Publications

In 2005 IES was commissioned by the LSC to determine the extent to which its safe learner model was successful in raising learner awareness and knowledge about health and safety. This document reports the design, conduct and outcomes of that evaluation of the impact of the pilot on learner knowledge.

Following the Equal Opportunities Commission's concern that greater and earlier vocationalism might lead to more gender-stereotyped curriculum choices, the Department for Education and Skills commissioned this research to evaluate how equal opportunities for young apprenticeships were being addressed in practice and to assess early signs of impact. The report focuses on capturing current examples of good practice.

This research indicates that the types of factors identified within models of safety culture are present in good practice organisations, although not all aspects were present in each organisation. Perhaps of more importance is the fact that the research revealed that safety culture theory largely ignores issues to do with the development of health and safety awareness and responsibilities in learners in the workplace and training locations. Given that these are among the most vulnerable individuals this omission needs to be addressed.

This publication was authored by Annette Cox before she joined IES.

The aim of this study was to gain a clear view of the most common career paths for HR professionals and to understand how these were changing as new roles and structures appeared. It also aimed to gather views about the most successful routes to top HR positions and uncover the career aspirations of people management professionals.

Care to Learn is a UK government initiative that provides financial support for teenage parents who want to continue in, or return to learning. It helps with the cost of their childcare and travel. Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinators (TPCs) were asked about the implementation and effectiveness of Care to Learn in their locality for the 2004/05 year. This report summarises the responses of 77 TPCs, or another relevant respondents (eg Connexions, Sure Start).

This paper examines some of the issues involved in the effective career management of knowledge workers and specialists. We use the term 'knowledge workers' here for employees with professional or functional expertise necessary to delivery the products or services of the organisation, or to support the effective running of the organisation. We will often use the term 'specialist' to describe a person whose contribution to the business lies in doing high level professional or technical work themselves, rather than through managing other people who deliver this work. 'Specialists' in this sense are often at 'managerial levels' in the organisation but not in jobs which involve a lot of format management responsibilities.

This report describes how the labour market in Scotland for graduates changed between 1993/95 and 2001/03, and examined what effect the large increase in the supply of graduates had on the labour market experience of graduates in Scotland. This publication is no longer available.

There has been much concern over the productivity of the UK economy which, despite being the fourth largest economy in the world, has seen productivity levels gradually fall behind competitor nations. In part this has focused on the degree to which UK management capability is lacking in some way. This view has been supported by studies which have shown that UK managers tend to be less qualified and receive less training than others in Europe and elsewhere.

This publication was authored by Catherine Rickard (née Chubb) before she joined IES.