Professor Jenny Bimrose Dr Sally-Anne Barnes

IER, University of Warwick

ESRC Seminar – Digital Technologies29 November 2011

Skills & competencies required by career practitioners to develop

internet-based practice

Setting the scene in the UKEvidence: ICT & practice• Increasing use • Pressures to up-date• Inconsistent terminology

Policy:• Shrinking resources• Shifting priorities• Changing paradigms

Context:• ‘Digital natives’ & Web 3.0• Open and linked data• Professionalisation agenda for workforce• Pressures on service delivery

Workforce Capacity?

‘...the knowledge base of the Career Guidance workforce which is necessary to use ICT technology can be

lacking ... This is not conducive to the direction in which the occupation as a whole is moving...’

Ref: Cobbett, D., Dodd, F., Miller, S. and Shearer, L. (2009). Skills needs and training supply for career guidance – a gap analysis. Newcastle upon Tyne: Trends Business Research Ltd.

Research questions?Skills & competencies:

Which are required to deliver on ICT-based guidance?

Workforce capacity:Is there a skills gap?

Organisational issues:Engagement, perceived relevance & infrastructure support

Study 1: Investigation of the skills/ competencies required for practice

• Funded by CfBT – focus on practitioners /managers (2009 – 2010, England)

Study 2: the role of ICT in careers service transformation

• Funded by UKCES – focus on managers/ stakeholders (2010 – 2011, UK)

Study 1:Small scale, mixed method empirical studyInterviews, focus groups and online forum6 sites across delivery & geographical contextsStudy 2:Telephone interviews, digitally recordedBoth:Literature reviews

Methodologies

ICT: Current usage in CEIAGResources: most exploited

Communication: embryonic

Materials: under-developed

Key messages: literature

Impact: reliable evidence on the impact of ICT in delivery of careers guidance lacking

Gap: gap in understanding what comprises effective internet-based guidance

Costs: early indication that cost savings likely to be minimal

Skills: lack of consensus re: competencies/ skills required

Key findings: young people

Engagement: high levels with technologyMain uses: communicate, gather informationPreference: face-to-face communicationConcerns: about personal safetyAge-based: IT services based on age required

Young people’s aspirations for internet-based guidance

Multimedia informationChat roomsEmail communicationSocial networking

BUT retain face-to-face contact

Skills & competencies for ICT-based CEIAG?

ICT user skills

Guidance skills

Digital skills

ICT User Skills

Awareness

•ICT technology•ICT terminology

Practical Skills

•Keyboard•Mouse

Digital Skills

Cognitive/

Physical

Technical

Social/personal

Digital Skills: Social/Personal

Communication

General KnowledgeCreativityCollaborationSelf-Esteem

Parallel processingPersistence

Peer-to-peer learning

Risk-taking

Digital SkillsCognitive/PhysicalMulti-tasking

Logical thinkingProblem solvingTrial & error

learning

TechnicalHand-eye

coordinationTechnical

confidence

Web-designContent creation

Digital skills profiles of practitioners & managers (self report)• Majority ‘high’ or ‘medium’ for most essential

digital skills

• Web design & content creations - most support required

Overall: workforce well positioned to develop confidence and additional skills

to engage effectively in internet-based guidance delivery

Future Prospects?

Usage

• Limited

• Interesting practice

Potential

• Enthusiasm

• Generally!

Brakes

• Infrastructure

• Confidence

Contra-indications

• Lack of staff training policies• CPD v. delivery

Training

Success indicators

Training & staff developmentTechnical infrastructureSenior management vision &

supportMonitoring & evaluation

Theory and Practice

‘ICT-based training which is specifically tailored to the context of Career Guidance is lacking. For example, whilst ICT

competency training such as the ECDL is available, this is not provided through a grounded Career Guidance framework,

and as such does not ensure the targeted development of skills specific to using a computer for Career Guidance

purposes.’Ref: Cobbett, D., Dodd, F., Miller, S. and Shearer, L. (2009). Skills needs and training supply for career guidance – a gap analysis. Newcastle upon Tyne: Trends Business Research Ltd.

Some challenges for careers guidance Ethical issues:

identity, privacy and safety for clients (especially young people)

Professional identity:

changing nature of career practice and therefore the expertise offered by the practitioner

Working smarter:

capitalising on human resources (e.g. by pooling of expertise through the potential for collaboration) & resolving (e.g. intellectual property)

For more information…To download reports and related publications: www.warwick.ac.uk/ier

Email:Jenny.Bimrose@warwick.ac.uk Sally-Anne.Barnes@warwick.ac.uk