Understanding and intervening in digital skills development
Unthinkable Digital
A collective of digital practitioners who build trusting relationships and create digital products to be proud of
This is the second in a series of articles which share our research process and findings in relation to our work with Nominet to explore the future of digital skills for young people in the UK. You can read the first article in the series here. Part 3 & Part 4 are also now available to read.
What do we understand about the current context??
To kick off this project, we carried out a wide-ranging qualitative and exploratory piece of desk research (access the full report here) to assess the current landscape of digital skills education for young people in the UK, and how this connects with the future of work.
Below, we outline the key contexts evidenced in the research:
Low exposure to and uptake of digital skills in formal education?
Since the new compulsory Computing curriculum was launched in 2014, every Key Stage one, two and three pupil has had in the region of 45 mins to 1 hour per week of formal computing education - equating to c. 5.9m students in 2022/23. A GCSE in Computer Science was introduced in 2012 to replace the ICT GCSE (which was phased out in 2018), and by 2021, the Computer Science GCSE was available in around 77% of secondary schools in England (1). In 2023, this was taken by c. 14% of students taking GCSEs (1.59% of all GCSE entries). This is the largest % increase for an EBacc subject (up 11.9%) at 88,530 entries (2). In 2023, Computer Science A-level entries also rose by 14% to 17,420 entries, but this represents just 6% of 18-year-olds taking A-levels in 2023. Technical qualifications in computing are also low. The newly introduced T-levels include digital subjects but totalled just 3,448 awards in 2023 across all subjects (3). In 2021/2022, Computing only accounted for 5.6% of all first-year degree students. So despite growth in the number of students studying Computing, absolute numbers remain low.
Whilst these figures might initially suggest that the key is to get more people taking Computer Science GCSEs, A-levels, and Degrees, it is not that simple! Valuable digital skills can be learned across a range of subjects and there are a range of non-computing courses that can facilitate deep engagement with digital skills. A course in Graphic Design, for example, would require a learner to develop strong skills in Illustrator and Photoshop. Ensuring that developing digital skills is embedded both in compulsory GCSE subjects, as well as in other more broad ranging subjects, may be a better bet for ensuring that more people get access to what they will need for their futures.?
The impact of inequalities on digital skills development?
When considering the development of digital skills in the UK, it is vital that we consider who is disadvantaged and potentially being left behind. An intersectional approach shows that multiple axes of inequality are at play - often intertwined with each other, creating unique forms of discrimination. Research by Nominet and Catch22 has identified four areas that create barriers to digital opportunity, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds (4):?
The research shows that these barriers most impact those in lower socio-economic brackets, those who have lack of access to space, data and devices, those in care, and those in contact with the justice system. It also highlights that those with disabilities are 35% less likely to have Essential Digital Skills for Life, as defined by the UK government.
Gender inequality is a significant issue in both digital education and in the labour market. Boys outnumber girls in choosing computer science GCSE four to one, and the proportion of women in tech is only around 17% (5). Women outperform men in terms of educational attainment, but this doesn’t translate into outperformance in the labour market. Lower wages early in women’s careers are then held back further relative to men once they have children (6).?
The 2023 Digital Youth Index highlights that ‘those in marginalised groups – such as LGBTQ+ young people - are most likely, at 38%, to state that social media has a negative impact on people like them (7). The Good Things Foundation highlight that for LGBTQ+ people, ‘the increased likelihood of homelessness and poverty implies that digital exclusion may be a reality for many’ (8). Research on the acquisition of digital skills for the LGBTQ+ community is scarce, but a disproportionate lack of access and experiences of harms online are likely to have a trickle down effect.
Social and economic disadvantage plays a big role too. Young people from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds are ‘less likely to have access to a home computer and to computing at school and are underrepresented in computing-related qualifications and careers’ (9). 16-year-olds eligible for free school meals are still around 27% less likely to earn good GCSEs than less disadvantaged peers (10). Pupils not eligible for free school meals are around 3x as likely as more disadvantaged peers to achieve above the expected level at age 11 and at GCSE.
