Minutes from Careers Advisory Forum
Tuesday 21 June 2022: 10.00 am - 12.00 pm via Webex
Attendees:
- Judith Gillespie, CAF Chair
- Vivienne Bannon, deputising for Maxine Judge, Education Authority
- Carol Fitzsimons, Young Enterprise NI
- Sharon King, deputising for Margaret Farragher, CCEA interim member
- Orla King, deputising for Caroline van der Feltz, CBI
- Peter Dobbin, Assumption Grammar School
- Sandra Bailie, NICVA
- Shirley Moore, deputising for Claire Henderson, SERC
- Neil Hutcheson, deputising for Roger Pollen, FSB
- Kevin Doherty, deputising for Julie Gorman, NIC-ICTU
- Paula Leathem, NI Chamber of Commerce
Apologies:
- Colin Downey, Disability Action
- Lisa Toland, SOLACE
- Gearoid Rafferty, ETI
- Kieran Harding, BITC
- Charlene Brookes, Parenting NI interim member
- Angela Scanlon, Ulster University
Officials in attendance:
- Clem Athanasiou (DfE)
- Lucy Marten (DfE)
- Frances O’Hara, Careers Service (DfE)
- Raymond McAuley, Careers Service (DfE)
- Jillian Strain, Careers Service (DfE)
- Nuala McComb, Careers Service (DfE)
- Jack Ward, Careers Service (DfE)
- Gareth Edge (DE)
Guest speakers
- Mark Magill, Senior Economist, Ulster University Economic Policy Centre (UUEPC)
- Shane Murphy, DfE International and Economic Relations Group
Welcome
1.1 The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted deputies in attendance, as well as apologies from members unable to attend. The Chair also noted that this would be her penultimate meeting as she would be standing down as Chair of the Forum later in the year.
Skills Barometer 2021 update presentation
2. The CAF Chair welcomed Mark Magill (MM), Senior Economist at Ulster University Economic Policy Centre (UUEPC), who attended the meeting to deliver a presentation regarding the latest iteration of the NI Skills Barometer.
2.1 MM thanked the CAF Chair for the opportunity to provide an overview of the key aspects of the Skills Barometer 2021 update. In regard to school leavers, MM explained that over 50% now achieve at least 5 GCSEs, including English and Maths. He also explained that over half of young people end up progressing into higher education. This, explained MM, coupled with the fact that one in three graduates achieve a first class honours degree, underscores the importance of work experience/internships, as a means of gaining access to the skills that employers are seeking to further enhance their future job prospects.
2.2 MM advised there is an undersupply in some degree subject areas, notably narrow STEM subjects. MM stated that around 36% of narrow STEM qualifiers are male, while around 16% are female, therefore encouraging more females to study STEM disciplines is integral to boosting the overall number of STEM qualifiers. As well as narrow STEM subjects, other undersupplied degree subjects included Computer Science and Engineering and Technology.
2.3 MM explained that NI has been fairly successful in retaining indigenous talent post higher education, with the region second only to Scotland in retaining higher education leavers to stay here to work.
2.4 MM stated that fewer people are entering the labour market with qualifications below Level 2. New migration policy has also meant that NI is unlikely to return to previous migrant numbers, leading to opportunities traditionally taken up by migrants being left unfilled. These factors, along with the fact that there has been little to no growth in working age population, has led to widespread labour shortages. One upside to this is that young people entering the labour market will now have more choice, with firms competing for talent.
2.5 MM advised that the female employment rate is now not far behind the male employment rate. The employment rate among the disabled, however, has fallen significantly over the course of the pandemic.
2.6 There is high growth in sectors including ICT and professional services, arts and entertainment, high tech manufacturing and restaurants and hotels. From the perspective of career planning, however, MM emphasised that citizens should not be deterred from pursuing careers in sectors that are not deemed to be high growth, as there are still opportunities available.
2.7 MM noted that there is an undersupply of qualifiers with Level 4 and 5 qualifications, while there is a marginal undersupply of qualifiers with Level 6 qualifications. The main issue with the latter is subject mix (i.e. there is an undersupply of subjects such as engineering, technology, computer science and maths, while there is an oversupply of qualifiers in the social studies category (which includes psychology, sociology, etc.).
2.8 Highlighting the benefits of undertaking a higher education programme with work placement option, MM noted the high percentage of individuals taking up employment with their placement provider at the end of the placement period.
2.9 MM encouraged CAF members to review the Skills Barometer resources available on the DfE website, including slide pack, infographic and report. The CAF Chair invited the Forum members to raise any comments or questions on the presentation.
