Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives
WISERD Summer Conference
28 & 29 June 2011 Sketty Hall, Swansea
Abstracts
Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives
Keynote Speaker Professor Charlotte Williams OBE
Professor Charlotte Williams OBE, Professor of Social Justice, Keele University
“Rethinking the parameters of social research for a multicultural Wales”
Post devolution Wales has witnessed a concerted effort to build and coordinate a strong research community with a view to responding to the need for best evidence to underpin policy planning and policy making. WISERD is but one manifestation of this, as is, the Clinical Research Collaboration Cymru (CRC) established in 2006 to provide an R&D infrastructure for health and social care. Drawing on the example of one infrastructural network within the CRC, this paper explores the issues associated with attempts to mainstream one specific area of equalities – namely race and ethnicity – into the research agenda for Wales. It considers the justification for rethinking the parameters of social research in this way, explores some of the issues and difficulties of embedding this agenda in policy relevant research in Wales and argues that all social research should consider whether, when and how ethnicity and minority ethnic population groups be considered in commissioning and in the development of research programmes and projects. In a political context in which issues of race and minority concerns are increasingly hard to publicly articulate, this paper questions the relationship between research and policy making, between government and the academy and points to the complexities of their relationships to wider publics, social and political movements.
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Session 1a An Anatomy of Inequality in Wales
Discussion of the Report Commissioned by Equality and Human Rights Commission.
“An anatomy of economic inequality in Wales”
The National Equality Panel‟s report An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK (Hills et al. 2010) provided a milestone in our understanding of relationships between people‟s characteristics and their financial position. Through detailed analysis of complex datasets, some newly available, it charted in depth how „inequalities in people‟s economic outcomes - such as earnings, income and wealth - are related to their characteristics and circumstances - such as gender, age or ethnicity.‟ While the UK NEP report has had a significant role in providing evidence for debate on issues surrounding inequality, the report provided only limited information of the nature of economic inequality at a sub-national level. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (Wales) sought to address this information gap by commissioning WISERD to produce an „NEP-style‟ report for Wales. In this session, contributors to the report present findings from this first systematic examination of economic inequality within Wales.
Participants: Rhys Davies, WISERD Cardiff; Dr Catherine Robinson, WISERD Swansea; Professor Gerry Makepeace, Cardiff; Dr Victoria Wass, Cardiff
Session 1b Localities Resiliences
“Relational resilience?: Considering older people‟s connected rural lives”
Dr Jesse Heley, Dr Laura Jones and Dr Suzie Watkin, WISERD Aberystwyth
Rural space is increasingly understood as being implicated in globalisation, and, accordingly, countryside places are constituted through relational networks of local- global interconnections. On this basis, researchers are becoming ever more attentive to the everyday multi-scalar relations, practises and connections (e.g. business linkages, travel, communications) through which rural communities are constituted and change through time. The manner in which these processes unfold is clearly specific to particular places and communities, and constitutive of difference, but at the same time there are also similarities borne out of corresponding social, economic and political relations at work spatially and temporally. As a means of exploring specific and shared local contexts of everyday life, the theoretical and methodological model of „countertopography‟ put forward by Katz (2001) holds much promise, and we are currently using this framework as a means through which to explore the connections inherent in the lives and practices of older people within a specific rural community. More specifically, we are using countertopography as a means of challenging assumptions regarding older people‟s lives in mid-Wales that emerged in a study of local government and shadow state sector stakeholders. These assumptions present older people as being predominately „static‟, „passive‟ and „less‟ implicated in wider social and economic networks, and they also show the tendency to define older people in terms of their needs, as opposed to their contributions. Contra, and in keeping with the current zeitgeist in gerontology, we suggest there is much value in going beyond this narrative and for more fully considering multiple interactions of older people through rural space, and over time.
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While older people‟s experiences may offer insights into the changing historical shape of communities, it is also vital to understand how older residents are and can shape communities both in the present and future. Through better understanding the differentiated role of older residents in this way, the assumption that older residents do not, cannot, or will not contribute to sustainability agendas (environmentally, socially, economically and otherwise) can be put to the test, and will be considered in this paper and in reference to our ongoing research programme.
“Making sense of resilience”
Dr Marc Welsh, Aberystwyth
In a world of risk, relationality, flows and mutability, theoretical frameworks, particularly „scientific‟ ones that promise a means of capturing that complexity are seductive. „Resilience theory‟ is one such theory that has recently come to prominence - a ubiquitous term deployed within a variety of epistemic communities as a means for understanding and managing „complex adaptive systems‟ and change. Resilience straddles an intersection between popular discourse (on economic crisis and sporting triumph), academic discourse of the „social‟ and the „ecological‟ sciences, and national and local political discourse on responding to or managing the „event‟ – whether this be terrorist attack, an unruly nature or the consequences of late capitalism. In this paper I situate resilience as an organising principle of British governmental rationality where it serves to secure the primacy of the state as locus of authority and paradoxically is enrolled into Coalition government neoliberal discourses of responsibilisation and localisation. Tracing a genealogy of resilience theories as both academic discourses and as mediated structuring discourses of governmental practice I illustrate that in Britain and Wales an equilibrium heavy form of the concept structures government planning for disaster and risk management. However, significantly at sub-national scales the term is also finding utility, as a means of conceptualising and operationalising imaginaries of „the region‟, and locally in the transitioning of communities from oil dependency to carbon neutral futures.
