STEM career guidance: benchmarks and practice
30 December 2012
The aim of this project is to identify good practice in STEM career guidance overseas and in UK independent schools, create benchmarks to compare with current practice in state maintained schools in England and make policy recommendations. The project is funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.
The quality of career guidance in English schools is frequently criticised, and recent changes to the careers service make it hard to tell how the quality is changing.
In Phase 1 of this project, we will create a set of benchmarks for good practice through:
- A study of overseas practice, drawing on the respected work of Professor Tony Watts, looking particularly at comparable countries to England, and calibrated by at least five overseas visits.
- A study of practice in independent schools, through the involvement of key stakeholders and visits to selected schools.
- A literature review to identify what is known about best practice in state-maintained schools.
We will create a typology to analyse the broad picture of careers guidance of various types, including careers interviews, careers lessons, drop-in careers centres and the inclusion of careers in subject lessons. The study will look broadly at career related learning in secondary schools, with a particular emphasis on STEM careers and associated vocational training.
We will test the benchmarks for feasibility using panels of school practitioners and career guidance experts from schools, universities and employers.
In Phase 2 we will assess how schools in England compare with the benchmarks. This will be done by:
- A review of recent evidence, for example from Ofsted, Pearsons and Careers England.
- A specially commissioned survey of about 350 schools using telephone and an online panel.
In Phase 3 we will test our emerging findings with senior representatives of employers, practitioners and government, and we will formulate recommendations for action.
The report will summarise findings from the studies and make recommendations to policymakers, funders, employers and practitioners.
The authors will be Sir John Holman of the University of York, and Jo Hutchinson and Professor Tony Watts of the International Centre for Guidance Studies (iCeGS) at the University of Derby, with iCeGS providing support for fieldwork and analysis.
Timing: The final report will be published by June 2014.
For further information contact Jo Hutchinson.
