Stepping into STEM Careers:Pathways for Young People and Adults

alex.stevenson@niace.org.uk

@alexsNIACE#citizenscurriculum

Alex StevensonHoward Gannaway

STEM Careers for Young Adults

Humber Local Enterprise Partnership

Employment in the Humber

Traditional Industries:• Port activity• Logistics• Chemicals• Food processing• Steel production

New Flagship Industries• Renewable energy

(wind turbine production and servicing)

• Digital industries• Tourism

A manufacturing hub

“The second largest employment sector (in the Humber) is production, that is, manufacturing and processing, representing 19% of all jobs across the food production, basic metals, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and fuel refining sectors, but some 26% of output GVA (UK=10% and 11% respectively).”

The Capability of the Humber RegionUniversity of Hull

2013

What’s happening now in the Humber?

• Siemens: new wind turbine facilities will create 1,000 new direct jobs

• RB (formerly Reckitt Benckiser): new global Centre for Scientific Excellence

• Humber PD Ports: expanding its container terminal• DFDS Seaways: expanding its logistics operations• GEV Offshore: wind turbine maintenance global HQ

located on the Humber• Smith & Nephew: Hull is a major cornerstone of the

Advanced Wound Management Division

Challenge 1: DemographicsHumber LEP Area Population by Age in 2015

Humber Workforce Numbers

Challenge 2: Skills

• Compared to England, the Humber is over-represented in terms of low skills and has a much lower population of highly skilled residents when compared to other Yorkshire LEPs

• By 2020, the number of jobs in the Humber requiring people to be educated to degree level and above will have risen while the number of jobs that do not require higher-level skills will have fallen. The number of jobs that require no qualifications will have fallen dramatically.

• There is a significant expectation of churn and and replacement need within all employment sectors.

Employment and Skills Strategy 2014-2020, Humber LEP

Challenge 2: Skills

HumberYorkshire and The

Humber EnglandNumber Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage

Population of working age 586,600 3,420,100 33,545,100 with no qualifications 72,300 12.33% 436,200 12.75% 3,722,800 11.10%qualified to at least level 1 467,400 79.68% 2,702,400 79.02% 26,924,800 80.26%qualified to at least level 2 373,400 63.65% 2,196,400 64.22% 22,475,900 67.00%qualified to at least level 3 269,700 45.98% 1,619,600 47.36% 16,997,700 50.67%qualified to at least level 4 143,400 24.45% 904,300 26.44% 10,440,600 31.12%

People who are economically active: 449,600 76.65% 2,574,700 75.28% 25,623,900 76.39%with no qualifications 36,000 6.14% 199,100 5.82% 1,810,000 5.40% qualified to at least level 1 357,000 60.86% 2,046,700 59.84% 20,595,900 61.40% qualified to at least level 2 289,300 49.32% 1,683,300 49.22% 17,387,800 51.83% qualified to at least level 3 207,400 35.36% 1,237,700 36.19% 13,257,200 39.52% qualified to at least level 4 125,500 21.39% 788,300 23.05% 9,112,700 27.17%

All percentage are of total population of working age

Career Pathway into STEM

What are traineeships?

“…traineeships are an education and training programme with work experience. The core content of traineeships is work preparation training, English and maths and a high quality work experience placement. The opportunity of a work experience placement with an external employer in the sector they are interested in is critical to making traineeships attractive and effective to young people.”

Traineeship target group

Traineeships are intended primarily for young people who are motivated by work or the prospect of it, but who do not yet have the skills or experience to secure an apprenticeship or other sustainable job.

young people who: • are not currently in a job and have little work experience, but who

are focused on work or the prospect of it; • are 16-24 and are qualified below a full Level 3 and who…• providers and employers believe have a reasonable chance of

being ready for employment or an apprenticeship within six months of engaging in a traineeship.

The proposition to training providers

Can you respond to the needs of employers by using the flexibility afforded by traineeships to introduce STEM-specific subject content and thereby increase the number of young people eligible for apprenticeships?

