The research team at Education and Employers has published a review of the evidence on how employers can support schools to improve outcomes for pupils.
The report, commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) follows the publication of the Government’s Careers Strategy in December of last year, which announced funds to explore new approaches to employer engagement and early careers activities in primary schools.
Employer engagement in education can include activities like reading support programmes that aim to boost attainment, or activities like mentoring or work experience that are designed to influence attitudes and aspirations.
The researchers – Anthony Mann, Jordan Rehill and Elnaz T. Kashefpakdel, identified four broad areas of employer engagement in education that could benefit young people:
1. Boost young people’s understanding of jobs and careers
Broadening and raising career aspirations and supporting young people to make decisions on what to study, where to study, and how hard to study.
2. Providing the knowledge and skills demanded by the contemporary labour market
Helping young people to build the skills that modern workplaces need, such as creative problem-solving and team-working.
3. Providing the knowledge and skills demanded for successful school-to-work transitions
Giving young people relevant work experiences as well as practical insights into how recruitment processes work and contemporary workplaces operate.
4. Enriching education and underpinning pupil attainment
Using employers to support teaching resources for the classroom and helping young people to see the connection between what they learn at school and employment outcomes.
The review will inform the EEF’s grant-making, as they look to grow the evidence around careers education and employer engagement in education.
Read the report here.
