#TheWeekInCareers - Episode 14

Welcome to #TheWeekinCareers ! If you are a first-time reader (and congratulations if so, you are now part of a 1400+ strong community!), this newsletter is my attempt at summarising some of the key?#Careers -related news from across the?#Careersphere ?each week, along with some of the talking points I feel are worthy of further debate amongst the?#Careers ?community! So, without further ado, on to the news!

What we learned from the Ed Select Committee CEIAG Hearing...

This Tuesday saw the 4th in the series of the Education Select Committee's current inquiry into the state of CEIAG in England and finally, it was an opportunity to hear from young people themselves regarding their experiences of careers support while in school/college/university/apprenticeships. I'll start with the disclaimer that the young people who appeared at the hearing to give evidence were outstanding - Harley, Hollie, Maddelin, James, Hayley, Holly and Mariam were thoughtful, articulate and balanced in their responses and deserve nothing but credit for representing their generation and institutions impeccably ?? My ire certainly does not lie with them.

HOWEVER, after watching the full session earlier in the week, I had some serious concerns regarding how the hearing was led by the committee and in particular, some of the questions put to the young people (more on this later...), which I feel it is important to raise in order to combat what could be presented as an entirely positive narrative given the quality of the contributions made by the young speakers in attendance. With this in mind, here are my key takeaways from Tuesday's Education Select Committee hearing ??