“Glastir - the Neoliberalisation of Nature?”
Dr. Sophie Wynne-Jones, Wales Rural Obeservatory, Aberystwyth
In this paper I reflect upon the merits of assessing the new Welsh agri-environment scheme, Glastir, through the analytical lens of the „neoliberal natures‟ literature. Here-in, Glastir is discussed as a form of neoliberalisation, where-in former environmental externalities are constructed as saleable commodities, to be regulated through market- proxies and the techniques of neoliberal governmentality. However, these mechanisms and seeming archetypes of neoliberalisation are also seen to fit with pre-existing frameworks of State regulation. Similarly, in terms of the drivers behind this development, Glastir is presented as a compromise between drivers for liberalisation and the constraints of the Welsh context. As such, the paper supports wider readings of neoliberal governance as necessarily hybrid, with the notion of neoliberalisation therefore coming under scrutiny for the heterogeneity of possible outcomes.
Session 1c Generational Change in Wales
“Children Chapel, Kitchen: Gender and Generation in Y Fro Gymraeg”
Dr Sally Baker, Bangor and Dr B.J. Brown, De Montfort
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Using the substantial database of biographical narratives (collected by Baker et al.) from Welsh speakers aged between 55 and 90 years who spent their formative years in Y Fro Gymraeg, this paper explores the ways in which women breached traditional gender roles in communities usually considered to be highly conservative with regard to gender, the circumstances in which they did this and the social practices that enabled them to do so.
“Burghers or Spiralists? Parental Choice and Welsh-medium Education in South Wales. The story so far. . .”
Dr. Rhian Siân Hodges et al., Bangor
This paper explores generational change in attitudes of non-Welsh speaking parents in south Wales towards Welsh medium education. It reviews present day parental incentives for choosing Welsh medium education and the implications for language planning strategies in the context of shifting attitudes over the past five decades.
“The Jewish Diaspora in Wales: Welsh Jews and Generational Change”
Dr Nathan Abrams et al., Bangor
Dr Nathan Abrams et al. will present some tentative findings based on their AHRC- funded project, 'The Jewish Diaspora in Wales'. Although Jews have been resident in Wales since the mid-eighteenth century, very little has been written about their experiences. Based on extensive archival research together with oral narratives, the project aims to rectify this gap in our historical knowledge. In this presentation we'll discuss some of our initial evidence, exploring generational changes among Jews in Wales.
Demonstration of WISERD Geoportal
Demonstration of the WISERD Geoportal
Dr Robert Berry and Dr Richard Fry, WISERD Glamorgan
Researchers in the Faculty of Advanced Technology's GIS Research unit are developing spatial frameworks that enhance the ability to discover survey (government and academic), public, administrative and 'grey' socio-economic data (both quantitative and qualitative) relating to Wales, with the aim of encouraging collaborative research and re-use of existing data. Using free and open-source software (FOSS) components and services, a range of software has been developed to capture standards compliant metadata for a variety of data sources. This software has enabled the WISERD Data Integration Team to build a rich meta-database of government surveys (down to question level within national surveys), geo-referenced semantically-tagged qualitative data (generated from primary WISERD research), grey data (e.g. Transcripts, journal publications, books, Ph.D. theses) and geo-referenced administrative data (e.g. education data from schools). A GeoPortal has been developed that enables end users to query the meta-database using a number of tools.
For further details, please contact Professor Gary Higgs, Dr Rob Berry or Dr Richard Fry or email [email protected].
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Session 2a Migration and Wales
“Public sentiments towards immigrants and minorities – the difference Wales makes?”
Dr Robin Mann, Dr Yvonne Tommis , WISERD Bangor and Professor Steve Fenton, Bristol
There is growing quantitative evidence of people exhibiting increasingly tough and assimilationist attitudes towards immigration, and multiculturalism more generally, across Britain and Europe (MORI 2009, Populus 2011, Eurobarometer 2007). In the context of a global economic recession, it is likely that popular sentiments towards immigration will harden, particularly in de-industrialised areas, with fears that this may translate into support for far right political parties. An important, yet to date unexplored, dimension to this literature is whether and how public attitudes are different at the devolved or sub-state level, in which there are different national identifications, and in which the devolved governments appear to be pursuing more progressive agendas. Are these sentiments different in Wales and in what ways? How do they compare with other parts of the UK? How do sentiments interact with different national identifications? We begin with a broader discussion of nationalism, immigration and racism in the Welsh context, taking into account constructions of Wales as a „tolerant nation‟. Following this, we present data from an ongoing analysis of UK-wide and European surveys. In doing so, we consider the value of such surveys for exploring sentiments at the sub-state level.
