Career guidance and meritocracy: A match made in heaven? (2023)
Digital Artefact
Robertson, P. (2023). Career guidance and meritocracy: A match made in heaven?. [Blog]

This blog post explores how meritocratic ideologies may create inequalities, and present problems for career guidance practice.

Agents for change: Reimagining emancipatory career guidance practices in Scotland (2022)
Journal Article
Meldrum, S. (2022). Agents for change: Reimagining emancipatory career guidance practices in Scotland. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 49(1), 41-49. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.4907

This article explores how individual and group work models of career development practice could be adapted and redesigned to be more effective at empowering people to overcome barriers and inequalities. It is set in the context of the ongoing major r... Read More about Agents for change: Reimagining emancipatory career guidance practices in Scotland.

Shining a brighter light on groupwork (2022)
Journal Article
Meldrum, S. (2022). Shining a brighter light on groupwork. Career Matters, 10(1), 32-33

Career development groupwork has long been delivered alongside one-to-one interventions in a range of different settings. Unlike one-to-one interventions, little attention has been paid to developing groupwork models which both channel the skill set... Read More about Shining a brighter light on groupwork.

The challenges facing freelancers in Scottish Film and TV: an analysis of 45 years of data from the Film Bang directory 1976-2020 (2021)
Report
Scott, A., & Davidson, N. (2021). The challenges facing freelancers in Scottish Film and TV: an analysis of 45 years of data from the Film Bang directory 1976-2020. London: Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre

This Discussion Paper investigates freelance working in the Scottish film and television sector. The Industrial Strategy and the Bazalgette Report into the Creative Industries (2017) have identified the need to support the development of creative clu... Read More about The challenges facing freelancers in Scottish Film and TV: an analysis of 45 years of data from the Film Bang directory 1976-2020.

Debt should not be ignored (2021)
Digital Artefact
Robertson, P. (2021). Debt should not be ignored. [Blog]

This short article highlights the neglect of debt in the career development literature, and its importance as a factor shaping career decisions and career pathways.

Public policy for career guidance: Imagining a more ambitious agenda (2020)
Digital Artefact
Robertson, P. (2020). Public policy for career guidance: Imagining a more ambitious agenda. [Blog]

This short article argues that career development services are relevant to a wider range of public policy objectives than have previously been considered.

Stamp IT - Simple solutions to assessment in Design Education (2020)
Presentation / Conference
Cochrane, R. (2020, June). Stamp IT - Simple solutions to assessment in Design Education. Presented at Fusion Cities of the Future, London

Cochrane, R. (2020, June). Stamp IT - Simple solutions to assessment in Design Education. Presented at Fusion Cities of the Future, London.

Trade unions and career services: Potential partners for promoting social justice at work (2020)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J., Cimini, N., Post, J., & Corry, J. (2020). Trade unions and career services: Potential partners for promoting social justice at work. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 44(1), 5-12. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.4401

This paper argues that trade unions represent natural allies for career services, as they have shared interests in addressing issues of social justice at work. This potentially valuable partnership has been underdeveloped. Two case studies of innovat... Read More about Trade unions and career services: Potential partners for promoting social justice at work.

Entrepreneurial drivers, barriers and enablers of computing students: gendered perspectives from an Australian and UK university (2019)
Journal Article
Smith, S., Hamilton, M., & Fabian, K. (2019). Entrepreneurial drivers, barriers and enablers of computing students: gendered perspectives from an Australian and UK university. Studies in Higher Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1637840

This paper investigates computing students’ entrepreneurial intentions, motivations, recognisable barriers and encouragements towards entrepreneurship, with a focus on gender. Two universities, one in Australia and one in the UK (n=247), were used as... Read More about Entrepreneurial drivers, barriers and enablers of computing students: gendered perspectives from an Australian and UK university.

To tackle our mental health crisis, career guidance could be surprisingly important (2019)
Digital Artefact
Robertson, P. (2019). To tackle our mental health crisis, career guidance could be surprisingly important. [Online magazine]

This short article argues that career guidance services can help to promote mental well-being, and represent a potential public health intervention.

Getting in, getting on: fragility in student and graduate identity (2019)
Journal Article
Smith, S., Sobolewska, E., & Hunter, D. (2019). Getting in, getting on: fragility in student and graduate identity. Higher Education Research and Development, 38(5), 1046-1060. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1612857

Over a period of three years this longitudinal study explored new approaches to consider student identity during the transition from university to employment. Students were followed through a new portfolio-based final year course and beyond universit... Read More about Getting in, getting on: fragility in student and graduate identity.

Employer Policy and Practice Toward Older Workers in Hong Kong: The Role of Shifting Intergenerational Dynamics (2019)
Journal Article
Egdell, V., Fuertes, V., Tjandra, N. C., & Chen, T. (2019). Employer Policy and Practice Toward Older Workers in Hong Kong: The Role of Shifting Intergenerational Dynamics. Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 31(5), 445-466. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2018.1563472

Many governments are seeking to encourage the extension of working lives to counteract potential labor market shortages that might result from population aging. Nevertheless, research shows that older workers continue to face a range of barriers to t... Read More about Employer Policy and Practice Toward Older Workers in Hong Kong: The Role of Shifting Intergenerational Dynamics.

