Essays on Employer Engagement in Education

"This useful book examines how employers do, and could, engage with education providers to help all young people transition successfully to full-time work. Some chapters examine problems; others evaluate particular programs. As well as contributing to knowledge, the book provides food for thought for practitioners in schools, careers services and within companies, and for policy makers. Its particular strength is in the empirical research reported, especially the frequent use of young people’s voices, increasing our understanding of how young people imagine their employment futures and how they can get there."

Erica Smith, Professor of Vocational Education and Training, Federation University Australia.

"This new collection presents new and timely evidence on how workplace involvement can influence the economic and academic outcomes of young people. The editors are leading experts in their field who have curated a collection that advances thinking on employer engagement in education, what it can mean to young people and how schools can deploy it to greatest strategic advantage. In a subject long under-theorized, authors draw on concepts of social and cultural capital to make sense of changes observed in outcomes, and the patterns of disadvantage identified in participation. Foregrounding student voices, authors cast a critical gaze over what employers can and cannot be expected to bring to education. At a time of frenetic policymaking on school-to-work routes, and on national and global economic directions and the role of education and training within this, this book makes an important contribution."

Becky Francis, Director, UCL Institute of Education.