• There were some interesting reflections on the disparity between WEX opportunities between the North of England and London/South-East (more on this further down...) - a couple of the speakers pointed this out directly and advocated for more virtual WEX experience opportunities to open doors for young people, especially in the North of England, which was gratifying to hear!
• The panel pushed the speakers hard on where they had received the information/guidance from that led to their current pathways and it was gratifying to hear the speakers push back on some of the perceptions of CEIAG, with one speaker mentioning that their institution had actually pushed too much on apprenticeships to the detriment of those who might have been more interested in routes like A-Levels, reflecting the vital role that careers professionals play in providing balance regarding qualification/training pathways, regardless of what the flavour of the month is with the government of the time. There were also useful reflections regarding the lack of advice/guidance prior to GCSE options, particularly in terms of not closing down options and knowing what might help for the future (e.g. DT/Computer Science for some Engineering disciplines, Triple Science for Medicine etc.)
• Understandably, the young people present reflected a mix of experiences regarding CEIAG - some speakers had received 'World of Work' sessions from Y10 onward, others praised the impact of WEX and employer talks, two speakers talked about the benefit of their 1:1 appointments and one of the speakers was very positive about his experience with a careers adviser, explaining how they had spent 50 minutes with him and how useful this had been in helping him consider his options.
• There were interesting reflections from the speakers about what might make a good careers education framework - lots of references to starting earlier (pre-GCSEs), bringing in employer and alumni speakers and giving opportunities for WEX, to bring the WHY and help young people with making decisions about their futures (although notable that the panel of MPs did not attempt to explain some of the background behind why aspects of careers education, such as work experience, are no longer mandatory in schools...)
• To my mind, there was either a refusal to acknowledge recent political history or an extraordinary lack of knowledge from the panel about WEX, which quite frankly left me shouting at the screen - did they not know about the removal of the statutory requirement for pre-16 work experience in 2012, or were they simply choosing to ignore it? Who is going to coordinate all of this targeted, tailored work experience for a year group of 250-300 students, with school budgets and staffing capacity already stretched to breaking point? This is the central practical challenge that went unspoken in the hearing - I don't think anyone is in any doubt as to the myriad benefits of WEX but without individuals who have responsibility and time/capacity to facilitate this, schools are always going to be limited in terms of what sort of WEX offer they can provide to students. The panel of MPs even asked the young people why they thought schools might not be offering as much WEX as they used to, which felt cheeky beyond belief and a really pointless use of the speakers' time. That said, there was a really nice point from one of the speakers regarding the lack of availability of placements in rural areas or regions with less industry and the potential of combatting this with an effective alumni programme (although again, who might resource/facilitate this was left unanswered by the panel...)
• The panel of MPs kept coming back to apprenticeships/degree apprenticeships and although the young people who were taking this route were obviously having a positive experience, it would have also been useful to have speakers present who'd had differing experiences of this pathway (particularly with the recent data regarding drop-out rates ). There was also no reference to the supply and demand issues related to higher/degree apprenticeships, in spite of this information being freely available from sources like Alan Bullock RCDP 's excellent higher and degree apprenticeship vacancy overview .
• There was a very fair point from one of the speakers regarding teaching staff and their potential knowledge of career pathways, based on what she was exposed to in school ('all of my teachers went to university and it was all they seemed to be familiar with') - this is obviously not true of all teachers or schools but was nonetheless an important point regarding the need for careers-related training for school staff delivered by qualified careers professionals (see Janet Colledge for some great examples of training delivered in this space).
• Primary Careers was raised by one of the MPs on the panel, and led to a nice caveat from one of the speakers about how careers education has probably changed a lot in the last 5-7 years (more nuanced than many of the previous statements we've seen from MPs on this subject!) and also the subtleties needed when broaching careers education with primary school children (e.g. it could be daunting to talk really seriously about the future at that age). The sad thing was that the original question from the panel seemed to focus on the 'What do you want to do when you're older?' question (back to 'jobs, jobs, jobs' again) rather than 'What sort of person do you want to be?' or 'What type of things do you enjoy doing?', with a focus more on challenges, interests and skills rather than jobs (although addressing job stereotypes is obviously something that is also very important, as we saw from the recent Our Future Derby impact report)
• There was a somewhat depressing reflection from a student regarding how they felt the education system was putting constant pressure on students from Year 7 in order to achieve grades that benefit the school, rather than support the futures of young people themselves - this hopefully acted as a wake-up call to the panel of MPs regarding how many young people feel the government have changed the education system in this country for the worse, although there also was a nuanced reflection from one of the speakers about how this might differ from school to school (however, as we saw throughout the hearing, there was also a notable lack of appreciation for the workload pressures facing schools and teaching/support/careers staff).
• Careers technology mentioned - one speaker mentioned that their school bought into Unifrog/Start or something similar and explained how useful it was for finding out about different pathways, particularly in terms of going into industries that are less well known. The speaker explained that using the system was a mandatory session that students had to take part in and that it prompted conversations with teachers/other staff regarding progression routes, which was helpful. Another speaker backed this up, saying that their school used this sort of system too but suggested that schools should do more with the data e.g. helping group young people into industry areas of interest based on their careers quiz results and then using this information to inform WEX placements and careers fairs. Springpod, Start and Unifrog were all mentioned by the speakers, who also raised important points about what young people then do with all of this information e.g. LMI can tell them the what but doesn't necessarily support students to get from A to B. TikTok was also mentioned as a potentially more useful resource for finding out information than the careers sites referenced and there was a real emphasis on how useful personal case studies are in terms of helping young people to understand more about different industries and occupations, which was interesting to hear. There was a definite emphasis on young people gravitating towards social media for careers information, which tallies with many conversations I've been having with the #Careers community recently (particularly concerns from careers professionals about how we can ensure quality of LMI when it is being delivered by such a huge number of potential sources).
• There was also a question from Robin Walker MP regarding 'Subject Champions' - connecting subjects 'to a career' (rather than careers in, careers with, careers from, which was disappointing) - one speaker mentioned their 'amazing' history teacher and how they were able to connect history as a subject back to the ways it influences the real world, which sounded brilliant. Most speakers felt that teachers had addressed careers within subjects but to greater/lesser degrees - clearly showing the need for Gatsby Benchmark 4 (Careers in the Curriculum) training as a core part of ITT or CPD offer to teaching staff in schools. Harley mentioned their A-Level Maths teacher in college linking every subject back to a real-world scenario e.g. Trigonometry for crime-scene analysis and this was fantastic to hear ('it was super interesting, and helped you know you didn't have to be a Mathematician') and another speaker echoed that relating subjects back to the real world was super important, as could also inspire more interest in the subject and show relevance. FINALLY a question from the panel about the broader value of taking a subject e.g. the skills, creativity, critical thinking they endow you with, followed by an articulate response from one of the speakers.
• Frustratingly, it felt like the line of questioning was ALL about 'jobs, jobs, jobs' - as far as I could gather, there was no reference to topics like self-employment, social justice and meaning/purpose/wellbeing, meaning that the characterisation of what CEIAG is was given a very narrow focus. There were also very few incisive questions from the panel of MPs about what young people didn't know now that they wish they had known in school (see: Izzy Garbutt's recent speech to the Youth Parliament for an example of this), which might have elicited a more interesting range of responses than the frankly nebulous 'How would you design an ideal careers service?'
• How would you design a careers service? - 'Start a year before students have to choose GCSE options' - the responses to this question made me worry that we still have too much of a narrow focus on subjects at GCSE as a means to an end, rather than to explore/further interests. There was lots of support for starting earlier in regard to careers education, making it sequential in the same way that academic qualifications are scaffolded (e.g. pre-guidance at each stage of education moving up the Key Stage ladder from KS3). Mariam was brilliant here, talking about the importance of linking interests, skills and extra-curriculars back to your GCSE subjects, an approach that I've no doubt many careers professionals would support. Another speaker spoke about the value of mentoring and that she currently goes back to facilitate this sort of activity with her old college - she felt this should be a standard practice in schools to help students gain awareness of the world outside of school, and MPs agreed, although much like the proposal in the recent report from Lord Blunkett , the challenge arguably lies in how this would be practically facilitated for every school across the country.
• There was a BRILLIANT final question from Holly, which I'm not sure any of the MPs present were expecting, regarding the importance of giving young people across the country an equal opportunity to undertake work experience, regardless of where they are from (a particular focus on the disparity between WEX opportunities in London vs other parts of the country). This helped bring a useful macro perspective to the end of the hearing, in terms of identifying the structural issues that impact CEIAG delivery/provision for young people, even when we have dedicated careers professionals in post.

