Career Making
Career decision-making and career development of part-time higher educationstudents research
Briefing paper
February 2007
Higher Education Careers Services Unit
Prospects House
Booth St East
Manchester
M13 9EP
Higher Education Careers Services UnitProspects House
Booth Street East
Manchester
M13 9EP
February 2007
Dear Colleague,
Career decision-making and career development of part-time higher education students
Thank you for your interest in the above research project. It is our intention to invite written expressions of interestin the first instance. This will enable us to select a shortlist of applicants who will be asked to develop their proposals fully, and in readiness for presentation to the selection panel, where a decision to proceed will be made.
The timescale for this is as follows:
-advertising the invitation – February 2007
-expressions of interest to be received by 4pm on 12 March 2007
-applicants selected to develop a full proposal to be notified by 19 March 2007
-fully developed proposals to be received by 16 April 2007
-shortlisted applicants to be notified by 20 April 2007
-selection panel to be held on 25 April 2007
Expressions of interest should be no longer than four sides A4 in no less than 11- point font. Expressions of interest should, as a minimum, indicate the methodological approach to be taken, the approximate length of programme, costings and CVs of staff involved. The identification of any potential partners would be helpful but is not essential at this stage. The funding allowed to complete the project will be up to £200,000 (see ‘Timescale and pricing’ later for more detail).
Applicants selected to submit a full proposal will be required to document fully the methodologies, detailed costings and timescales. The Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) will wish to work closely with the successful applicant in respect of the definition of research questions and outcomes, and will be willing to support the project through the management of a steering group or other supportive mechanism. HECSU will require interim and final reporting and contribution to dissemination activities during and immediately following the project.
Other HECSU funded projects have led to publication via a variety of media, including reports, refereed journals, books, conferences etc and electronic means of dissemination will also be available.
For more information on HECSU’s research, including our research strategy( please see our website.
Expressions of interests should be sent to me at the above address, or by email to . Please do not hesitate to contact me by email or telephone (0161 277 5348) if you have any further queries.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
Pearl Mok
Labour Market Information Co-ordinator
Invitation to Submit an Expression of Interest – Part-time Students Study
Introduction
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) invites tenders for research into the experiences of part-time students as part of the longitudinal research programme, Career Making. The research is to investigate part-time students’ motivations, expectations and aspirations in studying in relation to their working lives, and how these influence their decision-making about their work and careers.
Background
HECSU has commissioned a major six-year core study – Futuretrack – exploring the experiences of mainly full-time students beginning higher education in 2006 and tracking their career decision-making as they move through their studies and into employment. The research investigates the impact of educational and community background on the information available to those applying to enter higher education, the choices that they make and the implications of these choices as they progress through universities and colleges or make alternative decisions. The research is funded by HECSU and undertaken in collaboration with the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and is part of a wider programme of researchinto career-making and the careers information and advice required by those entering the labour market in the early 21st century(Career Making). The Futuretrack research team is based at the Institute for Employment Research (IER) at the University of Warwick, under the leadership of Prof Kate Purcell. The research will provide an unprecedented and robust account of the way students plan and prepare for their working lives beyond higher education. The surveys provide an opportunity to track students through higher education and beyond, exploring at each stage how different types of students and graduates encounter opportunities and make career decisions. This core study is being complemented by a range of subsidiary studies examining emerging themes in more depth, including the research on part-time students which is the subject of this invitation to tender.
Research recently undertaken by Professor Claire Callender for Universities UK and Guild HE on part-time students[1] suggests that, part-time students' range of motivations for studying may be similar to those of full-time students. However, they may have very mixed reasons for studying depending on their age, previous employment and existing educational attainment. The complexityof the part-time student population is of interest to both higher education providers and researchers, especially in the context ofwidening participation and increased fees levels. This research will contribute to a better understanding of the implications for the support of part-time students’ career decision-making and will make a major contribution to informing institutional strategies and broader higher educationpolicy making.
Aims and objectives of the research
The aims of the research are:
- to collect data on career intentions and ambitions for part-time students
- to investigate employment and training outcomes for part-time students
- to assess the impact of the mode of study on employment and training outcomes
- to collect data on students’ career development/learning and decision-making
The research should be longitudinal combining both quantitative and qualitative methods. The sample should include part-time students in higher education institutions and further education colleges, at selected degree and sub-degree levels.
Suggested research questions
Prior to developing this piece of substantive research, HECSU commissioned a small-scale feasibility study. One of the aims of the feasibility study was to investigate the possible research questions that the substantive research could focus on . The suggestions made by the feasibility study are:
1.What are part-time students’ motivations, expectations and aspirations in studying in relation to their working lives? Why do they study part-time rather than full-time? Have they switched from full-time at any stage?
2.How different or similar are their motivations, expectations and aspirations in relation to: qualification aim, subject, age, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status (as self-reported).
3.Do these motivations, expectations and aspirations change during the course - and after completion - of their studies?
4.What are the influences of employers, work colleagues, family, friends, non-higher education careers advisers etc, on part-time students’ decision-making about work and career?
5.How might we conceptualise their decision-making about work and career?
6.What are their actual career paths?
7.What were students’ pre-entry qualifications?
8.What careers education, information and guidance have students received before, during and (for those that have graduated) after their course?
9.Have they experienced any barriers to their career development, eg ageism?
10.What other education and training have they undertaken prior to starting their higher education study, during and (if applicable) after they graduated?
11.How different or similar are their motivations, expectations, aspirations, their experiences and their decision-making about work and career in comparison with full-time students in the Futuretrack study?
Person/organisational specification
The individual or organisation invited to develop full proposals for the part-time students research is likely to have expertise in one or more of the following:
-design, management and execution of longitudinal research projects
-higher education research
-management of large data sets
-quantitative and qualitative methodologies
-student and graduate career progression
-higher education learning and teaching
-part-time higher education students
-part-time programmes of learning
-work-based learning
-vocational and professional learning
-career-related decision making
-careers education and guidance interventions
-graduate labour market analysis
-social and economic research
-access to electronic data gathering and storage facilities
-experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team
-effective working relationships with relevant organisations
Timescale and pricing
The costs of the research is anticipated to be up to £200,000, spanning the lifetime of the project which is likely to be between 2007 and 2011.HECSU is inviting researchers/research teams to propose the methodology and precise timescales, within the proviso that it is anticipated that the study of part-time students will be longitudinal. Individuals and organisations will also be required to have developed staff management strategies sufficient to span the life of the project.
Detailed specification
A detailed specification will be provided for those invited to develop their expression of interest intoa full proposal. NB. This two-stage tendering process is aimed to minimise the administrative burden of constructing detailed proposals at the early stage.
February 2007
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[1] Universities UK/Guild HE (2006) Part-time students and part-time study in higher education in the UK, Strand 3: Asurvey of students’ attitudes and experiences of part-time study and its costs 2005/06.