“The relative earnings of recent immigrants in Wales and regions of the UK”
Rhys Davies, WISERD Cardiff and Dr Stephen Drinkwater, WISERD Swansea
All parts of the UK have seen increasing levels of labour migration over the past decade, especially in the aftermath of EU enlargement in 2004. In this paper we focus on variations in the relative earnings of different migrant groups across the UK using information from pooled quarters of Labour Force Survey data. We particularly focus on how recent immigrants arriving in Wales from the new member states have fared in the labour market compared to migrant workers from other parts of the world as well as to the UK born. These findings are then contrasted with the position of similar groups in other regions within the UK. We concentrate on earnings because of the relatively high employment rates of recent labour migrants to the UK, especially amongst those arriving from Central and Eastern European countries.
“The employment experiences of refugees living in Wales” Professor Heaven Crawley, Swansea and Dr Tina Crimes, Glamorgan
Employment provides a mechanism for income generation and economic advancement and, as such, is widely considered as a key mechanism for refugee integration. Jobs are also valuable in establishing valued social roles, developing language and broader cultural competence and establishing social connections. Drawing on the findings of a survey of refugees living in Wales which was undertaken by the Centre for Migration Policy Research (CMPR) in 2009, this paper explores the employment experiences of refugees living in Wales. This evidence indicates that refugees experience high levels of unemployment and under-employment, in spite of the fact that many arrive in Wales with good qualifications and previous work experience in their countries of origin.
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Barriers to appropriate employment include a lack of recognition of previous experience/qualifications, poor standards of ESOL training and lack of access to volunteering opportunities outside the refugee sector. In addition there is evidence of racism and discrimination in the workplace and in dealings with agencies and service providers.
Session 2b The Contribution of Major Events to the Welsh Economy
“Developing methodologies and guidance for the analysis of major events: implications for Wales”
Sean White, Dominic Webber and Eddie Smith, Tourism Intelligence Unit, Office for National Statistics
In this paper we present work underway at the Office for National Statistics in the Tourism Intelligence Unit (TIU) to develop guidance for tourism officials to aid the evaluation of events of different scales. Specifically, the audience for this guidance is at the sub-regional or local level and as a result we focus not only on major events but smaller-scale locally focused events. The guidance sets out a number of principles relating to the measurement of the economic impacts of events. We are aware that other „softer‟ impacts are generated by events, such as social impacts or environmental impacts. These have been covered in detail elsewhere, and particularly through the eventIMPACTS toolkit which has been developed by UKSport and a consortium of partners.
We outline, therefore, in this paper how guidance can be targeted at tourism professionals and destination managers working in this area at the regional, local authority and destination level. The focus here is on how events can be defined before we present approaches to analysing the direct spending relating to events and consequent indirect impacts that can be assessed through a variety of techniques. This will entail some explanation as to why the gross spending effects often exceed the overall net spending effects, including methods to calculate the latter. We also highlight some of the main methodologies for deriving the indirect and induced effects that occur from the net direct spending effects. We provide a specific example for the UK using the recession as an example of a major event
In presenting this work we make links to the Major Events Strategy for Wales 2010- 2020 and highlight synergies between this strategy and the development work being undertaken by the TIU. This paper acts to set the context for specific examples of event evaluation presented in the other papers in this session.
“Reflections on the Value of the Ryder Cup”
Rob Holt (Chief Executive Office Ryder Cup Wales 2010) no abstract provided
"Beyond Economic Impact: Contextualising Events in Wider Public Policy"
Dr Calvin Jones, Cardiff
In recent decades major sporting and cultural events have attracted significant public funding from national, regional and city governments. The primary rationale has been
6 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives economic. Events are widely thought to bring competitive advantage for host locations (although with this much questioned in the literature). More recently, a number of governments, that of Wales among them, have prioritised 'sustainable' development, with the inference that certain kinds of development are ecologically and socially more appropriate and long-term viable. This paper examines the impacts of major events within this sustainability context, showing how events in Wales have been judged not only on economic impact but also in terms of consequent emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Conclusions are drawn about what a 'sustainable events strategy' for Wales might look like.
