Employer Engagement: Preparing Young People for the Future
6th International Conference on Employer Engagement in Education
1st and 2nd July 2021
Virtual conference
Our Call for Papers is now closed. If you submitted an abstract, we will get in touch with you as soon as possible. For more info, please email research@educationandemployers.org.
Read more about the conference and get your tickets.
Call for papers
This conference is hosted by Education and Employers in partnership with the Edge Foundation. It will focus on employer engagement in general education, technical and vocational education and training, and the extent to which such interventions adequately prepare young people for the rapidly changing world of work. In particular, attention will focus on the need to develop and capture the skill requirements within the changing labour market and how such interventions can support young people as part of the response to Covid-19. The conference also seeks to reflect on reforms and policy shifts in relation to education and training and employer engagement internationally.
Conference themes
We invite UK and international participation from researchers, policy makers and practitioners across all phases of education (compulsory, post-compulsory and continuing).
We particularly welcome contributions focusing upon the following themes:
Theme 1: Employer engagement and preparation for work
- Jobs of the future: predicting the changing labour market, post-Brexit and Covid-19 – UK and international trends
- Addressing the disconnection between career aspirations and labour market opportunities
- Levelling the playing field: vocational education as a prestigious pathway
- Transitions to work in the 21st century labour market: UK and international perspectives
- What role can schools/colleges/higher education institutions play in enhancing the career readiness of their students?
Theme 2: Employer engagement and pedagogy
- The role and impact of employer engagement in primary, secondary, further and higher education
- Pedagogical opportunities and challenges presented by employer engagement
- Making learning meaningful: the role of employers and community organisations in bringing learning to life
Theme 3: Employer engagement and the curriculum
- Embedding employer engagement within the curriculum: approaches and challenges
- Effective employer engagement within the curriculum, examples of practice
- Assessing vocational and practical learning
- Employer engagement and professional development opportunities
To submit an abstract or a symposium proposal
We welcome papers from a range of organisations including schools, colleges, universities, public, private and voluntary bodies. The conference presents an excellent opportunity for showcasing multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches including, but not limited to, the fields of education, sociology, psychology, economics and business. We would encourage papers from both research and practitioner communities; demonstrating a range of methodological approaches.
We are also looking to showcase practitioners reflecting on their experiences of implementing employer engagement; examples of assessment strategies would be particularly welcome.
Submissions need not take the form of an academic paper. We welcome suggestions for alternative formats, including, but not limited to, round tables, workshops, and small interactive group work. We welcome, and encourage, submissions from international and UK contributors.
Submit your abstract, or summary here.
When submitting your proposal, please indicate in which format you would wish to present your work (e.g. paper, workshop, roundtable).
To complete the form, you will need to submit 1) title, 2) details of authors, 3) which conference theme your presentation addresses, 4) max 300 words summary of your research including context and theory, 5) max 100 words describing methodological approach 6) a brief summary of (expected) outcomes 7) keywords and 8) key references.
Extended deadline for international submissions only until 12pm BST on the 30th April 2021.
Enquiries: research@educationandemployers.org
Dissemination
The Journal of Education and Work has also agreed to consider selected conference papers for publication in a special issue (subject to usual submission protocols). As with previous conferences, we hope that papers will be printed in a collection of Research for Practice essays (see 2016 and 2018 editions). Papers presented at the London conference can also expect to be disseminated across academic, policy and practitioner audiences. Papers and materials will also be publicised through our research blog and newsletter which reaches an audience of over 3,400 researchers, educators, policy makers and other interested stakeholders.
Confirmed partners:
Key partners already confirmed are Education and Employers and the Edge Foundation. If you would like to discuss supporting the conference as a partner or sponsor, please contact research@educationandemployers.org