The proposition to employers:

When your apprentices turn up on their first day, you probably find they are often something of a blank canvas as far as your own business is concerned. How would it be if they turned up already having a grounding in some of the core technical skills that are important to your business?

Would that help to shorten the period when they are a net cost to your business and bring forward the day when they are a net contributor to revenue?

The Citizens’ Curriculum: Engaging and Supporting Adults into Learning

The Skills for Life Survey (2011): 1 in 4 adults have low levels of numeracy skills; 1 in 6 have low levels of literacy skills.

OECD Survey of Adult Skills (2013): 16.4% scored at the lowest level for literacy; 24% for numeracy.

Census data (2011) records around 850,000 adults ‘non-proficient’ in the English language.

BIS / SFA data shows that from 12/13 to 13/14, adult (19+) participation in English, maths and ESOL provision has fallen by 7.6%, 10.7% and 4.8% respectively.

The English and maths challenge ...

More flexible, creative and innovative models are needed to engage and motivate learners and meet the challenge of poor basic language, literacy, numeracy and digital skills in the context of rapid social change.

So ....

“A citizens’ curriculum is learning which is locally-led, developed with the active participation of learners, and interlinks the life skills of language, literacy and numeracy with health, financial, digital and civic capabilities.”

Citizens’ Curriculum Capabilities

LLN

Health

Civic

Digital

Financial

Local context and setting

Learner Involvement

• Schuller and

Watson ( 2009)• NIACE / NRDC

Evidence on impact of embedded basic skills – Eldred (2005); Casey (2006)

• Co-design of the curriculum - A New Curriculum for Difficult Times (Beer, 2013)

Our pilots helped us to learn more about how a Citizens’ Curriculum approach works

The participating pilots were: St Mungo’s Broadway, Ashley Housing, English for Action, Leicester College, Women in Prisons, Tomorrow's Women Wirral, Milton Keynes College (HMP Ranby), The Manchester College (HMP Deerbolt, HMP New Hall, HMP Blantyre) Outsource Training, Rochdale Borough Council, Bradford City Council, Birmingham City Council, Manton Children’s Centre.

Our work

Added value to the curriculum offer, which became more engaging through the interlinking of English, maths and language skills with other capabilities

An improved curriculum offer which, through greater learner involvement, was felt to be more responsive to the needs of learners

Key Overall Findings - Providers

Improved ability to make learning relevant to adults’ lives and articulate the wider benefits of participation in learning, through a focus on the interlinked capabilities of the Citizens’ Curriculum approach.

For practitioners with less experience in the creation and co-design of flexible provision tailored to the needs of individuals, a greater appreciation of the value and benefits of this approach and keenness to embed this further in their practice.

Key Overall Findings - Practitioners

Improved attitudes to learning, particularly with regard to English/language and maths, leading to progression into further learning opportunities.

Improved skills and attitudes supporting employability, including increased motivation to seek work and/or participate in voluntary work, and for some learners, progression into employment or work placements.

Improved engagement in the wider community and improved confidence and ability to use public services

Key Overall Findings - Learners

Do we have to deliver all of the capabilities?

What content should we teach for each of the capabilities? What about resources?

Tutors don’t have expertise in some of these areas, what can we do?

What’s the role of accreditation in the Citizens’ Curriculum approach?

Frequently Asked Questions ...

“More emphasis on informal, non-formal, as well as formal learning to enable people to gain economically and socially useful skills.”

“Continued investment by the UK Government in Community Learning in England, with a review of the distribution of the funds.”

“A new study-programme approach, using the NIACE Citizens’ Curriculum, to meet the needs of those with the lowest skills levels, which incorporates informal, non-formal as well as formal learning”.

NIACE Policy ‘Asks’

More pilots in new settings – English and Maths for unemployed adults, ESA claimants and plans for work with young migrants

More detailed evaluation and impact assessment including longer term analysis

Further practitioner support around health and civic capabilities

A ‘technical consultation’, looking at how the Citizens’ Curriculum might form the basis of any ‘study programme for adults’

Next Steps for the Citizens’ Curriculum