IMPORTANT STUFF: THE LATEST RESEARCH INTO EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT IN EDUCATION!

Dr Anthony Mann, Director of Policy and Research at the Education and Employers Taskforce, outlined the latest research into the impact and delivery of employer engagement in education, at the Careers and Enterprise Fund Community Launch at the Birmingham Science Museum.

Dr Mann stressed that quantity matters, quality matters and equity matters and we need to develop:

• Human capital developing technical and employability skills;
• Social capital developing networks and trusted information;
• Cultural capital developing confidence, attitudes and language.

He added that we are working in a landscape which is increasingly:

• Complex and needs us to provide careers education and guidance and ensure employer engagement;
• Competitive and requires us to develop resilience, manage preparation and recruitment and provide information about jobs and opportunities;
• Changing and requires us too provide applied learning in real world of work settings. 

So what do we do...

• Do a lot of world of work activities and the more the better;
• Be authentic and keep it real and connected to the world of work;
• Do different things; mentoring, enterprise, careers, work experience, talks etc;
• Start young and work from primary age;
• Be coercive since young people 'don't know what they don't know';
• Be professional and maintain high quality activity and impartial careers advice and guidance;
• Ask young people what they think about what you offer!!