Session 2c Ageing and Place in Wales
“Older People and Poverty in Rural Places: Material Hardships, Cultural Denials and Social Inclusions”
Professor Paul Milbourne and Dr Shane Doheny, Cardiff
This paper explores the relations between older people, poverty and place in rural areas. It develops previous work on rural poverty that has pointed to both the significance of older people within the rural poor population and their denials of poverty. The paper also connects with recent discussions on the complexity of relations between poverty and social exclusion in later life, as well as key themes emerging from studies of older people in disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods. Drawing on findings from surveys of 4,000 households in rural Wales and 750 older people in six rural places in England and Wales, and follow-on interviews with older people in poverty living in these places, the paper provides a detailed examination of the materialities and experiences of poverty among older people in rural places. In particular, it highlights how older poor groups construct their lives in rather complex terms with references made to both social inclusions and exclusions. In addition, the research points to the significance of the socio-cultural contexts of place in shaping older people‟s understandings, and particularly their denials, of personal and local poverty in rural areas.
“Membering and re-membering bodies: older people, dwelling and care”
Professor Joanna Latimer, Cardiff
In this paper I confront the notion of a corporeal ethics with an examination of the complex and potentially abject space of care and frail older people. The stark world of older people‟s care is managed by a „deficit model‟, in which care is constituted as provision, and the older person as in deficit and in need of care. Here care is not constituted as interactive, entangled, emergent, material practice, but as „interventions‟ to be delivered: practitioners are providers, while the older person is figured as a recipient, or, at best, a consumer. Where the ethics of provider-recipient relations are considered they are usually located as ethical expertise in individuals, who know how to preserve the autonomy, identity and status of recipients. Moments of care are not understood as both corporeal and symbolic, world-forming occasions, for both older people and practitioners alike. In this paper I offer a perspective that unconceals how care practices are relational, not only exercising body-persons in often implicit and silent moral forms, but as instituting worlds of belonging. I explore not just how the affective has been made invisible to analyses of care or even that „sentimental work‟ has been simply backgrounded in the pursuit of demonstrable gains. Rather, drawing on the work of Martin Heidegger and Marilyn Strathern I suggest a way to unconceal
7 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives how care is being-with, and world forming, and the possibility that work, care, and life are indivisible, for both the frail and practitioners alike. I illustrate this mysterious space of care, and its possibility for dwelling, and the making and unmaking of worlds together, drawing on a number of examples.
“The dimensionality of „place attachment‟ for older people in rural areas of England and Wales” Professor Vanessa Burholt, Swansea
Previously the author has used qualitative data to develop a four domain (physical, social, temporal and psychological) model of attachment to place for older people in rural areas. Drawing on data for 920 older people (60+ years) living in rural areas of England and Wales, and utilizing items developed from the initial qualitative analysis to represent each domain empirically, this paper uses exploratory factor analysis to identify the underlying factor structure of place attachment for older people in rural areas of England and Wales. It examines the match between the resulting factor structure and the conceptual map of place attachment. The author develops sub-scales and an overall scale of place attachment and tests for reliability and rating scaling assumptions (content validity) and examines preliminary construct validity by examining statistical relationships between the scales and a range of variables known to be related to place attachment. Using principal axis factoring three factors are identified: social attachment; aesthetic attachment; and appropriateness of resources and the environment. The three factors account for 23.5%, 11.6% and 6.4% of the variance and good internal reliability is demonstrated (Cronbach‟s Alpha .71, .72 and .72). Parametric and non-parametric tests indicate that „social attachment‟ is related to length of time living in the community, gender, marital status and type of rural area. „Aesthetic attachment‟ is related to type of rural area only. Poor health, increased age, increased length of time in the community, being female, widowed and rural community type are associated with a greater degree of importance given to the „appropriateness of resources and the environment‟. The analysis suggests that this is a psychometrically reliable and valid instrument fit for the purpose of measuring attachment to place for older people in rural areas. However, further psychometric evaluations with other samples are required to confirm the model structure. Post Graduate Session 1 Health in Wales
“No contest: theorizing power through aspects of health and social care policy in the wake of the demise of the internal market in NHS Wales”
Julia Magill, Glamorgan
The limited theorization of power in health and social care policy in the United Kingdom is a gap in the literature that has been identified in a number of recent publications (Hunter, 2008; Crinson, 2009; Ham, 2009).
This presentation analyzes relative power to connect policy at the macro level (ending the internal market in NHS Wales) with a number of specific policy issues and in so doing: identifies that the under-theorization of and attention to power in health and social care policy helps to explain apparent disconnections between policy intent and the effect of policy in practice;
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suggests that, at its most extreme, neglecting to take into account the role of power in the design, implementation and review of policy in this particular policy arena becomes a matter of life and death; and proposes that exploring power in health and social care policy through Foucauldian- informed critical discourse analysis of relative power could to some extent facilitate translation of policy aspirations into practice.
