"A4rb_Business" – 20110913_v01 – do not delete this text object! Standard 127 Feb - EET Seminar.pptx DRAFT 1 School-mediated employer engagement and labour

127 Feb - EET Seminar.pptx

DRAFT

School-mediated employer engagement and labour market outcomes

Anthony Mann and Christian Percy

27 February 2012

www.educationandemployers.org


DRAFT

Research context and questions

School-to-Work Transitions (STW) in the C21 widely agreed to be:* longer duration* fractured and complex* socially determined?

Policy analysts and makers have seen enhanced school-mediated workplace exposure as a means to enhance STW transitions

OECD (2010), Learning for Jobs, 16“More complex careers, with more options in both work and learning, are opening up new opportunities for many people. But they are also making decisions harder as young people face a sequence of complex choices over a lifetime of learning and work. Helping young people to make these decisions is the task of career guidance... [Career professionals] need to be able to call on a wide range of information and web-based resources. Strong links between schools and local employers are very important means of introducing young people to the world of work.”


DRAFT

In 2004, English, Scottish and Welsh ministries of education acted to encourage schools to offer work-related learning and enabled them to engage employers to support it’s delivery

Work-related learning: multiple objectives including improvement of ultimate job prospects

“to develop their “employability skills” to make them more attractive to their future employers”

- DCSF (2008), The Work-related Learning Guide

“


DRAFT

“

ADD : Career Academies table – p 26 of WITBG

1,764 subjects randomly assigned to CA and control groups, tracked 8 years after leaving high school. 80% retention. CA = vocationally focused, academic learning programme enriched by extensive employer engagement, taught discretely, ages 15-18.

Reference: Kemple, J. J. with Willner, C. J. (2008), Career Academies Long-Term Impacts on Labor Market Outcomes, Educational Attainment, and Transitions to Adulthood. MDRC

See also: Neumark, D. (2007), Improving School to Work Transitions. Russell Sage Foundation.

Existing International Research: Suggestive of Positive Impacts

Review of US and UK literature. Only 15 out of 161 sources robust. All show measurable positive impacts: better “preparedness for work”, development of job and work skills, improved work-based competencies, attitudes, behaviours, enhanced employability, higher initial wages. 8 of 15 show higher attainment. None reduced attainment.

Reference: AIR UK (2008), The involvement of Business in Education: A rapid evidence assessment of measurable impacts. Department for Children Schools and Families.


DRAFT

Research Questions

Is there a relationship between the extent of employer engagement arranged during school years (14-19) and the successful labour market progression of young adults (19-24)?

Can evidence of impact be found in:* Wage premiums* NEET status

“


DRAFT

In early 2011, YouGov conducted a survey of 1,002 representative adults in the UK aged 19-24 about their employer contact at school

Question on employer contact

“Some schools and colleges arrange for their students (aged between 14 and 19) to take part in activities which involve employers of local business people providing things like work experience, mentoring, enterprise competitions, careers advice, CV or interview workshops, workplace visits, taking part in classroom discussions. Did you take part in such activities between those ages? If so, on how many different occasions (more or less) did it happen?”

Question on annual salary

“What is your annual salary before income tax or any other deductions you have to pay?”

Wage premium analysis - Key survey questions

727064

146

358

277

Never Three times

Don’t know

Four times or more

Once Twice

17

6

3

5

887

66

13

9

15

1212

1617

10

87

6

1

10

£26,001 to £27,000

N/A

800

£15,001 to £16,000

Less than £10,000 a year

£21,001 to £22,000

More than £30,000


DRAFT

To ensure a fair comparison, the analysis is conducted on a subset of 176 of the wage earning individuals

Respondent selection

• Select only individuals earning an annual wage

• Exclude individuals with missing answers

• Exclude those in N. Ireland

• Exclude 5 'outlier' individuals, e.g. experienced technical difficulties with the questionnaire

Data management

• Midpoint of each salary range

• Upper and lower ends – 10% above/below

• "Four or more" = 4 (based on fit to data)

Wage premium analysis – Data preparation


DRAFT

Linear regression suggests an average correlation of £300-£1,100 between annual wage and each additional employer contact

Control variables

• Age

• Highest qualification

• Ethnicity (white vs non-white)

• Region

• School type 14-16

• School type 16-19

• Gender

Key output [in significance order]

Wage premium analysis – Results

Variable Co-eff St. error

• Highest qual level • 1.1 • 0.3

• Y&H; W. Mids; West • -3.0 • 1.0

• Age • 0.5 • 0.2

• Employer contacts • 0.4 • 0.2

• Left education at 16 • 1.9 • 1.2

• Independent school • 2.1 • 1.5

Diagnostic tests

• RESET test at 5% level

• X-terms heteroskedasticity at 5% level

• Shapiro Wilk at 5% level

• Residual standard error of 3.1

• R-squared of 0.3


DRAFT

A separate analysis demonstrates a clear relationship between NEET status and number of employer contacts