Once again, the lack of a careers professional presence at the hearings so far has been hugely disappointing - in the case of the session with the young speakers, it would have been instructive to have a careers professional there to correct some of the misconceptions/caveats regarding some of the points raised by the panel (e.g. The relative lack of availability of higher/degree apprenticeships compared to how they are being promoted/championed by government, challenging the binary 'University vs Apprenticeships' discourse, elaborating on how careers tech systems are there to complement CEIAG, not deliver it in the absence of careers professionals...) and the conspicuous absence of any careers advisers/leaders across the four hearings to date does raise concerns about whether the committee has already somewhat made up its mind regarding the value of careers professionals - I for one will be awaiting the release of the committee's findings with trepidation, particularly following the most recent hearing.

As always, if you missed the hearing earlier in the week, you can watch back the recording anytime via the Parliament TV link below. What were your thoughts on the hearing? A positive step forward that demonstrated a commitment to taking on board the voices of young people, or yet another example of politicians failing to fully grasp the issues facing the CEIAG ecosystem in England?

International Students and Graduates Deserve Better...

Readers of the newsletter who also follow me on LinkedIn will no doubt have noticed my barely concealed displeasure regarding the recent government rhetoric concerning international students and graduates (and the plans to restrict their access to UK higher education, as a way of curbing migration figures), which has been reported by various media outlets over the past week and which I wrote an impassioned, albeit simplistic response to via LinkedIn earlier this week:

In my LinkedIn post, I took a more personal approach to the question of the value of international students and graduates, sharing my experiences of supporting and working with some truly inspirational individuals like Naveed Backer , Sherlene Berondo Soriano MSc MCIPS , Ha Pham , Roberta Soava , Muhila A. , Vamsi Krishna Galla and others but there are of course wider implications to the government's recent approach towards international students, both economic and cultural/diplomatic .

There are a litany of brilliant voices in this space who have advocated (and continue to advocate) for international students and graduates far more eloquently than I, so I'll be using the rest of this news item to draw your attention to these individuals/organisations and where you can read more about their vital work in this space!

Louise Nicol ( Asia Careers Group SDN BHD ) - Many of you in my LinkedIn network will already be familiar with Louise Nicol and her work - she continues to campaign tirelessly through her work with Asia Careers Group SDN BHD and personal LinkedIn account for increased resource for HE careers services to support international students and graduates, as well as advocating for more and better data regarding the employability outcomes of international students, including regularly petitioning HESA to reverse direction on contacting international graduates regarding the Graduate Outcomes Survey. Louise Nicol writes regularly for a range of publications/sites in this space, such as Pie News and University World News , including this recent article on how to cut through immigration rhetoric when looking at the situation regarding international students and graduates:

Rong Huang (University of Plymouth Business School - at time of writing) - In this excellent article for Wonkhe that was published earlier in the year, Rong Huang reflects on the UPP International Student Futures report and why the investment that international students make in undertaking higher education studies in the UK is not necessarily being reciprocated in terms of the careers support they receive, with a greater need for tailored provision and a better understanding of international labour markets and employability outcomes, in order to ensure that we avoid delivering a service that is too focused on finding work in the UK and risks lumping international students together as a single, homogenous group. You can read the full article via the link below!

