January 21, 2008

The Work Experience Placements of Secondary School Students: Widening Horizons or Reproducing Social Inequality?

January 21, 2008

A report by Hatcher, R. and Le Gallais, T., Birmingham City University This report examines whether the distribution of work experience (WEX) placements among secondary school age students is differentiated by class and gender, the processes by which this may occur and whether this therefore impacts on the widening of students’ horizons and future employment […]

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December 22, 2007

The Young Apprenticeships Programme, 2004-07: An Evaluation

December 22, 2007

A report by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) This report was the conclusion of a three-year evaluation of the Young Apprenticeships (YA) programme.  The YA programme allows schools to offer young people aged 14 to 16 (Key Stage Four) a course of study that is heavily reliant on work-related […]

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January 22, 2007

A Follow-Up Randomised Controlled Trial Evaluation of the Effects of Business in the Community’s Time To Read Mentoring Programme

January 22, 2007

A report by Sarah Miller, Paul Connolly and Lisa Maguire, commissioned by the Centre for Effective Education, Queen’s University Belfast The research reported here follows from the 2009 Ten Year Review of ‘Time to Read’, a programme involving employee volunteers going on a regular basis into Northern Ireland primary schools to hear children read.  That […]

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August 22, 2006

Disadvantaged Young People Accessing the New Urban Economies of the Post-Industrial City

August 22, 2006

An article by Carl Raffo, Journal of Education Policy, 21(1), pp.75-94 Raffo seeks to explain the growing polarization between an emerging post-industrial service base and high skill city economy, and the continuing educational and socio-economic underachievement of marginalised urban young people who struggle to access these changing labour markets. Raffo pulls together findings from four research […]

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June 22, 2006

Gendered Identities and Work Placement: Why Don’t Boys Care?

June 22, 2006

An article by Osgood, J., Francis, B. and Archer, L. Journal of Education Policy, 21(3), pp.305-321 This article examines the problem of persistent gender stereotyping of career roles and aspirations among young people, and the choices and educational experiences that shape this. It draws upon data from a study conducted in England for the EOC […]

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June 22, 2005

Gender Equality in Work Experience Placements for Young People

June 22, 2005

A report by the London Metropolitan University (Dr Becky Francis, Ms Jayne Osgood, Dr Jacinta Dalgety, Dr Louise Archer), commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission This report analyses the magnitude of gender differences and socio-economic bias in the uptake of work placements for various occupations, comparing its findings to national data records of gender distribution […]

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June 1, 2005

Does School-to-Work Make a Difference? Assessing Students’ Perceptions and Practices of Career-Related Skills

June 1, 2005

In Journal of Vocational Education and Training 57 (2) (2005) pp 219-236 The School-to-Work Opportunities Act in the USA was intended to help students learn employability skills and to prepare for careers or further education. Not many quantitative studies have been conducted to inform policymakers and teachers of the success of the programme. This article is […]

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January 18, 2005

How Work Experiences While at School Affect Career Pathways

January 18, 2005

National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation Programme This research analyses how work activities undertaken by Australian students while at school affect their post-school pathways into work and between work and study. It finds that work experience does help open young people’s eyes to career possibilities; that young people who had undertaken school-based New […]

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October 8, 2004

High School Career Exploration Programs: Do They Work?

October 8, 2004

In Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 86, No. 2 (Oct. 2004), pp. 135-138 Many schools find it difficult to bridge the gap between encouraging academic and vocational paths for their pupils. Under the No Child Left Behind Act in the USA, schools were required to improve academic achievement and help more students into further education or better […]

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June 19, 2003

Mentoring and Young People: A Literature Review

June 19, 2003

A report by the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) based at the University of Glasgow (John C. Hall), commissioned by the Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department (SEELLD) This literature review aims to answer several key questions about mentoring: what it is, which aspects of it are or are not successful, what […]

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