“The silence of the Welsh LAMBS (Ladies and Men Beleaguered by Stroke)”
Gwilym Sion ap Gruffudd, Bangor
Although most Welsh speakers in Wales also speak English, many feel more comfortable and confident communicating in Welsh when accessing health and social care services (Roberts, 1991; Thomas, 1998). A range of legal, clinical and policy statutory governance and guidelines exists which serve as the main drivers for Welsh language services in health and social care. Offering language choice in health and social care in Wales is a legal requirement, embodied in the Welsh Language Act 1993. However a recent report suggests a significant shortfall in the Welsh language awareness of practitioners and a lack of commitment within healthcare organisations to plan for Welsh language provision (Healthcare Inspectorate Wales 2007; WAG 2005). Stroke patients may be considered a useful exemplar to explore these issues; they have complex health and social care needs that involve complex processes and service configurations, and interventions from multiple perspectives. This paper attempts to construct a framework for language planning in health care using stroke as an exemplar to identify the needs for Welsh language provision in health and social care.
“Between strangers- Negotiating Fieldwork within local PPI arenas in England and Wales”
Silvia Scalabrini, Swansea
This paper provides a first-hand account on how fieldwork developed in my ethnographic study of citizen-engagement organisations – Local Involvement Networks (LINks) and Community Health Councils (CHCs) - that form part of the health care systems of England and Wales. This is the main component of my doctoral research project on the social construction of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) by the actors and agencies involved in this work. The aim is to illuminate the process of data collection with a focus on certain problems encountered over 15 months of observations and interviews. The paper explores issues concerned with gaining research ethics approval and negotiating access, and goes on to reflect on how these preoccupations affected my entry to the field. It discusses the personal strategies I developed to manage field relationships and some of the difficult issues and events that impacted on my sense of self and my construction of a researcher identity. The paper thus offers insights and reflections on the dynamics of fieldwork experience that I hope will be helpful to other neophyte qualitative researchers.
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Session 3a Citizenship, Participation and Civil Society
“Unpicking the performance of Community First Partnerships”
Dr Tom Entwistle and Dr Valeria Guarneros-Meza, Cardiff
This paper will focus on the implementation of the Communities First programme in Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taff. Based on data collected in 2010 from semi- structured interviews conducted with CF local officers and a survey distributed to the members of all CF partnerships in both local authorities, the paper will argue that it is the way that partnerships work in terms of skills and leadership of individual partners which determines the performance of CF partnerships rather than the details of their institutional design (e.g. governance regime and membership composition) or levels of deprivation. Although the findings of this analysis are far from being generalisable to Wales, they are relevant to the extent that they open a debate on how to develop a formula that can ensure their consistence performance overtime. Debates of this kind may be fruitful for the future consideration of the programme.
“Place Shaping and Geographies of Participation: Unitary Authority Stakeholder Perspectives”
Dr Alex Plows, WISERD Bangor and Dr Stephen Burgess, WISERD Cardiff
„Place-shaping‟ concerns the politics of place, and is a contested term. Place-shaping is often used to describe a process whereby „spatial imaginaries‟ become enacted and striven towards through political processes. This paper discusses policy and academic approaches to place-shaping before discussing research findings from interviews with specific stakeholders; heads of Unitary Authority departments across Wales. Despite „citizen centred‟ discourse from policy-makers, the top-down nature of government approaches to place-shaping and public participation comes through strongly in these stakeholder accounts. Place shaping by elites, even when this ascribes a clear role for public participation, often ignores other spatial imaginaries. However we also find accounts of participatory place shaping, often linked to an explicit valuing of the role of local knowledge. We reflect on the potential for area based policy making to act as a catalyst, facilitating the uptake of other spatial imaginaries, defined in terms of geographies of participation.
Session 3b Skills and Employment in Wales
“The graduate labour market, recession, and social justice in Wales”
Dr Paul Ransome, Swansea
This presentation reflects on the needs and expectations of young adults entering the graduate labour market in Wales during recession. The background is the social justice agenda in Wales set out in Transforming Education (DCELLS 2008a, p.14/12) which states: „We expect all learning transformation to improve opportunities available to people and groups who are more likely to experience discrimination and have access to fewer opportunities [and to develop] management and governance arrangements to promote and sustain equality and diversity‟. The specific policy objective of achieving greater social inclusion through education and enhanced employability in Wales is also emphasized in For Our Futures (DCELLS 2009) and in Skills that Work for Wales
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(DCELLS 2008b p.63) which recognize the need to develop „a broad and diverse skills base, capable of responding to new and emerging challenges‟.
Reflecting both supply-side and demand-side factors, the core of the paper is a critical examination of how well or badly HE Institutions who are charged with the task of providing a continuing supply of suitably skilled young adults to the Welsh labour market each year, and employers who are expected to provide them with employment, understand the size and shape of the graduate labour market. Based on a statistical- descriptive overview of the current graduate labour market, the paper argues that there is a tendency not only to underestimate the supply of graduates into the labour market each year, but to overlook how these young adults are competing for a diminishing supply of jobs with other young adults and with more experienced prospective employees who are already active in that labour market. To the extent that a higher proportion of graduate employment in Wales falls within the public sector, the contraction of this realm of employment in the coming years should be a matter of great concern not only to the HE sector but to stakeholders and policy makers across Wales.
