INVESTIGATING CAREER SUPPORT IN A LOCAL
COMMUNITY (Research Proposal)
COMPREHENSIVE CAREER SUPPORT
IS VITAL TO OLDER PROFESSIONAL
WOMEN
“The Job Centre was a waste of time for someone that
already had a lot of skills and experience and it was
demeaning…” Stevie (50-59 Focus group)5
u  A significant proportion of professional women aged
50 – state pension age are located in the public
sector 1.
u  From 2009 the public sector experienced cuts to
funding resulting in significant job losses and a
reduction in care services1.
u  The newly raised state pension age means
they will need to remain in work for longer.
Aim:
To develop a deeper understanding of the capacity of a
local community (on and off line) to meet the changing
career support needs of older professional women
navigating the labour market over time.
Research Questions:
u  What are the career support needs of professional
women aged 50 to state pension age as they navigate
the labour market?
u  What versions of career support (on and off line) are
available in a local community and how are they
delivered?
u  How could versions of career support across a local
community meet the changing needs of the women
under study?
u  What are the implications for wider UK policy shaping
career support provision?
u  Career decisions made from 50 to state pension
age are critical in preventing future pension poverty.
2. Women’s Employment by Industry
and Age Group, Apr-June 2012 (%)1.
u  2.05 million women aged 16-64 (Jan-March
2015) are not looking for work because they are
looking after family or home2.
Profession u  1.28 million aged 16-64 (Jan-March 2015) are
not looking for work because they have retired 48,000 fewer than a year earlier, partly due to ongoing changes to the state pension age for women
2.
1. Women’s Employment by Occupational Group
and Age Group 2012 (%)1.
Profession 16-­‐24 25-­‐49 50-­‐64 Total Agriculture, forestry and fishing 0.4 0.5 0.9 0.7 Manufacturing 3.4 5.8 5.1 5.3 Construc?on 0.8 1.9 2.0 1.8 Distribu?on, hotels and restaurants 41.5 16.8 17.4 20.3 Transport and communica?on 3.7 4.6 3.7 4.2 Banking and finance 13.3 17.3 13.2 15.7 Public admin, educa?on and health 25.4 46.8 52.0 45.2 Other services 10.8 5.5 5.2 6.2 Total 100 100 100 100 3. Public Sector Employment as a Percentage
of Total Employment, Seasonally Adjusted3.
16-­‐24 25-­‐49 50-­‐64 Total Lorraine Johnson
Supervisors: Sally-­‐Anne Barnes and Chris Warhurst Method:
1.  Meet frequently with a small group of professional women navigating
the labour market to capture their career support needs over time.
2.  Condense their experiences into vignette stories outlining their career
support needs.
3.  Map career support organisations and their versions of career support
across a specific local community.
4.  Identify advisers from those organisations who offer versions of careers
support.
5.  Share the vignette stories with those advisers to identify gaps and
adjustments to service provision.
Potential Research Benefits:
u The women will be able to reflect on their career support needs over time
and be supported with identifying local sources of help.
u The career support map might be used to support service development
whilst also acting as a ‘sign posting’ resource for the advisers and
women understudy.
u Local advisers will be supported with reflecting on the voices of the
women and adjusting service provision where appropriate.
UK GENDERED LABOUR MARKET
u Hour glass shape: more job opportunities at the top
and bottom end with fewer in the middle.4
u Government increasing investment in male dominated
sectors associated with science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM).
u Access to STEM sectors usually through low paid
apprenticeships or graduate training routes.
High Quality Jobs
4.
Senior Senior Management Management 21.0 20.5 Managers, directors and senior officials 2 8 8 7 20.0 Professional 7 24 20 20 19.5 Associate professional and technical 8 15 10 13 19.0 Administra?ve and secretarial 14 17 23 18 18.5 Skilled trades 1 2 3 2 Caring, leisure and other 21 15 15 16 17.0 Sales and customer service 25 9 9 11 16.5 Process, plant and machine opera?ves 1 2 2 2 16.0 Elementary 21 8 10 11 Total 100 100 100 100 18.0 Appren?ces 17.5 15.5 Mar 2012 Low Quality Jobs 4.
Jun 2012 Sep 2012 Dec 2012 Mar 2013 Jun 2013 Sep 2013 Dec 2013 Mar 2014 Jun 2014 Sep 2014 Dec 2014 REFERENCES:
1. ONS Labour Force Surveys, cited in Trade Union Congress (2014) Age Immaterial: Women Over 50 In The Workplace. A TUC Report. London: Trade Union Congress (p.10).
2. Data cited at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/may-2015/statistical-bulletin.html#tab-11--Economic-inactivity
(Accessed 25.5.15).
3. Fig 2.1 Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey – ONS cited at
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/may-2015/statistical-bulletin.html#tab-2--Public- and-private-sector-employment--first-published-on-18-March-2015- (Accessed 25.5.15)
4. Findlay, P., Kalleberg, A. L., Warhurst, C. (2013) “The Challenge of Job Quality” Sage Publications Available at http://www.sagepublications.com [Accessed 19.9.14] 5. PRIME (2015)The Missing Million: Pathways back into employment. London: Business In The Community (p.24)