Nicholas Hillman ( Higher Education Policy Institute ) - Nicholas Hillman has been extremely vocal on the subject of international students and graduates since the government's recent policy proposals and has penned a fantastic piece for Times Higher Education , entitled It is time to break the Home Office’s hold on student immigration policy, which you can read below:

It is also well worth following Nicholas Hillman via Twitter, where you can find him on @nickhillman - some of his recent Tweets have been particularly valuable to the debate regarding how international students and graduates contribute to UK Higher Education Institutions , not least in highlighting the lesser-known fact (outside of the HE sector) that UK universities actually LOSE money on educating Home/UK students and without international student subsidies, many institutions would struggle to make ends meet (although this naturally raises further questions regarding our higher education model in the UK, which we can explore in a future newsletter...)

Others who have been advocating and will continue to advocate for international students and graduates in this space are organisations like the 英国文化协会 , Universities UK International and UKCISA , who we may see and hear more from in the coming weeks, depending on how the government's strategy towards international students develops moving forward. In the meantime, Maddalaine Ansell from the 英国文化协会 has penned this blog for HEPI which really helps to illustrate how jarring the government's current rhetoric about international students feels when held up against the supposedly global outlook the country is still reportedly so keen to take post-Brexit:

Wonkhe and AGCAS are also both worth following on the subject of international students/graduates - Wonkhe have been digging into the international recruitment numbers (and possible implications for international student experience and government policy) for a while now, including this excellent piece earlier in the week from Jim Dickinson and AGCAS are in the process of undertaking research activity, via their Internationalisation Task Group, to capture international graduates' experiences of UK employment and how this can be utilised to provide more targeted support and a better careers/employability experience for these individuals moving forward.

Who do you tend to follow for insights, analysis and up-to-date commentary on international education/employability? Are there any big names or key commentators we've missed from this week's newsletter? If so, answers on a #TheWeekInCareers postcard, as usual! ??

In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for updates on this proposed government policy moving forward - here's hoping there is yet another U-turn on the way....??

Employer Engagement: A New Era - NEW AGCAS Phoenix

November saw the latest issue of the AGCAS Phoenix journal drop, with a focus on the post-pandemic response to employer engagement within the HE careers sector and a spotlight on some of the most innovative and effective employer engagement strategies and initiatives currently taking place across the UK. You can read the full journal here but if you're time-poor, #TheWeekInCareers has broken down what we feel are some of the best articles for you - read on to see if you agree! ??

Better Together: Practising Employer Engagement as a Community - Up first, a cracking article from Rionnagh Sheridan at Trinity College Dublin providing a perspective on how the twin challenges of Brexit and Covid-19 have impacted employer engagement in Ireland and what the university sector has done collectively to mitigate this. In her article, Rionnagh Sheridan outlines some of the key benefits that have come out of the need to respond to significant disruptors to employer engagement work in Ireland, many of which will no doubt resonate with HE careers colleagues in the UK, including how casual conversations with colleagues at other institutions can lead to more formal communities of practice and how effective collaboration and technology can help institutions club together to share expertise and interface with industry on a national level (something we have seen recently in the UK with institutions running joint virtual careers fairs to pull in greater numbers of employers and offer exposure to a wider range of students and graduates).

Virtually (un)fair? Helping Employers Attract Students from Underrepresented Groups at Virtual Fairs - Next up, an article focusing on an issue that all HE careers professionals have no doubt mulled over the last few years - how to ensure that virtual careers fairs are as inclusive as possible for the students we work with. In this piece, Kristina K. from the 英国威斯敏斯特大学 and Jonathan Eastwood from the University of West London reflect on the creation of the Inclusive Futures Virtual Careers Fair Toolkit (which also featured contributions from 英国赫特福德大学 , Kingston University , London Metropolitan University and the University of Roehampton ), including how shifting the language used by employers engaging with virtual careers fairs can help these events feel less corporate and off-putting to students. Lots of great insights to take away, on a topic that certainly isn't going anywhere as we move further into the hybrid era.

Beyond Employers: Rethinking Engagement Within the Creative Arts - Another piece close to my heart, as Elli Whitefoot explains how Leeds Arts University leveraged Knowledge Exchange funding during and post-pandemic to both secure paid experiential learning opportunities for their students and collaborate with organisations that might not be able to provide fully-funded opportunities to students due to financial constraints. There is also a shout-out for Mindless Academy , who deliver digital micro-internships to help students enhance their SEO, social media, publishing and digital storytelling skills - I've collaborated with Mindless previously and they run some great programmes for a variety of universities, so do check them out if you've not come across them previously!

