We are delighted to announce the launch of our new book, Essays on Employer Engagement in Education edited by Dr Anthony Mann, Professor Prue Huddleston and Dr Elnaz Kashefpakdel, published by Routledge.
Building on new theories about the meaning of employability in the twenty-first century and the power of social and cultural capital in enabling access to economic opportunities, Essays on Employer Engagement in Education considers how employer engagement is delivered and explores the employment and attainment outcomes linked to participation.
This work follows the first Routledge collection Understanding Employer Engagement in Education, published in 2014. Which was, at the time, the first collection of research essays with a dedicated focus on the subject and it represented a coming together of thinking which centred on the role of the employer (and employee, indeed any member of the economic community) as a means of making theoretical and practical sense of a range of activities which had long been undertaken in schools in the U.K. and overseas. Both collections feature essays overwhelmingly drawn from papers presented at Education and Employers seminars and conferences.
Introducing international policy, research and conceptual approaches, contributors to the volume illustrate the role of employer engagement within schooling and over the life courses of young people. The book considers employer engagement within economic and educational contexts and its delivery and impact from a global perspective. The work explores strategic approaches to the engagement of employers in education and concludes with a discussion of the implications for policy, practice and future research. In this event organised by the charity of Education and Employers, the editors will present some of the key arguments discussed in Essays in Employer Engagement in Education. A number of the contributors will also be in attendance, including Professor Tristram Hooley (Institute of Student Employers) and Dr Julie Moote (ASPIRES, UCL, Institute of Education).
To find more about what the research has to say, visit our unique (free) library to access scores of research papers and resources relevant to anyone interested in helping young people to make the most of their employer contacts and/or sign up for our free regular e-bulletin with research updates.
Launch event
We will be launching the collection on the 6th December at a venue in Central London (tbc). There will also be an opportunity for audience members to ask the editors questions related to the book and network over some drinks.
Date: Thursday 6th December
Time: 18:00-19:30
Venue: Central London, TBC
Reviews
“This new collection presents new and timely evidence on how workplace involvement can influence the economic and academic outcomes of young people. The editors are leading experts in their field who have curated a collection that advances thinking on employer engagement in education, what it can mean to young people and how schools can deploy it to greatest strategic advantage. In a subject long under-theorized, authors draw on concepts of social and cultural capital to make sense of changes observed in outcomes, and the patterns of disadvantage identified in participation. Foregrounding student voices, authors cast a critical gaze over what employers can and cannot be expected to bring to education. At a time of frenetic policymaking on school-to-work routes, and on national and global economic directions and the role of education and training within this, this book makes an important contribution.”
Professor Becky Francis, Director of UCL Institute of Education
“This book could not be more timely. The issue of employer engagement in education is one that countries struggle with at a time when many young people are concerned about their futures in the labour market. The contributors to this book provide an impressive platform for thinking through the key issues. They outline the dimensions of employer engagement and advance ways in which it can allow students to approach the future with hope.”
Hugh Lauder, Editor of the Journal of Education and Work and Professor of Political Economy, University of Bath