How international cities lead inclusive growth agendas
New research published on 24 January by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation examines inclusive growth: a major issue in the UK and internationally. To generate ideas to influence UK city leaders research by IER's and Paul Sissons at Coventry University and Francesca Froy from Whose City Ltd examined international examples of cities that have developed and implemented agendas to combine economic growth and social inclusion.
The report, , highlights that the labour market is a core focus for policy to connect growth and inclusion and points to the importance of paying greater attention to the demand side of the labour market and minimizing transitions into and within employment. are available to download.
IER researchers contribute to the Future of skills and lifelong learning Foresight project
The Government Office for Science is looking at how changes in technology and an ageing population affect what skills the UK will need in the future. The project considers how investment in skills and encouraging lifelong learning can have a positive impact on productivity. It aims to provide policy-makers with evidence on the current and future state of skills and lifelong learning in the UK. IER researchers have produced three evidence-based papers for the project:
, which looks at current trends in the UK skills system, including how geography affects provision of skills, individual access to skills and training, the role of migration and the role of careers advice.
, which explores trends and developments in UK skills policy, employer views on training and issues in realising an employer owned skills system.
Education as the underpinning system: Understanding the propensity for learning across the lifetime (forthcoming), which examines evidence on learning across the life course, frameworks for understanding the life course and the benefits of engaging with education and learning.
Credentials and self-reported skill gain do not measure the same
As a part of the , recently presented a paper in which two ways to measure learning gain were critically assessed: Credentials and self-assessed improvement of specific skills. Using data, Heike compared both ways and found that those who increased their learning gain using credentials are less likely to assess their skills highly, both variable correlate negatively. The findings are currently being prepared for publication.
Reported in .
Bad jobs, the bad jobs trap and the Brexit vote
In a recently published journal article IER's explores some of the factors associated with Brexit. He argues that recent developments in the UK labour market explain why 70% of low-skilled workers voted 'Leave' in the EU Referedum. The situation of these workers is a symptom of three developments: first, job polarisation has consolidated since the economic crisis; second, non-standard employment has increased in the worst jobs; and third, UK-born workers have benefitted less from employment restructuring. Theresa May has promised to address the plight of these workers, saying that she is listening to their frustrations. A good place to start would be to introduce polices that offer employment enrichment that improves job quality and provides springboards out of bad jobs.
Warhurst, C. (2016) Accidental tourists: Brexit and its toxic employment underpinnings, Socio-Economic Review, 14(4): 819-825, 2016.
Forthcoming event - Gender and work in the food commodity chain
A workshop on Gendered Work in Global Food Commodity Chains will take place on 28 February 2017. Speakers include (University of Manchester), whose research on global value chains and agri-food, including the role of supermarkets, is widely applauded. The event is organised by the Connecting Research on Employment and Work Network (CREW), IER, the Centre for the Study of Women and Gender () and the (IAS). More information will be available on the soon.
Forthcoming event - LMI for All webinar
is an online data portal, which makes available high quality, reliable labour market information (LMI) for the purpose of supporting and informing careers decisions. This data is freely available via an Application Programming Interface (API) for use in websites and applications. The project is managed by IER and Pontydysgu for the Department for Education and has been running since 2012. Register for one of the upcoming to find out more about how it is being used and how you can take advantage of this free resource.
New projects
, funded by Forces in Mind Trust
Review of trends and best practice in lifelong guidance, funded by OECD
For information on any of IER's publications, research or other activities, please get in touch.
New research published on 24 January by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation examines inclusive growth: a major issue in the UK and internationally. To generate ideas to influence UK city leaders research by IER's and Paul Sissons at Coventry University and Francesca Froy from Whose City Ltd examined international examples of cities that have developed and implemented agendas to combine economic growth and social inclusion.
As a part of the , recently presented a paper in which two ways to measure learning gain were critically assessed: Credentials and self-assessed improvement of specific skills. Using data, Heike compared both ways and found that those who increased their learning gain using credentials are less likely to assess their skills highly, both variable correlate negatively. The findings are currently being prepared for publication.
In a recently published journal article IER's explores some of the factors associated with Brexit. He argues that recent developments in the UK labour market explain why 70% of low-skilled workers voted 'Leave' in the EU Referedum. The situation of these workers is a symptom of three developments: first, job polarisation has consolidated since the economic crisis; second, non-standard employment has increased in the worst jobs; and third, UK-born workers have benefitted less from employment restructuring. Theresa May has promised to address the plight of these workers, saying that she is listening to their frustrations. A good place to start would be to introduce polices that offer employment enrichment that improves job quality and provides springboards out of bad jobs.