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This chapter explores careers talks in schools to build on earlier work by the authors in light of new assessments of the impacts of careers activities on the economic outcomes of young people and how these activities can be best delivered. [The authors] were inspired by, among others, S. Jones et al. Which examines the reflections of 380 young adults on their school-mediated employer engagement experiences, finding that the clearest benefit lies in Cultural Capital, followed by Social Capital and then by Human Capital. While Kashefpakdel and Percy [2016] focused only on the wage premium associated with 'outside speakers,' two studies since have referenced it in the context of a broader set of careers-related activities in schools. The weak results for the school-led careers activities bear further examination. Various explanations present themselves for why school-led careers activities did not correlate more closely with wage outcomes, despite being structurally similar to other activities that were convincingly correlated.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.717. Show less

There is significant policy interest in the issue of young people's fractured transitions into the labour market. Many scholars and policy-makers believe that changes in the education system and labour market over recent decades have created a complex world for young people; and that this can partly be addressed by enhanced career education while individuals are at school. However, the literature lacks in-depth quantitative analysis making use of longitudinal data. This paper draws on the British Cohort Study 1970 to investigate the link between career talks by external speakers and employment outcomes, and finds some evidence that young people who participated in more career talks at age 14-16 enjoyed a wage premium 10 years later at age 26. The correlation is statistically significant on average across all students who receive talks at age 14-15; but remains the case for 15-16 year olds only if they also described the talks as very helpful.

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This chapter explores the evidence surrounding Schleicher's contention that episodes of employer engagement can impact on the academic motivation of teenagers by using the unique dataset on student attitudes and academic proficiency: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) own Programme International Student Attainment (PISA). It looks at the impact of both commonplace careers guidance activities and engagement with employers to further investigate the character of such relationships. The chapter seeks to build on the existing literature by specifically investigating hypotheses, exploring whether relationships can be drawn between participation in what the OECD describes as career development activities and both more positive attitudes towards education and improved academic achievement. It investigates whether participation in selected career development activities is associated with higher PISA mathematics scores. Work experience and other forms of employer engagement demonstrate to young people the links between what they do in the classroom and how those skills ultimately will be used in the labour market.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.717. Show less

This chapter focuses on the capacity of educational institutions to shape the social capital available to young people and explores how young people, of different social backgrounds, respond to such experiences. It explores whether access to school-mediated forms of social capital interact with existing levels of social advantage to multiply effects of comparative privilege. The chapter describes the impact of school-mediated action to enhance the work-related social capital of teenagers in the context of existing levels of family-based social relationships. It explains the relationship between access to school-mediated forms of social capital and outcomes related to its possession in the social context of the recipient. The chapter looks at the characteristics of young people who engaged in career talks and explores whether social background influences the level of later adult premiums received. It draws on data from the British Cohort Study 1970 to consider the impact of two forms of social capital encountered by teenagers.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.717. Show less

This chapter looks at young adults' recollection of school and college action to prepare them for the working world and, using regression analyses, explores what schools did to help young adults succeed in the adult working world. It considers the responses of 1,744 young British adults who completed a survey created by the Education and Employers Research team working with Prue Huddleston. The chapter outlines the results from a 2016 survey of 1,744 young British adults aged 19-24. Employer engagement has become a commonplace aspect of schooling in Britain. The survey began by asking respondents to describe the types of employer engagement activities in which they took part whilst in secondary education between the ages of 14 and 18. Young adults who had experienced the greatest volume of school-mediated employer engagement activities came, on average, from more privileged backgrounds.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.717. Show less

This chapter addresses the difficulties faced by many UK secondary school students in securing meaningful workplace experience in a medical context and which specifically explores job shadowing as an option for resolving this problem. It focuses on the problem identified in the study: inequitable access to periods of work experience of value in progression to highly selective courses of study at elite universities. The chapter seeks to add to a growing literature exploring the issue of equity in employer engagement in education. It reveals a situation whereby links between secondary school students and employees within the National Health Service (NHS) are numerous but are clearly patterned by social relationships which are rooted in social class. In the medical profession, imbalance in the distribution of social capital is compounded by more structural educational inequality, such as universities offering places only to students with demonstrable workplace experience.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.717. Show less

Launched in 2014, Primary Futures was designed to provide UK schools with easy access to individuals willing to provide free voluntary support across a range of areas, including: (1) providing first-hand insight into jobs and careers, with many thousands of volunteers across the country identifying themselves as being able to speak with specific experience of being an apprentice, running their own enterprise, using mathematics or modern foreign languages at work, or working in the fields of science and technology; (2) being a potential reading or number partner; or (3) being willing to be considered as a school governor.

