Today I’m addressing the Institute of Student Employers Midlands group. I’m going to be talking about the policy context for student transitions and recruitment and then moving on to give some data about both the supply and demand sides of the student labour market. In particular I’m interested in thinking about how we can build better local labour market infrastructures that are capable of increasing retention and avoiding the drift of talent to London and the South East. Finally I’m going to finish off by talking a bit about the Local graduates project as I think that this gives some good insights about ways forward.

This is what I’m planning to say.

I’m pleased to announce that I will be keynoting the CDI conference on the 26th & 27th November at the Studio, Birmingham. I will be talking about how career guidance can support us in breaking down barriers to opportunity.

As well as me there will also be speeches from Jane Hubbuck (Deputy Director for Careers, Department for Education), Professor Pete Robertson (CDI President) and Dr Gill Frigerio (University of Warwick). Alongside these keynote talks and four panel sessions, Conference attendees will be able to choose from up to 27 workshops covering themes relevant to all areas of careers education, information, advice, and guidance.

To book your place visit the CDI website.

Thanks to everyone who has booked to the Online Research webinar so far. We have had to change the date to Thursday 20th June, but it will be running twice at 5am UK time (mainly for non-UK audiences, but early risers are also welcome) and 11.30am UK time.

The webinars are being held to celebrate the publication of a new book on online research methods. In it, Dr Rachel Buchanan and I will be introducing the book and discussing some of the key issues in it.

This book provides a concise and accessible introduction to online research, covering ethics, surveys, focus groups, ethnographies, experiments and the gathering and analysis of naturally occurring digital/big data. It also asks how researchers should use the digital environment to communicate their research and looks forward to the future of the field, asking what the next ten years hold. Online research is rarely well served by the direct translation of onsite methods onto the internet. Rather, researchers need to reflect, adapt and redesign research as they change the mode through which they conduct their research.

The webinar will include a presentation of the key ideas in the book and offer participants opportunities to ask questions and reflect on the future of online research.

Book onto the webinar

Buy the book