Having described the basic size and shape of the graduate labour market in Wales, we deploy the concepts of „employability‟ and „graduateness‟ to reflect further on the kinds of personal attributes and capabilities which graduates offer prospective employers. Moving beyond the soft-skills agenda, which tends to define „employability‟ in terms of a relatively narrow repertoire of technical competences originating from a business-driven model of „the skills that employers need‟ (e.g. CBI/IOD 2009), the paper proposes an alternative graduate-driven concept of employability. The emphasis here is on promoting an alternative and highly proactive concept of employability in which graduates (and especially those coming from non-technical disciplines) are encouraged to tell prospective employers what they offer rather than simply responding passively to a wish-list of generic „skills needs‟ (Ransome 2011, 2010).
The paper concludes by highlighting the particular challenges faced by Arts, Humanities and Social Science graduates in Wales who have personal competences and attributes which tend to be underestimated or overlooked by prospective employers, because it is much more difficult to predict which occupations and industries they might enter compared with those having specific technical skills. This might explain the current preoccupation with STEM graduates who appear more immediately employable than are graduates with non-technical backgrounds who are entering the much more heterogeneous realm of public-sector employment. One alarming possibility is that the Welsh Government might follow the Westminster Government strategy of trying to reduce a perceived over-supply of non-technical graduate labour to a diminishing public-sector labour market by withdrawing funding from Arts, Humanities and Social Science subjects.
References CBI/UUK, (2009), Future Fit: Preparing graduates for the world of work, London: CBI. DCELLS (2009) For Our Futures: The 21st Century Higher Education Strategy ad Plan for Wales, Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, Welsh Assembly Government, November 2009. DCELLS, (2008a), Transforming Education and Training Provision in Wales: Delivering skills that work for Wales, Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, Welsh Assembly Government September 2008. DCELLS, (2008b), Skills that Work for Wales: A skills and employment strategy and action plan, Welsh Assembly Government, Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, July 2008. Ransome, P.E., „Graduate employability and qualitative pedagogy: Moving beyond the soft-skills agenda‟ Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Annual Research Conference Abstracts, Celtic Manor Newport, 14-16 December 2010. Ransome, P.E. (2011), „Qualitative pedagogy versus instrumentalism: the antinomies of higher education learning and teaching in the United Kingdom‟, Higher Education Quarterly 65:2, 206-223, April 2011.
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“Stay, Leave or Return? Understanding Welsh Graduate Mobility”
Dr Gillian Bristow, Dr Madeleine Pill, Cardiff; Rhys Davies, WISERD Cardiff
There is increasing evidence that the geography of the knowledge economy is highly uneven. Outside of London and the South East and particularly in Wales, business drivers of the knowledge economy are relatively weak and the public sector plays the central role in knowledge-driven development. This uneven geography has profound implications such as „brain drains‟ that undermine graduate employment and thus the potential for successful regional economic development. The resulting regional and also sub-regional and local imbalances are focusing attention on the geographical, occupational and industrial mobility issues in the knowledge economy.
The existence of a „brain drain‟ of graduate labour from Wales has long been a focus of debate. Welsh and English higher education and labour markets are interconnected (for example, Rees and Taylor, 2006) and Wales is a „loser‟ region generating more undergraduates than it recruits recent graduates into employment (Hoare and Corver, 2009). This paper seeks to investigate the nature and scale of graduate flows to and from Wales and thus seeks to contribute to the existing literature on the relationships between human capital acquisition from higher education and migration (Faggian et al, 2007).
In particular, this paper seeks to investigate the location and employment outcomes of successive „graduate cohorts‟ since the 1992 expansion of Higher Education. It does this by augmenting the widely used graduate first destinations data produced by the Higher Education Statistics Agency with detailed analysis of Annual Population Survey data. This is important as it is recognised that the mobility of labour forces, both spatially and between jobs, occupations and employers, means that first destinations data does not represent jobs and labour markets „for life‟ (Hoare and Corver, 2009). The analysis thus provides new insights into the returns to human capital acquisition and to our understanding of the different stages of graduate mobility. This in turn has implications for higher education and skills policy in the region and highlights important inter-relationships between the mobility of students and graduates.
References Faggian, A., McCann, P. And Sheppard, S. (2007) Human Capital, Higher Education and Graduate Migration: An Analysis of Scottish and Welsh Students, Urban Studies, 44: 13, pp. 2511 – 2528. Hoare, A. and Corver, M. (2010) The Regional Geography of New Young Graduate Labour in the UK. Regional Studies, 44: 4, 477- 494. Rees, G. and Taylor, C. (2006). Devolution and Restructuring of Participation in Higher Education in Wales. Higher Education Quarterly, 60: 4, 370-391.
