Future Innovators
How prepared are young people for the changing demands of the 21st century workplace?
In public policy the language of the 'knowledge economy' is giving way to a focus on enterprise and innovation as the building blocks of sustained economic and social success. In large part this is driven by an awareness of the changing demands of the twenty-first century workplace.
The onset of global competition and the rapid development of technology are drivers of a renewed focus on this area. Innovation – the successful exploitation of new ideas – is regarded as key to equipping organisations to compete in an increasingly competitive environment, and to empowering individuals to pursue their own hopes and aspirations.
Behind this shift is a heightened awareness of the skills and priorities that companies already regard as important and identify as key components of success in the future.
Yet despite the growing evidence-base provided by labour-market studies and national employer surveys, there is surprisingly little evidence on the perceptions, attitudes and aspirations of those who will be shaping the workplaces of the future: young people themselves.
This study with NESTA seeks to address that deficit. In this way, it is designed to help answer the key question:
To what extent do the perceptions of and attitudes of school-age pupils towards work and innovation differ from or complement the working world they are likely to experience?
If you would like to know more about the project please contact Duncan O'Leary.
A harder line on softer skills | Education Guardian
"One third of our members have reported they are not happy with the employability skills of the graduates they recruit," says Miles Templeman, director general of the Institute of Directors. "We're talking about interpersonal skills, communication and teamwork and the ability to handle business situations - all things that aren't taught in universities and schools.'
The McKinsey Quarterly: Sizing the emerging global labor market
Useful McKinsey Study. Finds: Some occupations also are more amenable than others to remote employment. The most amenable to it are engineering, on the one hand, and finance and accounting, on the other (52 percent and 31 percent, respectively) Concludes: In practice, just a small fraction of the jobs that could go offshore actually will. Today, around 565,000 service jobs in the eight sectors we evaluated have been offshored to low-wage countries. By 2008, that number will grow to 1,200,000.'
DfES Next Steps Research: longitudinal study of young people
Next Steps is one of the biggest and most important studies of young people ever; not just in England but anywhere in the world. The research follows a large number of young people through education and beyond to find out about their experiences and their views
'Real Science' NESTA report (pdf)
NESTA report of science teaching: argues for more experimentation and sense of discovery in learning.