Degrees of Advantage: A longer-term investigation of the careers of UK graduates
We are delighted to announce the new stage of the Futuretrack study, which will catch up with the Futuretrack cohort of students who applied to university in 2005/2006, most of whom graduated in 2009/10, eight to nine years after their graduation. This is the fifth stage of the Futuretrack longitudinal survey, and is funded by the Nuffield Foundation. It provides a timely opportunity to see how the Futuretrackers have navigated the labour market over the longer term. Futuretrack Stage 5 aims to:
create an accurate picture of the kinds of jobs graduates are doing in the longer-term, and how they got them,
explore how the recession affected graduate employment,
collect data on the longer-term impact of student debt on graduate careers,
establish whether higher education has contributed to social mobility, and
compare the experiences of the Futuretrack cohort with students who graduated in 1995.
The project will run for 18 months, from April 2018 to September 2019.
Futuretrack stages 1-4 were led by Kate Purcell, working closely with Peter Elias.*|END:IF|*
International visitor to IER
David Owen met Professor Sawako Yufu from Waseda University in Tokyo to discuss IER work on the Department for Education's Teacher Workload Survey and research into teacher earnings for the NASUWT on March 22nd. Professor Yufu is a quantitative researcher who studies teachers' working conditions and educational reform in Japan.
She runs a regular survey of teacher workload in Japan. Her particular interests are in the effect which the school environment and neighbourhood have on workload and trends inn workload over time. (Image credit: Lego Grad Student.) *|END:IF|*
First findings of AHRC research on digital skills in museums
The ‘One by One’ project, funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council, seeks to understand the impact of digital technology on museums. The notions of visit and object, collection and exhibition, have all been disrupted and renegotiated by the influence of digital technology. However, over a third of museums in the UK still feel that they do not have the in-house skills to meet their digital aspirations, and rather than improving, some digital skills areas have decreased. Sally-Anne Barnes, Erika Kispeter and Doris Eikhof (University of Leicester) have undertaken the first phase of the project mapping digital skills and literacies in UK museums. Some initial findings have been published as part of the Museums in the Web 2018 conference to be held in April. The project is led by Dr Ross Parry from the University of Leicester.
Parry, R., Eikhof, D.R., Barnes, S-A. and Kispeter, E. (2018). 'Development, supply, deployment, demand: Balancing the museum digital skills ecosystem. First findings of the ‘One by One’ national digital literacy project.' MW18: Museums and the Web 2018.*|END:IF|*
Expert comment on UK unemployment
David Owen has given an expert comment on UK monthly unemployment figures, highlighting differences between national and regional trends:
"The UK unemployment rate for 16-64 year olds increased very slightly over the last 3 months (November to February compared with August to October 2017), but this was composed of a small fall for men and a slightly larger increase for women.
For the West Midlands, the unemployment rate fell very slightly for both men and women over this period, but the fall was larger for men than for women. In the UK as a whole, the percentage of both men and women in the labour force and the percentage of men and women in work increased slightly. However, in the West Midlands, the percentage in work did not change, but the percentage of men in the workforce fell, slightly more than the fall for women. This suggests that the more favourable trend for the West Midlands may be the result of formerly unemployed people (mainly men) no longer looking for work". *|END:IF|*
Westminster Insight event on TEF
Heike Behle and Anne Wilson, Head of Careers at Warwick University's Student Careers & Skills gave a presentation on the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) at the Westminster Insight Forum on 13th March. The presentation showed how students can use R2 Strengths to increase their employability and how the changes in employability can be measured.
(Image credit: Hefce)*|END:IF|*
Conference on computer-supported education
Alan Brown and Jenny Bimrose jointly presented at the CSEDU 2018 conference - the 10th International Conference on Computer Supported Education, 15 – 17 March, Madeira, for the EmployID FP7 project, funded by the EU. The title of the submission was: ‘The use of on-line collaborative learning to facilitate learning, development and professional identity transformation of career and employment practitioners’.
*|END:IF|*
Special edition of Journal of Vocational Behavior
Jenny Bimrose has co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Vocational Behavior on refugees. Together with the other co-editors, she has co-authored the editorial for this special issue: Newman, A., Bimrose, J., Nielsen, I., & Zacher, H. (2018). Vocational Behavior of Refugees: How do Refugees Seek Employment, Overcome Work-related Challenges, and Navigate Their Careers? Guest Editorial. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 105, 1–5. Doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.01.007
Spring statement - Wales
Daria Luchinskaya has analysed the Spring Statement for Wales Public Services. Read her expert view on their website.
The key finding is that austerity and welfare cuts are to continue and no big change to Welsh Budget has occurred. Eight years of austerity is taking its toll on key public services such as NHS, schools and local government. Keeping public spending at the current fraction of national income as well as eliminating the deficit could mean significant tax increases (or spending cuts) over the medium term.