“Young people‟s indigenous working-class skills: entrepreneurial activity or subversive practice?: The skilled body: bodies out of place”
Dr Gabrielle Ivinson, Cardiff
The paper uses socio-cultural approaches to learning to explore the conflicts and disjunctures surrounding skills developed in informal community activities and formal education contexts for young, working-class people in a post-industrial locale, with a specific focus on masculinity. It proposes that skills can be viewed as situated practices that cannot be separated from the social contexts, communities and historical legacies in which they were developed. The ideal post-industrial learner is presented as one who possesses „generic‟ skills that are „flexible, entrepreneurial and transferable‟. Such neo-liberal skills are predicated on individualistic moral subjectivity that value
12 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives independence, separateness, risk-taking and a „can-do culture‟. In comparison, the skills that developed in areas dedicated heavy industry were primarily about collective values. The working-class communities that grew up in proximity to raw materials such as coal and steel adapted to the necessities of manual labour undertaken in harsh, dangerous and physically demanding environments. In the interests of safety and security men relied on fellow men below ground and ability of women to manage the social order above ground. Communities developed strong affective bonds that have been widely recognised as communal as opposed to individualistic. While, working class communities have long demonstrated resilience, flexibility, risk-taking and entrepreneurial skills, these developed within community solidarities. There are fundamental differences between skills nurtured within collective and individualistic social orders. Socio-cultural learning theory draws attention to the historical legacies attached to industrial skills. Skills learned in informal contexts can either reinforce or conflict with skills required in educational contexts. The paper explores if skills developed in local communities can be used to bridge expectations between home- school by looking as the specific features of skill passed between men and boys in local communities.
Session 3c Education Developments in Wales
“Mapping Sex and Relationship Education in Wales”
Dr. Anita Naoko Pilgrim and Dr. Sarah Oerton , Glamorgan
Set against a background of burgeoning underage sexual activity, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases amongst young people, high rates of teenage conceptions, pregnancies and terminations, and the growing use made by young people of social networking sites and internet chat rooms which enable them to access sexually explicit materials in order to learn about sex and sexuality, this paper identifies and analyses major socio-political concerns surrounding Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) with reference to the contemporary Welsh context. While some recent academic research on SRE in England and Wales has been undertaken, there has been little that addresses the specific situation in Wales in the context of a devolved education system, the more flexible Welsh Personal and Social Education (PSE) curriculum and newly issued Welsh Assembly Government guidance on SRE (WAG 2010). Furthermore and as an index of public concern, it is notable that Wales has the highest rates of teenage conceptions of all UK and European countries, with a high concentration in the South Wales area.
The development of policy in SRE provides a test case for whether there can be „clear red water‟ in service delivery as well as policy-making in a devolved nation. Characteristics of policy development and implementation in Wales may include greater emphasis on evidence-based policy; a human rights based approach, rather than a welfare based approach; effort to make policy-making multidisciplinary and integrated (“progressive universalism”, Prescott 2002) rather than „silo‟ based; and cross-party consensus on SRE based in concern about teenage pregnancy rates as an indicator of economic disadvantage/deprivation, rather than political discourse couched in terms of old-style ideological/moral frameworks. This paper also explores whether the „progressive universalism‟ approach may help bridge the widely acknowledged gap which can exist between good policy and practice on the ground.
Drawing upon fieldwork interviews with key policy makers and frontline staff co- ordinating SRE in various settings and across different communities in Wales and mini
13 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives discourse analysis of SRE policy guidance in the four British nations, this paper critically explores the significant challenges and key concerns surrounding Welsh and SRE policy development and implementation. The paper provides a critical reflection of what key players see as enablers of and obstacles to effective provision of SRE in Wales, including how it succeeds or fails in meeting the needs of non-homogeneous (for example, those from diverse religious faith backgrounds or those with special needs), socially excluded and/or vulnerable communities of young people, both in and outside schools.
Prescott, J. 2002. Speech at Fabian Society/New Policy Institute conference, available at http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/prescott-progressive-universalism-will-tackle-social- exclusion/, accessed March 2011. WAG, 2010. Sex and Relationships Education in Schools, available to download from http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/schoolshome/curriculuminwales/arevisedcurriculumforwales/sexeducati on/?lang=en, accessed March 2011.
