Immunity from recession?  The impact of the current recession on the extent,
 form and patterns of training at work

 Professor Alan Felstead and Dr Nick Jewson

 In 2008 the UK entered the deepest recession since at least the Second World War and arguably since the 1930s.  Output has fallen more quickly and has reached far lower levels than in more recent recessions.  This has resulted in unemployment rising (albeit slower than expected), total working hours declining, part-time working rising and earnings stagnating.  However, relatively little is known about how workplace training and learning activity have fared.  This seminar will present preliminary findings from an ESRC/UKCES funded project which aims to update and extend previous research in the light of the current economic downturn.    The aim of the session will be to promote discussion about a timely and significant aspect of the labour market which has received little coverage in either the academic or policy-making literatures.

Alan Felstead is Research Professor at Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University.  His research focuses on: the quality of work; training, skills and learning; non-standard employment; and the spaces and places of work.  He has completed over 30 funded research projects (including eight funded by the ESRC), produced six books, and written over 150 journal articles, book chapters and research reports.  His recent books include: Improving Working as Learning (with Alison Fuller, Nick Jewson and Lorna Unwin), London: Routledge, 2009; and Changing Places of Work (with Nick Jewson and Sally Walters), London: Routledge, 2005.  He is currently a Visiting Professor at LLAKES.

Nick Jewson is a Senior Research Fellow at Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. 

The event is free but booking is required.  Please email LLAKES – llakesevents@ioe.ac.uk to confirm your place.

LLAKES Public seminar series

24 Sept: Alan Felstead and Nick Jewson
Immunity from recession?  The impact of the current recession on the extent, form and patterns of training at work

2 Nov – Ann Edwards 
Working Relationally for Social Inclusion

18 Nov – Michael Handel

10 Nov – Antje Barabasch

16 Dec – Sally Tomlinson
Neets, Yobs and Kripples. Low Attainment in a Global Knowledge Economy

LLAKES Public seminar series is free and open to all – all events will take place at the Institute of Education

Please email LLAKES llakesevents@ioe.ac.uk  to confirm your place – full details will be posted shortly.

 Exploring Inequality and its Consequences: Education, Labour Markets, and Communities

The two-day conference  exploring the international trends in inequalities and what
we know about their social and economic impacts on communities and society as a whole,
was held 5-6 July.  Titled Exploring Inequality and its Consequences: Education, Labour Markets, and Communities, the conference  focused on the gaps between regions and age
groups and how, if at all, education and training could mitigate these.

Inequalities of income and wealth have been growing in many countries during the last two decades. In the UK household incomes are more unequal now than at any time since 1961,
and social mobility, on some measures, appears to have declined. The economic recession
may have exacerbated these trends, as job loss and wage cuts affect some groups – and some regions – more than others. Unemployment, for instance, has risen fastest amongst young people, the least qualified, and those in low wage occupations. These trends may have detrimental consequences both for the economy and for social cohesion. As much of the research shows, highly unequal societies tend to have higher rates of crime, poorer public
health, and lower levels of social cohesion.

The conference was organised by the ESRC-funded Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES). The aim was to bring together leading researchers in the field to share their latest research findings with policy-makers.

It was an invitation only conference which brought together over 70 delegates from the UK and abroad and comprised of extended seminars, with a mixture of plenary and smaller group sessions. The conference took place at Birkbeck College.

Presentations  included the latest findings from LLAKES research projects as well as key-note presentations from external speakers including:

• Professor Martin Carnoy, Vida Jacks Professor of Education, Stanford University
• Professor Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography, University of Sheffield
• Professor John Hills, Professor of Social Policy, Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE),
  London School of Economics and Political Science
• Professor Roger Jowell, Researcher Professor, City University
• Professor Sylvia Walby OBE, UNESCO Chair in Gender Research and Professor of Sociology, University of Lancaster

Presentations are now available to download.

