Could social networking online help NEET young people gain employment?

Transcript of "Could social networking online help NEET young people gain employment?"

1. 1. Could social networking online help NEET young people gain employment? By John Mowbray Co authors: Professor Hazel Hall Professor Robert Raeside Dr Peter Robertson Twitter: @jmowb_napier
2. 2. Structure of paper • What does NEET mean? • Social networking online: key themes – Social networks and information diffusion – Networking as information seeking behaviour – Social media tools and networking • Research questions • Methodological approach • Any questions?
3. 3. What does NEET mean? • Not in Education, Employment or Training • Refers to 16-19 year olds in Scotland • Left school without a ‘positive’ destination • Associated with – Social deprivation – Low educational attainment – Weak family/support networks Help wanted sign © Photo by: Johannsen, A.J. (2011) Web: https://goo.gl/Pb4I7M License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
4. 4. Proportion of NEETs 3.5 7.3 11.8 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Low (Eilean Siar) Average (Mean) High (Clackmannanshire) %ofschoolleavers Scottish constituency % of 16-19 year olds not going into education, employment or training in 2013 Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2014)
5. 5. Key themes from the literature
6. 6. Social networks and information • Network structure and information diffusion – Weak ties – Strong ties • Social capital is embedded within networks • Social capital resources include – Informational support – Emotional support – Economic support
7. 7. Social networks and information (2) Weak tie (bridge) Strong ties
8. 8. Networking as information seeking Networking is a form of goal-directed behaviour, (…) focused on creating, cultivating, and utilising interpersonal relationships. Gibson, Hardy III, & Buckley (2014)
9. 9. Networking as information seeking (2) Personality, Self-efficacy Self esteem, Attitudes, Education, Gender. Networking Antecedents Social capital resources Increased employability Behaviour Mechanism Outcomes
10. 10. Social media adoption • 83% of 16-24 year olds visit social networking sites daily • Increasingly used by businesses for recruitment • Can facilitate bonding and bridging social capital • There are a diverse range of social media tools such as: – Networking sites (Facebook, LinkedIn etc.) – Micro-blogs (Twitter) – Discussion forums
11. 11. Social media adoption (2): Honeycomb framework Presence The extent to which users know if others are available Conversations The extent to which users communicate with each other Identity The extent to which users reveal themselves Sharing The extent to which users exchange, distribute and receive content Relationships The extent to which users relate to each other Reputation The extent to which users know the social standing of others and content Groups The extent to which users are ordered or form communities Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy & Silvestre (2011)
12. 12. Research questions What are the key off-line networking behaviours employed by the Scottish labour force during job search?
13. 13. Research questions How do social media tools support the networking behaviours of the Scottish labour force during job search?
14. 14. Research questions How can networking supported by social media help to improve individual employability levels of the Scottish Labour force?
15. 15. Methodology • A survey questionnaire to investigate the extent and nature of social networking, as supported by social media tools, during job search • A series of qualitative case studies aimed at providing a deeper insight into the process by which job seekers source information via their interpersonal contacts, and the role of social media tools in this process
16. 16. References • Bell, D., & Blanchflower, D. G. (2010). Young people and recession: A lost generation?. In Fifty-Second Panel Meeting on Economic Policy, Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance, October, 22-23. • Beaudoin, C. E., & Tao, C. C. (2007). Benefiting from social capital in online support groups: An empirical study of cancer patients. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 10(4), 587-590. • Burt, R. S. (2002). The social capital of structural holes. The new economic sociology: Developments in an emerging field, 148-190. • Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends”: social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143-1168. • Finlay, I., Sheridan, M., McKay, J., & Nudzor, H. (2010). Young people on the margins: in need of more choices and more chances in twenty‐first century Scotland. British Educational Research Journal, 36(5), 851–867. • Gibson, C., H. Hardy III, J., & Ronald Buckley, M. (2014). Understanding the role of networking in organizations. Career Development International, 19(2), 146-161. • Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American journal of sociology, 1360-1380. • Granovetter, M. (1974). Getting a job. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. • Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2014) Young people in Scotland not in education, employment or training (NEET) by local authority. Available at: http://data.jrf.org.uk/data/NEETS-scotland-la/, [Accessed 19th June 2015]
17. 17. References (2) • Kietzmann, J. H., Hermkens, K., McCarthy, I. P., & Silvestre, B. S. (2011). Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Business horizons, 54(3), 241-251. • Karsai, M., Perra, N., & Vespignani, A. (2014). Time varying networks and the weakness of strong ties. Scientific reports, 4. • Ofcom (2014). Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes Report. [Online]. Available at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/media-literacy/adults-2014/2014_Adults_report.pdf [Accessed 20th February 2015]. • Smith, S. S. (2005). Don’t put my name on it: social capital activation and job‐finding assistance among the black urban poor. American Journal of Sociology, 111(1), 1-57. • Valenzuela, S., Park, N., & Kee, K. F. (2009). Is there social capital in a social network site?: Facebook use and college students' life satisfaction, trust, and participation. Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication, 14(4), 875- 901. • Verhaeghe, P.-P., Van der Bracht, K., & Van de Putte, B. (2015). Inequalities in social capital and their longitudinal effects on the labour market entry. Social Networks, 40, 174–184. • Wanberg, C. R., Kanfer, R., & Banas, J. T. (2000). Predictors and outcomes of networking intensity among unemployed job seekers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(4), 491. • Wolff, H. G., & Kim, S. (2012). The relationship between networking behaviors and the Big Five personality dimensions. Career Development International, 17(1), 43-66.
18. 18. Any Questions? Blog site: www.johnmowbray.org