IER News & blogs

Following successful events at the University of Warwick in 2014 and Aston University in 2015, The Third Midlands Youth Labour Market Forum, will be held on Wednesday 23^rd November 2016 at College Court, the University of Leicester’s leading conference venue. The forum was developed to engage with all those concerned with young people’s transitions from education to employment as part of the ESRC-funded Paths2Work research project, Precarious Pathways into Employment for Young People?

Melanie Simms, Professor of Work and Employment at the University of Leicester School of Management, is hosting the event this year and further details about the forum meeting, including instructions about how to register, will be sent to you later in the summer. In the meantime, please put the date in your diary to ensure that you will be able to attend what promises to be a very exciting event, now that we have entered the final year of the research project and have a great deal of data to discuss with you.

If you have any queries, please contact Dr Arlene Robertson, A.Robertson2@warwick.ac.uk Tel: +44(0)24 76 522328)

New report from the Institute for Employment Research at University of Warwick, commissioned by the Public Policy Institute for Wales, reviews the effectiveness of policies to tackle intergenerational worklessness and fragile employment. The research, Dr Daria Luchinskaya and Professor Anne Green, suggests that intergenerational worklessness is unlikely to be widespread in Wales. However, fragile employment – whereby individuals move repeatedly in and out of employment – is a significant problem for some households and in some communities. The report finds that a ‘Work First’ policy approach (aimed at enabling people to get into work) has had some success but many of the jobs that are secured are part-time, temporary, low skill and low paid. Read the report on the PPIW website.

Recent research undertaken by the Warwick Institute for Employment Research on the impact of changes to teachers’ pay on equality in schools in England commissioned by the NASUWT has been cited in the School Teacher's Review Body 26th Report. The research found that teachers with protected characteristics had been particularly disadvantaged by the approach taken by schools. NASUWT have expressed concern about widespread retrospective alteration of school pay policies and practice. Further research will be undertaken in the future to understand the impact of the changes to teachers’ pay in the long-term.

The Warwick Institute for Employment Research (IER) was commissioned by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Adult Education to undertake a study to scope the need, reach and areas for policy and practice development for adult education concerning disadvantaged adults. This enquiry gathered the views of key stakeholders, partners and providers on their top priorities for adult learning in 2016 and over the next 5 - 10 years. The report will be launched today at the All Party Parliamentary Group for Adult Education Reception, ‘Closing the Learning Gap – Opening up Opportunities for Adults’. The report provides a full picture of the benefits of adult education for individuals, employers and communities focusing on what works well and what needs to be improved to make best use of the resources available for adult education, particularly in addressing the needs of those most disadvantaged in our society.

The research was led by Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE with Karen Adriaanse and Dr Sally-Anne Barnes.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) has commissioned a piece of research by the Institute for Employment Research (IER) at the University of Warwick. HESA is leading a review to find out what future requirements there will be for data on the destinations and outcomes for students leaving HE. To help inform the Review, HESA wants to find out particular information from students and graduates and we would like to invite students and gradautes to participate in an online or face-to-face focus group.

The first face-to-face focus group will be held at the University of Warwick on 14 June at 3pm. All participants will receive £10 for their participation. Click here to find out more or sign up for this focus group or future online groups.