3.0 A Forum member commented that more needs to be done to underscore the importance of the transferable skills and work experience themes emerging from the Skills Barometer update, remarking that these can often be overlooked due to a focus on the more data-led aspects of the report. MM advised that he is always keen to highlight the importance of developing employability skills, as these are what will differentiate individuals from others with similar qualifications. MM also advised that Angela Scanlon (AS), the Ulster University representative on the Forum, is currently working on a project promoting the positive impact of participating in a work placement.
3.1 Clem Athanasiou (CA) commented that the report sends a clear message that good qualifications in themselves are not enough; candidates must also be able to demonstrate transferable employability skills. CA pointed to programmes due to be launched by the Department, such as the Advanced Technical Level 3 qualifications.
3.2 The CAF Chair thanked MM for a rich presentation, noting the challenges to ensure that stakeholders, including young people, citizens with disabilities, women and adult returners, are fully prepared to engage with and make the most of the opportunities available in the labour market.
3.3 A Forum member enquired if there has been an increase in demand for apprenticeships, noting that employers are struggling to get the candidates they need to fill positions and that apprenticeships can help fill these skills gaps.
3.4 CA noted that the Department is exploring further public sector apprenticeship opportunities and the removal of the age criteria from all apprenticeship frameworks, commenting that he would expect to see an uptick in the uptake of apprenticeships in the future.
3.5 MM advised the Forum that he would be happy to take any further questions by email, should any members wish to follow up. The CAF Chair thanked MM for attending the meeting and reminding the Forum of the challenges of rebalancing the local labour market.
10X Economic Vision – Technologies and Clusters presentation
4.1 The CAF Chair welcomed Shane Murphy (SM) of DfE’s International and Economic Relations Group to provide an update regarding 10X Economic Vision and the Priority Clusters.
4.2 SM explained that 10X Economic Vision aims to harness NI’s areas of strength. In order for NI to reach its potential, a change of mindset is required. The strategy’s core themes are inclusivity, innovation and sustainability and this will be embedded in all our policy thinking. SM indicated that this could well extend to areas of conditionality in order to embed these core themes and support achievement of objectives, for instance, in order to achieve net zero, assistance to industry may weave sustainability in as a requirement in some cases.
4.3 SM referred to technologies where NI has global capabilities and highlighted that these underpin all five of the priority clusters referenced in 10X. SM emphasised that public policy goals, such as inclusivity of citizens with disabilities and women in STEM occupations, should remain top of mind. The aim will be to align NI’s areas of strength with public policy design and intervention, to create real economic impact at scale.
4.4 The CAF Chair thanked SM for his presentation and invited comments and questions from Forum members.
4.5 A Forum member enquired about SM’s team’s engagement with stakeholders. SM responded that there are six workstreams; each workstream area is committed to co-design and will have embedded plans to fulfil this commitment. SM also pointed to his branch’s engagement with Matrix, the science industry panel, as well as public research specialists in DoH. It was suggested that the Forum member and SM may wish to further explore the theme of stakeholder engagement after the Forum meeting.
4.6 FOH commented that implementation of the 10X strategy can be beneficial both in regard to commercial and public policy goals and it will be crucial to make the most of this interface. For instance, bringing those hardest to reach citizens into the labour market has both commercial and public policy benefits, underlining the importance of engaging with employers and other key stakeholders and encouraging them to embrace public policy.
4.7 CA commented that there are good lessons to be gleaned from other jurisdictions, including on how we adopt a “top down” approach to curriculum development to ensure wider public policy goals – e.g. climate change, are developed alongside the specific technical skills.
4.8 The CAF Chair thanked SM for his presentation and the CAF members for the discussion points, noting that there is real consonance between the themes of innovation, sustainability and inclusivity emerging both from MM’s Skills Barometer update and SM’s 10X presentation.
4.9 CAF Secretariat undertook to arrange for e-introductions to be made between MM/SM and the CAF members who had expressed an interest to further explore the topics discussed, after the Forum meeting.
Action Point 1 – CAF Secretariat to make e-introductions between MM and SM and CAF Members wishing to further explore themes discussed, after the Forum meeting.
Action, advice and correspondence logs
5.1 CAF Secretariat noted that all items on the action, advice and correspondence logs are complete with no outstanding issues. The Forum agreed that the minutes of the previous meeting were a true and accurate reflection of what had been discussed.
Department of Education (DE) update
6.1 Gareth Edge (GE) delivered a brief update in relation to developments at the Department of Education (DE). GE noted that the self-evaluation report pertaining to Preparing for Success had been disseminated to the Forum earlier in the year. The focus now, advised GE, was on how best to apply the learnings from the report to the joint interim action plan. To this end, a workshop meeting is planned for late June, involving senior management officials from both DE and DfE.