”Which of the following best applies to you: a) I am at college or university b) Full-time employment c) Employed part-time d) Doing an apprenticeship/work-based training e) Not in education, training or employment f) Other”

NEET predictive model – Raw correlation


DRAFT

Logistic regression develops a predictive method for whether or not a particular person was NEET at the time of the survey

NEET predictive model – Data preparation

Respondent selection

• Exclude individuals who reported their current activity as 'Other'

• Exclude individuals with missing answers

• Exclude those in N. Ireland

• Exclude individuals attending special schools

Reduces to 857 individuals

Data management

• Geographical region is split into four areas: – London– North – Midlands– South

• School attendance is analysed hierarchically:– Ever attended independent school– Ever attended selective school– State school pupil– Other school attendance

• Highest level of qualification is split into:– Level 0-2– Level 3– Level 4-5

• "Four or more" = 6 (based on fit)


DRAFT

Controlling for background factors as possible, each employer contact improves the odds of being non-NEET by 29%

NEET predictive model – Data preparation

Variable Effect size Standard error P-value(Intercept) 3.54 2.53 0.16*Employer contacts (#) 0.25 0.13 0.05Gender dummy -0.12 0.31 0.68**Level 3 dummy 1.75 0.50 0.00Level 4 or 5 dummy 0.57 0.44 0.19Age -0.07 0.11 0.54White dummy 0.06 0.51 0.91State selective pupil -0.51 0.35 0.14Independent school pupil -0.05 0.49 0.92Other school attendance 0.14 0.63 0.82Midlands dummy -0.67 0.53 0.21North dummy 0.08 0.64 0.90South dummy -0.54 0.53 0.30

• Statistically significant at the 5% level

• Each additional employer contact improves, on average, an individual’s odds of remaining non-NEET by 29%

• Average odds of "base case respondent" being non-NEET for someone with no employer contacts, is about 11:1 in favour

• Larger sample size required to analyse cross effects or more specific control variables


DRAFT

Explaining the results:

Highly limited scope for pupil or school agency/self-selection* pupil agency largely limited to long duration enterprise competitions (13%); school agency to one-to-one mentoring (10%). Combined 21%.

Probably not significantly greater human capital accumulation (‘employability skills’)

Fullarton, S. (1999). Work Experience and Work Placements in Secondary School Education, Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) Research Report 10


DRAFT

Social capital theory: access to non-redundant, trusted information

Granovetter, M. (1973) “The strength of weak ties” American Journal of Sociology 78, 1360-1380

Granovetter, M. (1974,1995), Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Erickson, L. D. et al (2007) “Informal Mentoring and Young Adult Employment” Social Science Research 36,1328–47

* Young adults who had access to higher volume of ‘informal mentors’ as teenagers experience much better labour market outcomes

“Weak ties are valuable because they can increase the likelihood of receiving non-redundant information that expands knowledge of labor market opportunities.” (Erickson et al (2007), 1341)


DRAFT

Social capital, employer engagement and disadvantaged English pupils

Raffo, C. & Reeves, M. (2000) “Youth Transitions and Social Exclusion: Developments in Social Capital Theory” Journal of Youth Studies 3

Extended work experience: “young people are provided with an opportunity to gain information, observe, ape and then confirm decisions and actions with significant others and peers. Thus, everyday implicit, informal and individual practical knowledge and understanding is created through interaction, dialogue, action and reflection within individualised and situated social contexts. ..In this situations, individual strategic decisions about life choices are being affected by external .. actors .. beyond the structuring influence of locality and class. This results in these individualized systems of social capital for individuals becoming more open and fluid, with outside, symbolically rich, resources impacting more freely on their lives.”

Lord, P. & Jones, M (2006), Pupils’ experiences and perspectives of the national curriculum and assessment – final report of the research review. NFER - pupils are attentive to external professionals across learning environments

Textual analysis of written comments in the YouGov survey suggests employer contacts lead more frequently to new information rather than new skills


DRAFT

A test of social capital theory: more is more

YouGov sample: experience of career talks from employers


DRAFT

The price of indecision or confusion at 16: three longitudinal studies

Yates, S. et al (2010) “Early Occupational Aspirations and Fractured Transitions: A Study of Entry into ‘NEET’ Status in the UK” Journal of Social Policy 10

* The 7% of British 16 year olds who are uncertain and 40% who are unrealistic about career aspirations are two to three times more likely to be NEET at 16-18 (controls)

Staff, J. et al (2010) “Uncertainty in Early Occupational Aspirations: Role Exploration or Aimlessness?” Social Forces 89

* The 10% of US 16 year olds uncertain about occupational aspirations have significantly lower wages at age 26 (controls)

Schneider, B. “Challenges of Transitioning into Adulthood” in Schoon, I. & Silberstein, R. K. eds. (2009), Transitions from School to Work – Globalization, Individualization and Patterns of Diversity. Cambridge University Press.

