Research library

This online library provides a comprehensive repository of the different and effective approaches to employer engagement and careers education. Developed over the last decade it brings together the latest thinking with selected research published over the past 40 years for the benefit of researchers, academics and policy makers.

Free to access and searchable by keyword, it features summaries of a wide range of studies with abstracts and links to the full reports. With research articles and reports from leading figures and education bodies, you can examine issues such as employer-led learning, youth employment, career related learning in primary schools, and social mobility, as well as information on gender, ethnicity, and specific subject study such as STEM.

The main library is complemented by an extensive online video collection and a physical library. The video collection comprises over 150 videos of researchers discussing their work and its implications for policy and practice, together with conference presentations and seminars.

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Teachers’ Thoughts on Entrepreneurship Education

June 22, 2010

A report by Bettina Backström-Widjeskog, taken from Creativity and Innovation – Preconditions for entrepreneurial education Chapter 8 (pp. 107-120) Eds. Kjell Skogen and Jarle Sjøvoll This research explores (and seeks to change) teachers’ attitudes to and interpretations of the ‘entrepreneurship education’ cross-curricula offering in Finland. Interviews were carried out with thirty teachers in Swedish-language schools, […]

Is Science Me? High School Students’ Identities, Participation and Aspirations in Science, Engineering and Medicine

June 22, 2010

A report by P.R. Aschbacker, E. Li and E.J. Roth, Journal of Research in Science Teaching 47: 564-82 The article describes the findings of a study based on interviews over three years with 33 high school students in California to investigate the role of ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic background in shaping students’ motivations, persistence and […]

Learning for Jobs: Synthesis report of the OECD Reviews of Vocational Education and Training

June 21, 2010

A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development This report argues for government support of vocational education training (VET) to balance skills shortages and gaps in the labour market with the needs of employers and students in the context of the global financial crisis. Career guidance is cited as one of the key ways in […]

Key Stage 2 Career-Related Learning: Pathfinder Evaluation

June 21, 2010

A report by Pauline Wade, Caroline Bergeron, Karen White, David Teeman, David Sims and Palak Mehta, NFER This report evaluates the Pathfinder pilot, a programme run that was across seven local authorities in 2010 to enable pupils to learn about career options available to them. The programme included workplace visits, in-school career insight talks with […]

The ‘Hidden Givers’: A Study of School Governing Bodies in England

June 21, 2010

A report by the University of Bath (Chris James, Steve Brammer, Michael Connolly, Mike Fertig, Jane James and Jeff Jones), commissioned by the CfBT Education Trust This study sought to establish the relationship between governing body effectiveness and pupil attainment in primary schools and secondary schools in high and low socio-economic settings. The report combines […]

Governors Mean Business: School Governors’ One-Stop Shop Volunteers – Their Contribution and Added Value to Schools in England

June 21, 2010

A report by the University of Hertfordshire (Dr Anne Punter and Prof. John C. Adams), commissioned by the School Governors’ One-Stop Shop (SGOSS) SGOSS places business volunteers in school governing bodies and commissioned this report to assess volunteers’ effectiveness. Data collection took place over the Autumn term 2009 and Spring term 2010. The study sample […]

Employability: Incentivising Improvement

June 1, 2010

A report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) This report examines shortages in employability skills as a problem for those entering work and employers and details recent policy changes in three areas: training, assessment and funding, as well as seeking levers in the existing system that could be adapted to improve shortcomings.In […]

Volunteering – The Business Case: The Benefits of Corporate Volunteering Programmes in Education

May 22, 2010

A Report by Research Agency Corporate Citizenship (Andrew Wilson and Francesca Hicks), Commissioned by the City of London Sixteen large, private-sector companies took part in this study, which was designed to assess the impact of education volunteering on the employees themselves. The study drew on the accounts of 546 corporate volunteers and some of their […]

Poorer Children’s Educational Attainment: How Important are Attitudes and Behaviour?

March 22, 2010

Report by Goodman, A. and Gregg, P. (eds), Joseph Rowntree Foundation “In 2008, less than a quarter of children from the poorest families (eligible for free school meals; FSM) obtained five or more good GCSEs (at A*-C) inclusive of English and maths. This compares with just over a half of their richer peers, not eligible […]

National Evaluation of Diplomas: The First Year of Delivery

March 22, 2010

A report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (Sarah Lynch, Tami McCrone, Pauline Wade, Gill Featherstone, Kelly Evans and Sarah Golden) and the University of Exeter (Gill Haynes), commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (now the Department for Education) The 14-19 Diplomas were introduced in September 2008 as part of government […]