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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

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 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 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

This study seeks to analyse whether greater teenage engagement in school-mediated career development activities, which include elements of direct exposure to the working world, can be associated with more positive attitudes towards schooling. The 2012 PISA survey asked a series of questions which explore teenage participation in career development activities and subsequent attitudes towards schooling. In the analysis, four activities are isolated (participation in internships, job fairs, job shadowing and speaking with a careers advisor in school). Only a minority of countries taking part in PISA 2012 opted into these questions and of these six have been selected for this analysis (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland and Ireland).

The report finds that there is a strong, statistically significant relationship between participation in career development activities and more positive attitudes towards schooling. The most consistent positive effects are found in relationship to speaking with a careers advisor in school and attending a job fair. Of the six countries, it is teenagers in Finland and Ireland who demonstrate the greatest levels of responsiveness to participation in career activities. Further analysis will explore the relationship between participation in career development activities and academic achievement.

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This study aims to harness insights from UK longitudinal studies to help careers professionals and other school teaching staff to identify and prioritise pupils who require greater levels of careers provision as they approach key decision making points. Comprised of a questionnaire and scoring system, the toolkit has been designed to be comprehensive - relevant to students at all attainment levels - by making use of robust UK longitudinal data which compares students of similar characteristics (for example, socio-economic background, geographical area, attainment levels) to identify which factors which make a difference to economic outcomes (earnings and employment) in later life. Importantly, the study identifies attitudes and experiences (we term them 'indicators') which schools can influence in order to better prepare their young people for adult working life. The approach adopted is primarily designed to allow schools to identify students requiring greater levels of support to help them become well prepared.

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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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This report explores the findings from a new survey conducted by YouGov which asked 824 secondary school teachers what happens to children and young people in terms of their academic achievement after taking part in activities with local employers, for example work experience, careers sessions or enterprise activities. Many teachers are well placed to offer an informed professional opinion on whether employer engagement impacts on pupil achievement, why and how it might do so, when and where it is optimally designed for maximum impact and who (among pupils) is best placed to benefit. The report addresses three specific themes: (1) Do employer engagement activities have an impact on the academic achievement of pupils? (2) Which activities have the greatest impacts, and on which type of pupil? (3) Why, according to teachers, do these activities have an impact?

Key findings include: (1) 9 out of 10 secondary school teachers (93 per cent) say that work experience and employer related activities can help students to do better in exams; (2) Teachers also said that one in five pupils (20 per cent) in a typical year group today have positively benefitted from these activities in school; (3) Successful work experience placements are believed to have the greatest impact on improving academic attainment, with over a quarter of teachers ranking it as their first choice. This is followed closely by employer-led sessions such as career events with employee volunteers (4) While the sentiment was shared across the state and independent sector, the majority of teachers believed that employer engagement in the most disadvantaged schools had the highest impact; and (5) Over half of teachers felt academic achievement can be improved by helping students understand the relevance of education to employment, as well as exposing students to new role models through employer engagement.

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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

'Drawing the future', the biggest survey of its kind ever conducted, asked primary school children aged seven to eleven to draw a picture of the job they want to do when they grew up. Over 20,000 entries have been received from UK and Internationally. To ascertain the factors influencing career aspirations, the survey asked children their gender, ethnicity, favourite subject and if they knew anyone personally who did the job and, if not, why they had chosen the job. The survey has produced some significant findings, highlighting that children from an early age often have some sophisticated and thought through ideas about who they want to become when they grow up. The findings also show that from a young age children often stereotype jobs according to gender and their career choices are based on these assumptions with the majority of boys wanting to be sportsmen and girls wanting to be teachers. And the findings have implications for all of us seeking to improve social mobility: children's career aspirations are most influenced by who they know - their parents and friends of parents and the TV and media. Worryingly, less than 1 per cent of children have heard about the jobs through people from the world of work coming to their school. And the survey shows clearly for the first time that this is a global issue.

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