In this paper the authors discuss the impact, demand and implementation of employer engagement in primary education. They assess recent literature on the subject and find that while research into the impact of employer engagement activities on the learning and progression of children is limited, it suggests that employer engagement, if done correctly, can be positively associated with improved attainment, the development of non-cognitive skills demanded by 21st century employers and changed attitudes towards the world of work and the relationship between the classroom and the workplace.

Edited excerpts from publication and publisher's website. Show less

The transition of young people from education into employment between the ages of 16 and 25 is always a challenging one. The [COVID-19] pandemic has once again had a disproportionate impact on young people - both through disruption to education, and the oversized damage to the retail and hospitality industries that often act as a critical bridge for young people into employment. This has placed further emphasis on essential skills and their critical importance to supporting an effective transition into the world of work - a relevance increasingly echoed by both educators and employers. While there is some evidence that essential skills support effective transitions and workplace progression, the emergence of the Skills Builder Universal Framework as a shared approach to defining essential skills and quantifying progress provides a new opportunity. This research sets out to use new data gathered with YouGov to explore three questions: (1) Who has essential skills, and how does this vary by socio-economic background? (2) How young people build essential skills, and what are their attitudes to them? (3) What is the impact of essential skills on earnings and qualifications level?

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Building on new theories about the meaning of employability in the twenty-first century and the power of social and cultural capital in enabling access to economic opportunities, this book considers how employer engagement is delivered and explores the employment and attainment outcomes linked to participation. The book is a companion volume to 'Understanding employer engagement in education' (Mann, Stanley and Archer, 2014) [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 117.1548]. Introducing international policy, research and conceptual approaches, contributors to the volume illustrate the role of employer engagement within schooling and the life courses of young people. The book considers employer engagement within economic and educational contexts and its delivery and impact from a global perspective. The work explores strategic approaches to the engagement of employers in education and concludes with a discussion of the implications for policy, practice and future research.

Abstract from publisher's website with additional information.

The contents are as follows: Preface / Andreas Schleicher; Introduction / Anthony Mann; 'Employers at the heart of the system?': the role of employers in qualification development / Prue Huddleston and Andrea Laczik; Investigating how benefits of an industry-school partnership vary between industry sectors / Kerry Lee, Fatima Abdulghani and John Hope; Who is getting prepared?: Year 11 students' views on careers education and work experience in English secondary schools / Julie Moote and Louise Archer; Competences, capabilities and capitals: conceptual paradigms in the educational-employment relationship / Michael Tomlinson; Socialised social capital?: the capacity of schools to use careers provision to compensate for social capital deficiencies among teenagers / Anthony Mann, Elnaz Kashefpakdel and Christian Percy; Tell it like it is: education and employer engagement, freelance and self-employment / Prue Huddleston and Heidi Ashton;

'Selling the dream': stakeholder perceptions of the translation of employability policy into university strategy / Roy Priest; 'My brother's football teammate's dad was a pathologist': serendipity and employer engagement in medical careers / Steven Jones, Anthony Mann, Elnaz Kashefpakdel and Rachael McKeown; Someone in your life who really believes in you: evidence and practice in employer mentoring / Tristram Hooley and Jonathan Boys; Aligning school to work: assessing the impact of employer engagement in young people's transition from education to work / Terence Hogarth and Lynn Gambin; Ethnographies of work and possible futures: new ways for young people to learn about work and choose a meaningful first career / Nancy Hoffman with Tobie Baker Wright and Mary Gatta; What impact can employer engagement have on student attitudes towards school and their academic achievement?: an analysis of OECD PISA data / Elnaz Kashefpakdel, Jordan Redhill and Matteo Schleicher; Young people in the labour market: how teenage employer engagement makes a difference to adult outcomes / Elnaz Kashefpakdel, Anthony Mann, Rachael McKeown and Jordan Redhill; Insiders or outsiders, who do you trust?: engaging employers in school-based career activities / Christian Percy and Elnaz Kashefpakdel; Between two worlds: linking education and employment / Simon Field; Conclusions: implications for policy, practice and research / Prue Huddleston. Show less

This paper provides evidence of the benefits of career-related learning (CRL) for children in primary school. The term 'career-related learning' includes early childhood activities in primary schools designed to give children from an early age a wide range of experiences of, and exposure to, education, transitions and the world of work. The research compiles evidence on the career-related learning of primary aged children's decisions, aspirations and attitudes. In doing so this paper maps key actions being taken by primary schools to support children's transitions to secondary school and beyond. It considers how primary schools approach career-related learning and offers guidance on evidence-based practice. The paper draws evidence from academic and 'grey' literature (such as program evaluation reports and policy papers), and interviews with primary teachers and leading experts. It aims to clarify the impact that can be expected for children taking part in career-related learning activities. The paper highlights lessons that can be drawn from the existing evidence so that children and schools can be effectively supported when embarking on a program of career-related learning.

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