6.2 GE updated Forum members on the careers initiative being trialled at St. Mary’s Primary School in Pomeroy (based on England’s Primary Futures initiative). GE attended a recent event and noted high levels of engagement amongst the pupils, with both live guests and streamed content. The Education Authority (EA) is in early discussions in relation to further funding for this initiative.
6.3 GE also referred to the recent Area Learning Community (ALC) conference he had attended, which was also attended by Xello and Dr Deirdre Hughes. GE advised that the EA plans to write to schools to recommend block placements for work experience.
6.4 GE advised the Forum members that DE had recently received a correspondence case pertaining to the issue of post-primary representation on the Forum. GE advised that going forward, the CAF representative for post-primary education, Peter Dobbin (PD), would be chairing a subgroup of principals, who would meet twice a year (in alignment with CAF meetings). DE will provide secretariat function for the sub-group and the EA is actively seeking nominations for sub-group members. The CAF Chair welcomed this news, noting that it will be useful to bring a wider selection of views relating to the post-primary sector to the CAF. The Chair thanked PD for his willingness to chair the sub-group and thanked GE for the DE update.
Action Point 2 – PD to chair sub-group of post-primary representatives and feedback key emerging themes at Forum meetings.
Department for the Economy (DfE) update
7.1 FOH delivered an update regarding developments within DfE, noting the publication earlier in the year of the Independent Careers Review report. This covered a range of salient issues, including digitalisation; a future careers portal; and quality standards. A number of the recommendations within the report require executive approval, however, some work can be carried out in relation to the portal and quality standards, as this work had already been initiated prior to the election.
7.2 FOH thanked the Forum for its input to the Careers Review and for the Chair’s statement of endorsement issued upon its publication. There will be further engagement with Forum members in regard to the implementation of the report’s recommendations, subject to policy and budgetary constraints.
7.3 In regard to Careers Service delivery, FOH noted that there will be a return to face-to-face delivery from week commencing 27 June. Given the juncture of the academic year, face-to-face delivery in schools will therefore substantively return in September this year. A letter to this effect has been issued to all post-primary schools.
7.4 Pre-market engagement is currently underway in relation to the development of a careers portal, advised FOH. The Careers Service is currently seeking ideas from industry in regard to specifications and work on the business case will continue over the summertime.
7.5 FOH advised that the Careers Service Occupational Information Unit (COIU) is currently updating its earlier careers bulletins and is working on new career guides on the Financial Services/FinTech; Clean Energy and Agri-Food/Agri-Tech sectors respectively, in alignment with 10X priority clusters.
7.6 FOH informed Forum members that the 14-19 Framework is due for imminent publication, however, advised that as with the Careers Review, the recommendations are cross-cutting and therefore require executive approval. FOH thanked the CAF Chair for her statement of endorsement in regard to the Framework.
7.7 The CAF Chair thanked FOH for her update, welcoming the work on the careers portal and the overlap in the strategies referenced in the meeting, which indicate joined-up thinking. The Chair advised that it will be important to maintain this holistic view when mapping out the different actions across the careers landscape going forward.
Advice 1 – The Forum advises that the synergy between emerging strategies should be maintained when planning implementation of actions/recommendations.
AOB
8.1 The CAF Chair asked if Forum members wished to raise any items for discussion under any other business. The issue of training for careers teachers was tabled by Vivienne Bannon (VB), Education Authority, who raised the point on behalf of the Area Learning Community Co-ordinators. This emanated from a growing appetite for training from careers teachers themselves, who increasingly ask what is available. The CAF Chair noted that this is an issue that has emerged in the ETI self-evaluation report and in the 14-19 Framework. GE stated that this is an issue of which the Departments are cognisant and whilst there is nothing in the pipeline currently, advised that it is something that will be looked at.
8.2 CA noted that there are resources available currently to support careers teachers, including software tools available via the Careers website.
8.3 GE noted that ETI is very supportive of the issue of training for careers teachers. GE and FOH agreed that there could be scope to do something jointly between the two Departments, with FOH noting that work on standards being taken forward within DfE could be extended to DE. FOH outlined that there was an opportunity to work jointly to develop a programme for existing civil servants and teachers and that some preliminary discussions have taken place with The Open University who offer careers training. The CAF Chair welcomed this discussion and it was agreed that GE/FOH would provide a progress update at the next meeting.
Action Point 3 – GE/FOH to update the Forum on progress regarding issue of training for careers teachers at CAF Autumn/Winter meeting.
Autumn/winter meeting
9.1 The CAF Chair thanked Forum members for their comments and input to the meeting. Forum members were advised that the Autumn/Winter CAF meeting would take place in November, CAF Secretariat will advise members of date and arrangements in due course.