IER is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE as a Principal Research Fellow. Deirdre has a long established relationship with IER and has been an Associate Fellow since 2006. Deirdre is an international expert in careers, employment and skills policy, research and practice. Her main research interests include: the marketisation of careers provision; partnership and city approaches to careers work; assessing and measuring the impact of guidance interventions; quality and evidence-based approaches to careers, employment and skills; the application of careers coaching, information communications technologies (ICT) and labour market intelligence in public sector services.

She is also Co-Editor of the British Journal for Guidance and Counselling: International Symposium Series. Deirdre is currently Chair of a DfE/CfBT Senior Advisory Group (Promotions) raising the profile of a new Core Maths Support Programme across England. She has acted as a Commissioner at the UK Commission for Employment & Skills (UKCES, 2011 - 2015). Deirdre was Chair of the National Careers Council in England (2012 - 2014), reporting directly to three Skills Ministers.

Deirdre has given written and oral evidence to UK-wide Parliamentary and Assembly Governments and published extensively in academic and professional journals. She is a consultant to the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN, 2011-2015) on quality assurance and evidence-based policies and practices. Deirdre recently led a UK Country delegation to the International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy (ICCDPP) 7th Symposium held in Iowa. The Mayor of London recently endorsed her work on 'London Ambitions: Shaping a Successful Careers Offer for all young Londoners'. She is passionate about improving careers support systems and encouraging young people to build upon their early achievements in mathematics. In 2012, she was awarded an Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen for services to career guidance.

We are delighted to announce the arrival of Dr Charoula Tzanakou who has joined IER as Research Fellow on the ESRC-funded Precarious Pathways to Employment of Young People (#Paths2Work). Since completing her PhD at Warwick in 2012, Dr Tzanakou has worked at the Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE) Research Centre at the University of Oxford and at the IER. In September 2013, Charoula was appointed as Research Fellow to work with Professor Alison Rodger, in the Faculty of Analytical Sciences, on an ESRC-funded project on the under-representation and low retention of women in academic science careers.

Internationally, the Institute for Employment Research has informed and shaped policy debate and practice on career development services in response to political, economic, technological and social changes. Our research has resulted in new policy frameworks for systems design and delivery of careers services; and has informed professional development in careers policy, research and practice. A summary of the labour market information (LMI) impact case study produced by Professor Jenny Bimrose and others from IER is now available.

IER would like to welcome Dr Mary McMahon, from The University of Queensland, who has arrived this week to start her 4 week IAS Fellowship. Mary will be presenting at various events over the next few weeks, so keep an eye on our news for more information. Professor Mark Watson, Distinguished Professor from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa, will also be visiting IER at the end of June. Together Mary, Mark and Jenny will be pursuing their international research collaboration on older women.

A special edition of the British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, based on the ESRC careers seminar, is now available. This comprises 8 articles and an editorial, which are all available online, free of charge, thanks to generous funding by the University of Warwick for Gold Open Access.