Equality of opportunity for work experience? Computing students at two UK universities “play the game” (2019)
Journal Article
Smith, S., Taylor-Smith, E., Bacon, L., & Mackinnon, L. (2019). Equality of opportunity for work experience? Computing students at two UK universities “play the game”. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 40(3), 324-339. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2018.1489219

A recent UK Government commissioned study found concerning levels of unemployment among computing students from disadvantaged, black and minority ethnic backgrounds. The study highlighted that work experience was a factor in increased levels of gradu... Read More about Equality of opportunity for work experience? Computing students at two UK universities “play the game”.

Seeking Compassion in the Measured University: Generosity, Collegiality and Competition in Academic Practice (2018)
Journal Article
Caddell, M., & Wilder, K. (2018). Seeking Compassion in the Measured University: Generosity, Collegiality and Competition in Academic Practice. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 6(3), 14-23

In the context of league tables, national student surveys and increasing competition for students and resources, measurement and comparison is an ever-present – and ever more significant – aspect of contemporary academic life. Institutional definitio... Read More about Seeking Compassion in the Measured University: Generosity, Collegiality and Competition in Academic Practice.

Building capabilities in disabled job seekers: A qualitative study of the Remploy Work Choices programme in Scotland (2018)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2018). Building capabilities in disabled job seekers: A qualitative study of the Remploy Work Choices programme in Scotland. Social Work and Society: International Online Journal, 16(1), 1-15

This article reports on a qualitative study of the UK’s labour activation pathway for jobseekers with disabilities and health conditions. The aim was to explore the experiences of Work Choices programme participants, specifically to identify barrier... Read More about Building capabilities in disabled job seekers: A qualitative study of the Remploy Work Choices programme in Scotland.

Researching skills development: students as partners in this process (2018)
Journal Article
Campbell Casey, S., MacCallum, J., Robertson, L., & Strachan, L. (2018). Researching skills development: students as partners in this process. New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences, 13(1), https://doi.org/10.29311/ndtps.v0i13.2881

Many employers report that newly qualified graduates lack key skills necessary for success in the workplace. Although variable, many lack general ‘transferable’ or ‘soft’ skills including communication and teamworking. Staff at Edinburgh Napier Unive... Read More about Researching skills development: students as partners in this process.

Age management in the workplace: manager and older worker accounts of policy and practice (2018)
Journal Article
Egdell, V., Maclean, G., Raeside, R., & Chen, T. (2020). Age management in the workplace: manager and older worker accounts of policy and practice. Ageing and society, 40(4), 784-804. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X18001307

The impact of an ageing workforce on the workplace is a concern internationally. Governments are increasingly encouraging the continued labour market participation of older workers, seeking to remove previous barriers to the extension of working live... Read More about Age management in the workplace: manager and older worker accounts of policy and practice.

A capability approach to career development: An introduction and implications for practice (2018)
Journal Article
Robertson, P. J., & Egdell, V. (2018). A capability approach to career development: An introduction and implications for practice. Australian Journal of Career Development, 27(3), 119-126. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416217704449

In the UK, the concept of employability is influential in current conceptualizations of career development. It is an example of a discourse underpinned by faith in individual transformation as a response to unstable labour markets, a position that is... Read More about A capability approach to career development: An introduction and implications for practice.

From work-integrated learning to learning-integrated work: motivations and apprehensions of Graduate Apprentices (2018)
Conference Proceeding
Smith, S., Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, C., & Varey, A. (2018). From work-integrated learning to learning-integrated work: motivations and apprehensions of Graduate Apprentices. In Proceedings of the 3rdInternational Research Symposium on Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education, Stuttgart, Germany (199-207)

Graduate Apprenticeship (GA) degrees bring new collaborations between universities and employers and new opportunities for apprentices—to gain a university degree, while also being in formal employment. In 2017, Scotland introduced funding for GAs: s... Read More about From work-integrated learning to learning-integrated work: motivations and apprehensions of Graduate Apprentices.

Using pre-arrival shared reading to promote a sense of community: A case study across two institutions (2018)
Journal Article
Baverstock, A., Steinitz, J., Webster-Henderson, B., Bryars, L., Cairncross, S., Ennis, L., …McLuckie, C. (2018). Using pre-arrival shared reading to promote a sense of community: A case study across two institutions. Logos, 29(4), https://doi.org/10.1163/18784712-02904005

Seeking to improve student enrolment, engagement, and retention, Kingston University began a pre-arrival shared reading scheme in 2014–2015, sending a free book to every student about to start at the university and making copies available to staff in... Read More about Using pre-arrival shared reading to promote a sense of community: A case study across two institutions.