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The author of this article suggests that in UK policy discussion, skills are portrayed as being important for dealing with changes in the labour market. It is noted that there is significant uncertainty concerning the extent to which graduates actually use the skills gained in higher education (HE) as part of their jobs. The author demonstrates how some graduates from the Futuretrack survey are using their skills and knowledge in their jobs after having graduated in the midst of a recession.

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This report examines the adult skills landscape in the UK by examining who invests in, and who participates in, job-related training and education. The report considers how these trends have changed over time and to what extent adult skills affect social mobility. Overall, the findings suggest that adult training is often only available to workers who are highly paid or skilled with those with the lowest qualifications losing out on training. Specific findings are that: (1) disadvantaged adults with the lowest qualifications are the least likely to access adult training despite being the group who would benefit most; (2) overall investment in adult skills from employers, government and individuals was around £44 billion in 2013 to 2014 - government funds just 7 per cent of this training; (3) government funding for the Adult Skills Budget fell by £830 million (cash terms) between 2010 to 2011, and from £2.84 billion to £2.01 billion, equivalent to a 34 per cent fall (real terms) between 2015 to 2016; and (4) graduates are three times more likely to receive training than those with no qualifications, while professionals and managers are about twice as likely to receive training as lower-skilled workers.

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The recent establishment of the European Higher Education Area and the ongoing monitoring carried out by the Bologna Follow-up Group raises the question: to what extent have the objectives of the Bologna Process been implemented in the varied higher education systems of the 47 signatory states, including the former Soviet Union states? This article concentrates on the extent of the Bologna Process implementation in Russia and Ukraine at the national policy level, focusing on the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), the dual-cycle degree organisation and the development of quality assurance. Based on official documentation, it appears that by 2009 Ukraine had achieved more than Russia in the implementation of Bologna aims and objectives. The theoretical approach suggested by Heinze and Krill is used to identify the national considerations of Russia and Ukraine relative to the Bologna Process, and Phillips and Ochs' model of policy transfer is employed to analyse the similarities and differences of the Bologna Process implementation in Russia and Ukraine. The findings suggest that while Ukraine may have implemented more of the Bologna Process objectives overall, including ECTS and the degree cycles, Russia has made progress in the diploma supplement, and both countries are at a similar level of quality assurance.

Abstract from EERJ website. Show less

Higher education in England has evolved into a mass education system, with nearly one in two young people participating in higher education by the age of 30. Research shows that the vast majority of graduates are still working in what are considered graduate jobs, yet the transition from higher education into work has become more complex and prolonged. This literature review examines the career choices graduates make and how this links to their decisions when in higher education. Specifically, the report examines: (1) how the qualifications graduates gain enable them to practise in their chosen industry or profession; (2) the types of courses that qualify graduates to practise in their chosen industry or profession; (3) the extent to which graduates gain employment in their chosen field; and (4) the extent to which graduates change their minds about their career choices during their studies.

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Research suggests that intergenerational worklessness is unlikely to be widespread in Wales. However, fragile employment - whereby individuals move repeatedly in and out of work with periods of worklessness in between - is a significant problem for some households and communities. This report reviews the academic and policy literature on the effectiveness of policies designed to tackle intergenerational worklessness and, more specifically, fragile employment, taking account of the fact that the strength of the evidence varies between studies. It uses an employability framework to identify the factors that restrict an individual's ability to enter, remain and progress in work, and outlines a series of practical recommendations that the Welsh Government should consider to address the issue of fragile employment.

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Given the recent focus on the employability and earnings of university graduates in the UK, there is a need to explore the employability initiatives offered by higher education institutions (HEIs). Work placements and work experience offered through HEIs aim to improve students' job readiness, and ability to secure suitable jobs after graduation, but little is known about the work experience opportunities available, who can access them, and their impact on individuals, institutions and employers. To address this situation, the Department for Education has commissioned this review of available literature on work placements and work experience in higher education in the UK since 2010, to explore the value that they offer to individuals, HE institutions and employers. This research was conducted in 2019 and 2020 and reflects the state of evidence at this point in time.