Keynotes

Martin Carnoy

Danny Dorling

John Hills

Roger Jowell 

Sylvia Walby

Session papers

Daniele Checchi

Dorsett, Lui and Weale

Jacquelynne Eccles

Fuller, Unwin, Guile and Rizvi

Andy Green

Francis Green

Hoskins, Kolokitha and Janmaat

Germ Janmaat

Caroline Lloyd

Ruth Lupton 

Geoff Mason

Tarek Mostafa

Manca and Villalba

Ingrid Schoon

Wiemer Salverda

Exploring Inequality and its Consequences: Education, Labour Markets, and Communities

Inequalities of income and wealth have been growing in many countries during the last two decades. In the UK household incomes are more unequal now than at any time since 1961, and social mobility, on some measures, appears to have declined. The economic recession may have exacerbated these trends, as job loss and wage cuts affect some groups – and some regions – more than others. Unemployment, for instance, has risen fastest amongst young people, the least qualified, and those in low wage occupations. These trends may have detrimental consequences both for the economy and for social cohesion. As much of the research shows, highly unequal societies tend to have higher rates of crime, poorer public health, and lower levels of social cohesion.

This two-day conference will explore the international trends in inequalities and what we know about their social and economic impacts on communities and society as a whole. A particular focus will be on the gaps between regions and age groups and how, if at all, education and training can mitigate these. The conference is organised by the ESRC-funded Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES). The aim is to bring together leading researchers in the field to share their latest research findings with policy-makers.

The invitation only conference brings together over 70 delegates from the UK and abroad and takes the form of an extended seminar, with a mixture of plenary and smaller group sessions. The conference till take place at Birkbeck College.

Presentations will include the latest findings from LLAKES research projects as well as key-note presentations from external speakers including:

Professor Martin Carnoy, Vida Jacks Professor of Education, Stanford University

Professor Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography, University of Sheffield

Professor John Hills, Professor of Social Policy, Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE),

London School of Economics and Political Science

Professor Roger Jowell, Researcher Professor, City University

Professor Sylvia Walby OBE, UNESCO Chair in Gender Research and Professor of Sociology, University of Lancaster

Dr Bryony Hoskins was an invited speaker at the Networking European Citizenship Education conference in Vilnius  3 – 5 December 2009 and presented a paper titled ‘The Impact of Cultural and Civic Education on Social Cohesion.  The role of research on the impact of cultural and civic education on social cohesion is to provide a better understanding of what social cohesion is, this presentation explains the pressure points that currently exist and evaluates the learning strategies for making improvements.

The full paper and presentation given by Dr Bryony Hoskins is now available for download.

Download: The impact of civic education on social cohesion Bryony Hoskins for nece conference
Download: social cohesion final- version for audience

Professor Andy and Dr Tarek Mostafa attended the National Authority of Assessment Conference on Quality and Equality in Education Systems, Rabat, 20-21st April, 2010. Professor Green, who delivered his lecture remotely due to the travel crisis, presented on The Role of the State in Education and Development: the Case of East Asia.

Dr Mostafa delivered a lecture titled Decomposing inequalities in educational achievements: the role of student background, peer effects and school characteristics and also delivered a workshop called Endogeneity Problems in Multilevel Estimation of Educational Inequalities: an Analysis Using PISA Data.

All presentation and workshop materials are now available for download -

Attachment: Workshop
Attachment: Rabat lecture 2
Attachment: Pleniere

During April 2010, Karen Evans gave a series of lectures on the theme of ‘Learning , Work and Social Responsibility’ at Taiwan’s National Chi Nan University (NCNU); National Chang Hua University of Education(NCHE) and National Chung Chen University (CCU), Taiwan.

She was generously hosted by the National Chi Nan University’s Department of Comparative Education, through the Taiwanese Visiting Scholars Programme. The visit included meetings with professors and  researchers from the fields of public affairs, civic education and human resources development as well as comparative and international education.

The following paper is now available for download:

Adult Training, Skills Updating and Recession in the UK: The Implications for Competitiveness and Social Inclusion by Geoff Mason and Kate Bishop

To download your copy please go to LLAKES Research Papers

A new paper has been published as part of the LLAKES Research Paper series.

Economic Regeneration, Social Cohesion, and the Welfare-to-Work Industry: Innovation, Opportunity and Compliance in the City-Region by Alison Fuller, Lorna Unwin, David Guile and Sadaf Rizvi is now available for download.

Visit LLAKES Research Papers to download your copy.