“Without goals and realistic plans, work is perceived as simply work, and the tedium and routine dampens the enjoyment and challenge of being cognitively and socially involved.” (287)


DRAFT

The influence of employer contacts on career decision making: pupil perceptions on work experience

Sources: NEBPN National Support Group for Work Experience (2008), Students’ Perceptions of Work Experience. DCSF; Francis, B. et al (2005), Gender equality in work experience placements for young people. Equal Opportunities Commission; Rennison, J. et al (2005), Young people not in Education, Employment or Training: Evidence from the Educational Maintenance Allowance Pilots Database. Department for Education and Skills.


DRAFT

The influence of employer contacts on career decision making: pupil perceptions on career networking

Strongly agree

Agree Disagree

“I better understand the skills employers are looking for” 44% 51 5

“I know which personal qualities employers think are important.”

56 39 6

“I feel more confident to access careers information” 35 55 10

Yes No

“I feel more confident in approaching ‘options’” 79 21

Source: West London Girls’ Secondary School. 191 Y9 pupils. Views taken immediately after participation in Careers Networking event. (short discussion with 7 different employers on 1-2-1 or 1-2-2 basis). 2012


DRAFT

The influence of employer contacts on career decision making: pupil perceptions on multiple employer contacts

Source: Deloitte/B-live survey of 333 young people aged 11-18 (71% aged 13-16) from 120 different English schools. 2010. Unweighted data.


DRAFT

British studies of teenage career aspirations show little connection to labour market opportunities

St. Clair, R et al (2011), The influence of parents, places and poverty on educational attitudes and aspirations. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Method: 770 interviews + focus groups with pupils at 13 and 15 in 3 British cities“there was little correspondence between the structure of [local] labour markets and young people’s aspirations and expectations... Overall, there seemed to be a common lack of understanding of the way in which school, post-school education and vocations were linked.” (58, 64)

Norris, E. (2011) Not Enough Capital. Royal Society of Arts

Method: Staff, parent and learner interviews & 8 focus groups, 4 English FECs “some FE practitioners said that students are not fully aware of the diversity of jobs available in different sectors. This leads them to develop aspirations that are neither determined by ability nor based on a comprehensive understanding of the types of jobs available... FE learners do not find it easy to access people who have experience of the careers or education they would like to pursue. As a result, their understanding of particular sectors is often restricted to only the most visible roles and jobs, for instance in law – a barrister; in television – an actor. FE learners who decide on law, or broadcasting, consequently direct their energies into attaining the most desirable, competitive and visible jobs in those disciplines as they as they are the only jobs they know..” (16)


DRAFT

Available data shows mismatch between pupil aspirations and national labour market opportunities

Atherton, G. et al (2009) How Young People Formulate their Views abut the Future – Exploratory Research. Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Occupational preferences of Year 7 pupils mapped against UK labour force by sector, 2009


DRAFT

School-to-work transitions in a liberal economy: a hypothesis

Over the last generation, school-to-work transitions have become longer, more fractured and socially determined.

In a liberal economy, it is assumed that young people will make rational decisions in securing qualifications and experience to optimise their employment/earning potential.

Very many young people, however, lack access to reliable information about the broad range of jobs/careers which may suit their interests and abilities.

Pupils routinely gain high value from first-hand employer contacts while in school because they are seen as trustworthy sources of information.


DRAFT

With higher volumes of contacts, the chances of information being non-redundant increases.

Employer engagement serves to help young people explore, clarify/confirm and support identification of career aspirations and progression towards them, influencing their own navigation through education and training experiences, building profiles (which may include other school-mediated employer engagement activities) which create better fits with actual labour market opportunities.

In this way, they are better equipped to show agency as rational actors within a liberal labour market, finding better matches within the labour market and ultimately competing more effectively for job opportunities with older workers.


DRAFT

School-mediated employer engagement and labour market outcomes

Anthony Mann and Christian Percy

27 February 2012

www.educationandemployers.org

Documents

"A4rb_Business" – 20110913_v01 – do not delete this text object! Standard 127 Feb - EET Seminar.pptx DRAFT 1 School-mediated employer engagement and labour