Last month we attended the book launch of our former colleague Dr. Billy Wong, who was a Research Associate on the first phase of our study. Billy now lectures in Education Studies at the University of Roehampton and has published in science education and sociology of education journals.

His book, Science Education, Career Aspirations and Minority Ethnic Students, builds on his work on both the ASPIRES and Enterprising Science projects at King’s College London by exploring the science career aspirations of minority ethnic students. It investigates the views, experiences and identities of British Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Indian and Pakistani youths in relation to science.

Order Billy’s book here.

Follow Billy on twitter.

— Emily MacLeod

When the 2006 GCSE reforms introduced the entitlement to take Triple Science from 2008, it was hoped that this widely praised three-qualification route would go some way to addressing the country’s STEM skills gap. But following the data collected from our national survey of over 13,000 Year 11 students, in addition to our longitudinal interviews with 70 of these students, researchers at ASPIRES 2 are questioning whether the Triple Science route really is serving society’s STEM needs. Emergent findings suggest:

1. Socially disadvantaged students are less likely to study Triple Science – In our study, the most socially disadvantaged students were two and a half times less likely to study Triple Science compared to the most advantaged. We also found that students in middle and bottom sets were much less likely to study Triple Science than their peers in top sets.
2. Students don’t choose their KS4 science options – their schools do – Despite the notion of ‘choice’ surrounding the GCSE selection process, 61% of the students surveyed taking Triple Science had this decided for them. What’s more, many of the remaining students indicated that they had been steered into taking a particular choice by their school.
3. Students think that Triple Science is only for the ‘clever’ kids – Triple Science was overwhelmingly seen as the route for those who are ‘clever’ and ‘sciency’, both by those taking it and those taking alternative options. Our interviews showed that this left Double Science and Science BTEC students feeling inferior, especially in schools which  threaten to ‘bump down’ Triple Science students to Double Science if they fail to achieve the top grades.

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— Emily MacLeod

Last month we launched the first of our Project Spotlight reports; ASPIRES 2 Project Spotlight: Year 11 Students’ Views of Careers Education and Work Experience.

The report, written by ASPIRES 2 Director Professor Louise Archer and Research Associate Dr. Julie Moote, summarises our project findings on careers education provision following our most recent data collection. Using survey data from over 13,000 Year 11 students, and interviews with 70 of these and 62 of their parents, we found that there is a demand for more and better careers education from students.

One of our key findings was that careers education is not currently reaching those most in need it; careers provision is not ‘patchy’, but is ‘patterned’ in terms of social inequalities. Girls, minority ethnic, working-class, lower-attaining and students who are unsure of their aspirations or who plan to leave education post-16 are all significantly less likely to report receiving careers education.

Download the Project Spotlight here.

— Emily MacLeod

In January, ASPIRES 2 researchers Professor Louise Archer and Dr. Julie Moote submitted evidence to the House of Commons Sub-Committee on Education, Skills and the Economy’s inquiry into careers advice and guidance. The purpose of the inquiry was to assess the quality and impartiality of current careers provision, and evaluate how careers advice in schools and colleges can help to match skills with labour market needs. Following the submission Professor Louise Archer gave oral evidence to the Committee at the House of Commons on 8^th February.

The evidence submitted used findings from ASPIRES 2’s national survey of over 13,000 15-16 year olds to report on students’ experiences of, and satisfaction with, careers education and work experience.

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