unlimited.

Using Futuretrack data, Heike compared both ways and found that those who increased their learning gain using credentials are less likely to assess their skills highly, both variable correlate negatively. The findings are currently being prepared for publication. Reported in THES.

Despite all of the talk about inter-generational betrayal by the old of the young, the largest ratio to vote leave was amongst low-skilled workers (70%). Their frustration and desire for something to change is understandable. They are in bad jobs, are too often stuck in these jobs and jostle more in these jobs with migrant workers. Their situation is a symptom of three developments that have occurred in the UK labour market since the economic crisis. First, job polarisation has consolidated. Second, non-standard employment has increased in the worst jobs. Third, UK-born workers have benefitted less from employment restructuring.

The Government Office for Science is looking at how changes in technology and an ageing population affect what skills the UK will need in the future. The project also considers how investment in skills and encouraging lifelong learning can have a positive impact on productivity. This project aims to provide policy-makers with evidence on the current and future state of skills and lifelong learning in the UK. IER researchers have contributed to the evidence base on:

Skills and Lifelong Learning: Gaps in Training Provision - This report looks at current trends and challenges for policymakers in the UK skills system, including how geography affects provision of skills, individual access to skills and training, the role of migration and the role of careers advice.

• Green, A., Hogarth, T., Barnes, S-A, Gambin, L. and Sofroniou N. (2016) The UK's Skill System: Training, Employability and Gaps in Provision. London: Foresight, Government Office for Science.

The UK skills system: how aligned are public policy and employer views of training provision? - This report explores trends and developments in UK skills policy, employer views on training and issues in realising an employer owned skills system.

• Green, A. and Hogarth, T. (2016) The UK skills system: how aligned are public policy and employer views of training provision? London: Foresight, Government Office for Science.

IER is seeking to appoint two outstanding researchers to contribute to developing and enhancing its reputation as an internationally leading, multi-disciplinary research-only institute. We intend to make two appointments from across the Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow and Principal Research Fellow levels. Candidates with interests in any of the Institute’s diverse fields of research are encouraged to apply, although at least one of the appointments will be in the area of vocational education and training (VET), and at least one of the appointments will have strong quantitative research skills.

Application deadline 8 January 2017, and interviews will be held on 2 February 2017

Working Futures 2014-2024 is the sixth in a series of quantitative assessments of employment prospects in the UK labour market over a 10 year horizon, created for the UK Commission for Employment and Skills by Cambridge Econometrics and the Warwick Institute for Employment Research. The projections were prepared in late 2015 and early 2016 and are based on a view of the likely medium-term evolution of the economy at that time. With the support of UKCES and the Department for Education, the Warwick IER created a web page from which all the reports and outputs from these projections can be downloaded. The main output of the projection exercise is a set of Excel workbooks containing historical trends and future prospects for output and employment by industry sector for the UK and its constituent nations and the English regions. Workbooks for smaller geographical areas are also being made available (to authorised users only).