The focus was on the following research questions: What approaches do universities currently take to improve employability of their students/graduates? What types of work placement/work experience opportunities are available to students in the UK? What benefits/costs are realised by students who undertake a placement/work experience opportunity? What benefits/costs are realised by institutions that encourage placement/work experience opportunities? What benefits/costs are realised by employers that offer a placement/work experience opportunity?

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Futuretrack is a longitudinal study of people who applied in 2005/06 for a full-time place in a UK higher education institution, to commence study in October 2006. This report is based on the Stage 4 survey, when the majority of respondents had completed three or four year undergraduate courses 18 or 30 months previously. Many of them, along with most of the sub-sample who had not obtained such degrees by full-time study, could be assumed to have achieved some degree of labour market integration. The Stage 4 questionnaire built on the earlier stages of the Futuretrack project. Its objective was to investigate graduates' evaluation of their [higher education] HE experience, the career and employment choices that faced them, the opportunities they had accessed, the extent to which their aspirations and plans at the start of their courses had changed or remained stable, had been realised or obstructed. We wanted to know what had influenced career planning and aspirations. Stage 4 was also an opportunity to explore how far prior educational and social advantage and disadvantage had been reinforced or had become less important during the process of HE, and the impact of studying in different types of [higher education institution] HEI and in different regions. We wanted to examine the relationships between the educational and cultural capital brought into HE, the impact of different types of HE experience, including the knowledge and skills developed in subjects and disciplines, the variables that led to satisfaction with the experience of HE and early career outcomes.

We know that graduate unemployment since 2009 has increased, in conjunction with UK unemployment generally: but which types of graduates have been unable to access appropriate employment and why? We have considered the graduate outcomes in relation to the economic climate they have entered. How far was it possible to assess whether their experiences could be attributed to the global recession, or give any indication that current patterns of integration are indicative of changing longer-term trends in the demand for the graduate labour? Finally, although the residual non-HE participant sub-sample was small, we hoped that it would be possible to make some evaluation of the differential impact of following an alternative path to full-time HE participation and investigate the experiences of those who had not obtained degrees. How had their careers developed, and how far did the longer experience of employment that most had acquired compare with the value of a degree in terms of relative earnings, access to opportunity and satisfaction with their current situations? For all categories of respondent, we asked them to evaluate their experiences, choices and opportunities, and how they envisaged their longer-term career prospects.

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In the last two decades, education to work transitions have become more turbulent and uncertain. Work experience, and internships in particular, during undergraduate study are widely recognized as a way of gaining relevant work experience and as a route into employment. This chapter explores how internships undertaken during higher education affect graduates' transitions to work in the UK and Italy using two longitudinal graduate surveys, AlmaLaurea for Italy and Futuretrack for the UK. Results show that internships in both the UK and in Italy have a positive effect on being employed after graduation. In the UK internships also have a positive effect on wages. Comparing graduates' early career outcomes in two different institutional contexts also highlights the importance of having a clear definition of internships to distinguish them from other types of work experience within and beyond national and institutional boundaries.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 145.301. Show less

The importance of high-quality career interventions throughout an individuals' lifespan has long been recognised. A pivotal feature of high-quality advice and guidance is reliable and up-to-date labour market information (LMI). The ultimate aim for the careers LMI database, known as LMI for All, has therefore been to provide a single access point for multiple, high quality sources of national and regional data, which is openly accessible. LMI for All has changed the way information on the labour market is made available and used by a range of beneficiaries, (e.g. government, careers organisations, schools and colleges), both across the UK and internationally, to support the delivery of careers education, information and guidance services. As the database becomes increasingly widely used, it benefits both careers service providers and users of services, enabling access to up-to-date and robust data on the UK national and regional labour markets. In turn, beneficiaries are enabling careers professionals to provide high quality and impartial information to support career decisions. This report details work undertaken to support the delivery of the LMI for All service from October 2018 to September 2019, as well as the work to improve the service by extending it with new datasets and integrating new technologies.

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