Thoughts on Professionalism - Rounding off the journal is an excellent, non-employer engagement related piece from Pete Robertson regarding why careers work in Higher Education is often seen as a separate entity to the rest of the sector - in the article, Pete Robertson reflects on why achieving unified regulatory status for the careers profession could be challenging without the buy-in of HE, the training/qualification history of careers services in HE and why this has led to a distinct professional identity, and what could happen if future government policy towards CEIAG no longer leaves HE careers services out of the national ecosystem. It's a thought-provoking read for any of us who have worked in HE careers (and/or other settings where interaction with HE careers services are frequent), particularly those of us who maintain membership of both the Career Development Institute and AGCAS , and has led to some thoughtful commentary from experienced career professionals on Twitter, not least Dr Nalayini Thambar , whose insights you can read here .

Truth be told, there were many more articles I wanted to share as part of this news item, including some brilliant pieces on the AIR model for personalised employer engagement, how to put EDI at the heart of work with employers and the importance of place in employer engagement, but alas, the word count would not permit it! You can read the full AGCAS Phoenix issue on Employer Engagement: A New Era by clicking on the image below!

The Best of the Rest: My Hot Picks from the wider?#Careersphere

Unconventional and Aspirational Careers - I've been on a few threads this week with the #Careers community where the subject of useful video case studies for different job roles came up - well, if you are after something a little different then look no further than Jake Richings ' Unconventional and Aspirational Careers Podcast, which can be accessed as a playlist on YouTube via the link above! In Jake's videos to date, he has spoken with a Professional Footballer (Brooke Aspin), a Politician (Dominic Jones), an Instagram Influencer (Laura Payne) and a YouTuber (Jack Peachman) about their day-to-day and how they got into these roles, with more videos reportedly on the way!

Are graduates happier when they return home to work after study? - Up next, a fascinating data update from David Kernohan at Wonkhe , who breaks down the new feature HESA are offering in relation to the Graduate Outcomes data, which shows what graduates from UK universities are doing 15 months after completing their studies and is widely used in both HE careers work and via platforms like Discover Uni. For every graduate that shares their address with HESA when completing the survey (as well as completing the 'Graduate Voice' questions, which look at how meaningful graduates are finding their current activity, how much this fits with their future plans and whether they are using the skills from their degree), we will now be able to break down the results to Local Authority area, giving us more detail than ever regarding the geographical mobility of graduates and how this impacts their early-career satisfaction. One to watch!

Are laid off Amazon recruiters being replaced by robots? - Artificial Intelligence has been getting a lot of airtime in the mainstream press recently, in part due to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's repeated references to the technology at last week's CBI Annual Conference, and this article from Christianna Silva in Mashable provides an insight into the potential long-term impact of AI-powered recruitment tools, including the biases that have hindered the technology previously and the possible implications for recruitment staff and future applicants at Amazon as they continue to develop and utilise these systems.

Calls growing louder for the 4-Day Week - Readers who have been keeping up with the 4-Day-Week pilot currently taking place in a number of countries around the globe will know that the initial research so far has highlighted an extremely positive response to the approach from the companies and workers who have been involved - one country where participants seem to have particularly benefitted is Ireland, where data released this week showed that of those participating in the pilot, 100% of companies are continuing with the 4-Day-Week, 85% of companies who shared their revenue reported growth and perhaps most importantly, the study found that stress, burnout, fatigue and work-family conflict significantly declined for employees. Will be really interesting to see how the pilot concludes and what businesses and governments around the world decide to do with the findings!

National Apprenticeship Week 2023 and National Careers Week 2023 : Save the Dates! - 'Getting a little ahead of yourself, Chris' I hear you say? Well with good reason, I reply! Although there is still plenty of time ahead to prepare for National Apprenticeship Week 2023 (6th-12th February) and National Careers Week 2023 (6th-11th March), the great news for eager careers professionals is that there is already movement afoot with both campaigns - NAW has already started sharing resources that can be used to help promote and celebrate the week-long series of events (sign up to the newsletter for updates) and NCW have just this week announced their theme for 2023 (#Together ), so worth staying tuned to their Twitter account for announcements as they drop!

I'm always keen to hear what people think of this weekly newsletter format (e.g. Is it helpful? Does it add value to what is already out there on LinkedIn? What might make it better/more digestible?) so please do drop me a DM if you have any thoughts!

See you all in the?#Careersphere ?next week for?Episode 15!