People from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are also at risk of being left behind. Despite increasing access to computing curricula within schools, the number of young people from diverse backgrounds choosing computing qualifications and careers is still low (11). In the UK, students of African/Caribbean descent are most proportionally underrepresented in Computer Science (12). Young people from non-white backgrounds also face disadvantage in apprenticeships and in the labour market (13). Whilst people from ethnic minority groups make up a larger share of the technology workforce (15.2%) than they do across the wider UK workforce (11.8%), less than a tenth of senior tech leaders are from ethnic minority groups (14).
Disability and learning disabilities can negatively impact the ability to develop strong digital skills. People with disabilities make up a disproportionate number of those that do not have access to the internet and are also less likely to have the Essential Digital Skills they need than the UK population as a whole (15). The UK Government's 2021 Digital Lifeline scheme provided free devices, data and digital support to over 5000 people with learning disabilities. Several recommendations came out of this for policy makers, funders and practitioners. These include embedding digital inclusion in the Digital Strategy; funding more, and longer term, digital inclusion programmes to support people with learning disabilities; and identifying and addressing any organisational barriers to delivering digital inclusion support.
Gaps in the current UK Government’s Digital Strategy
The UK Digital Strategy was updated in 2022 and laid out six areas needed to contribute to sustained digital growth. One of these areas is digital skills and talent. However, the strategy has been criticised for being short-termist and not clear enough on targets or key metrics by which success could be measured (16); it is more focused on listing existing initiatives than presenting a strategic approach, and does not include anything on wellbeing or digital citizenship.?
There continues to be a need for a long-term, holistic plan to grow digital skills for all members of society and on creating digital skills pathways that lead to meaningful employment.?
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What opportunities are there to improve how digital skills, knowledge and experience are learned?
From our initial desk research and Critical Friends sessions with adults and young people, we have identified 7 key points to guide our thinking as we go into the next phase of workshops and discussions.
1. We should be thinking about society, not just the economy. Digital skills are needed for many kinds of human wellbeing. This of course includes the job you have, but also the ways in which you connect with friends and family, make meaning out of life, enjoy yourself, and stay healthy. A purely economic lens is therefore too narrow, and we must consider the development of digital skills in the context of the development of a broader digital society.
2. We need to design excellent, inclusive, learning opportunities in a range of formats. Providing a broad range of ways to acquire and develop digital skills, knowledge and experience will help ensure that people are included both within and beyond formal education. Diversity and inclusion should drive the design of learning opportunities so that they can be accessed by the widest possible audience, with lower barriers to entry.?
3. We must consider how a range of inequalities intersect. Longer term systemic change is needed as well as shorter term interventions, and strategic partnerships will likely be needed to achieve this. We must remember that multiple inequalities can combine to have an even greater impact on young people's engagement and futures.
4. Prioritising informal learning could help focus and accelerate interventions. We believe it is hard to make quick changes within formal education, so it may be wise to focus on other learning modes (informal, self-driven, cultural transmission) in the immediate short term.?
5. Informal education needs better signposting and ‘glue’. Informal education offers great flexibility and personalisation, but it can be hard to navigate this terrain. We need to design better routes through and clearer curation with young people in mind.
6. Small interventions in formal education could make a big difference. Although it is hard to move the dial in schools, we think there are some clear interventions that could help. More on this in the next posts!
7. Making a big bet on increasing GCSE uptake isn’t the right approach. Just increasing the uptake of Computer Science GCSEs will not address the digital skills gap in the holistic way that is needed. Embedding digital skills across a wider range of provision is more likely to have an impact.?
What are we doing next?
The next phase of the project focuses on workshops with young people, educators and digital skills providers. These aim to bring additional perspectives to our diagnosis of the problem, get input into possible interventions, and identify who is best placed to make them. With young people, we will be envisaging their lives in 2035, and asking them to explore what kinds of digital skills they will need to get to where they want to be. We’ll then discuss what might get in the way, and how it could be overcome. We will be sharing the outcomes of those sessions in our next post.?
Did you find this post helpful? If so, please share it with your network to help spread the word about the UK digital skills agenda. If you would like to work with Unthinkable Digital , please connect with us here on LinkedIn, or reach out via email at [email protected] to discuss potential collaborations or partnerships.
Many thanks to Freya Johnson Ross from our team, for the comprehensive and systematic desk research which underpinned this phase of the project.
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Specialist leader in education
10 个月Sherelle Fairweather ??