IER News & blogs

IER's Professor Anne Green and Dr Erika Kispeter will give a presentation entitled 'Economic Sustainability Formulating Inclusive Growth Agendas for Cities: A Focus on Labour Markets' at a conference which celebrates the UN World Cities Day on 31 October. The presentation draws on a recently completed study, International policy and practice review: how do cities lead an inclusive growth agenda?, Anne and Erika conducted with Paul Sissons (University of Coventry) and Francesca Froy (Whose City?) for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The conference is organised by the Sustainable Cities Global Research Priority of the University of Warwick and aims to offer the opportunity to hear more about the wide variety of research being undertaken in the cities space.

Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE delivered a keynote presentation at the official launch of Work Experience Week at the Guildhall, London. Work Experience Week is dedicated to raising awareness of the benefits of high quality work experience. It covers all experiences of work, from apprenticeships to traineeships, internships to volunteering as well as more traditional work experience programmes. It was an opportunity for organisations across the country to host activities showcasing their work experience provision, and to demonstrate the difference a high quality placement can make to an individual’s employment prospects and life. This year’s launch event showcased experiences of the world of work for young people that help employers develop a talent pipeline for their businesses and expand development opportunities for their existing workforce.

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.

David Way CBE highlights in the TES one important theme that has emerged from findings in a new book A Race to the Top is the potential role of apprenticeships in helping to achieve greater social mobility.

IER's Dr Deirdre Hughes has contributed to the book. David Way says that Deirdre writes with great clarity about “the urgent imperative for individuals to be guided through an increasingly fast-changing and complex education and labour market landscape". This seems absolutely critical for both young people and employers. He suggests that "unless we can bring greater clarity to the choices young people and their parents make, they will stick with what they know and apprenticeships will remain stubbornly low."

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.