“Developing Higher Education in the Heads of the South East Wales Valleys”
Prof Danny Saunders, Glamorgan, Dave Waddington and Andrew Rogers, UHOVI
The heads of the South East Wales valleys have high rates of economic inactivity and unemployment alongside low participation rates in post 16 learning. The Universities Heads of the Valleys Institute (UHOVI) is a major partnership venture which will, over a six year period, recruit an additional 4000 higher education students from the upper Cynon, Rhondda, Rhymney valleys, including the towns of Merthyr Tydfil, Ebbw Vale, Tredegar, and Aberdare. UHOVI has the backing of the Welsh Assembly and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and involves a consortium of two universities (Glamorgan and Newport) as well as four further education colleges (Merthyr, Gwent, Morgannwg and Ystrad Mynach). It extends to partnerships with local authorities through links with their 14-19 learning networks, and most significantly it is developing work based learning through networks with employers who support a portfolio of UHOVI foundation degrees covering priority skills sectors for South East Wales. This workshop provides four case studies that have laid the foundations for UHOVI through practical and applied activities over the past eight years in the heads of the valleys. Each case study is illustrated with a problem solving scenario emphasising the importance of learner engagement in curriculum design as well as the planning of appropriate information advice and guidance:
1. the First Campus project within the HEFCW Reaching Wider programme, working with 10-16 year olds in schools and communities and involving undergraduate student tutors as well as family learning methods.
2. the Learning Coaches of Wales, a Welsh Assembly initiative which provides learning support to young people who are making crucial decisions about option choices within learning networks, and career planning.
3. Learning Advocacy as developed by two substantial consortia projects in the Gwent valleys: RISE and QWEST
4. the GATES Communities First project in Merthyr Tydfil, developing an “escalator” model for adult learners in Merthyr Tydfil who use a drop-in high street venue for a wide range of informal learning opportunities that progress to more formal accredited programmes
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These four case studies have paved the way for UHOVI, which is in its first full year of operation. The workshop will encourage participants to link the emerging UHOVI student experiences in the upper valleys of South East Wales with other projects and initiatives that promote widening access, employability, and the student voice.
“Education and Equalities in Wales”
Dr. Anita Naoko Pilgrim, Glamorgan
Education policy in Wales is being developed in the context of a two-fold equalities agenda. On the one hand education is viewed as a key element in lifting the large proportion of those in Wales living in deprivation out of poverty (Adamson 1996 and 2008). On the other hand, across Europe and recently in New Labour Britain there has been increasing emphasis on efforts to tackle what are understood as complex equal opportunity issues. Here again, education is viewed as both a site of, and a potential lever out of, prejudice and deprivation.
In this paper I outline this background to developing Welsh education policy. I explore some of the social policy and academic perspectives which are increasingly highlighting ways in which different vectors of identity work together, and can best be tackled together rather than as silo issues. Drawing on research undertaken for the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and Save the Children Cymru, I explore two specific problematics identified in education in Wales: race equality and gender equality, and discuss ways in which these could be better considered in future research.
Post Graduate Session 2 Case Studies from Wales
“Historiography and Revisionism in Wales”
Daniel Evans, Bangor
In their responses to Graham Day‟s book „Making Sense of Wales‟, Glyn Williams and Charlotte Aull Davies argue that Day et al‟s penchant for „problematizing wales‟, is not „objective scholarship‟, as is often claimed, but is instead a normative and highly politicised attack on Welsh nationalism and its tenets, which extends to portraying the Welsh language as a divisive anachronism and its supporters as a self aggrandizing cultural elite. Moreover, they contend that Day, Fevre et al, for all their talk of the intolerance and chauvinism inherent in nationalism per se, are themselves also nationalists, but of the British variety. For Williams and Davies, attempts by such „British‟ academics to attain „neutrality‟ are in vain, since they can never fully extricate themselves from their unconscious involvement with a class, culture or set of beliefs and assumptions, i.e., British nationalism. The polarised nature of the debate surrounding Day‟s work illustrated once again that most Welsh political discourse can be conceived as falling into two diametrically opposed camps: those whose starting point or frame of reference is the Welsh nation and Welsh nationalism ( what Glyn Williams brands the „alternative camp‟, or „voice of the periphery‟); and those whose starting point and sympathies lie with the British state (and who intend on maintaining the unity of the British state, or more simply, Unionists). These conflicting views manifest themselves in historiography, sociology, political theory, economics, etc. Drawing on the work of Gramsci and Jim McLaughlin, this article will illustrate that the present struggle between these two hegemonic blocs is not new, but merely the continuation of a historical conflict which has its roots in the state making era of the
15 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives industrial revolution. The paper charts the historical rise of the two camps and in particular outlines how the British nationalism promoted by the state, which permeated all levels of British society, historically preceded the rise of class consciousness. That is, the rise of class consciousness in the core occurred within the ideological parameters already established by the British state, including British nationalism and Imperialism. This helps to explain why the British (and Welsh) Labour movement, (including academics) have never seen a contradiction in combining the ostensibly conflicting doctrines of socialism/egalitarianism with reactionary Unionism and/or Imperialism. Such a historical analysis is vital for an understanding of the present debates.
“Polish migrant children‟s negotiations of their identity in Wales”
Aleksandra Kaczmarek-Day, Cardiff
European Union enlargement in 2004 gave Eastern Europeans the right to work, bring their families and settle in Britain. This unique legal framework triggered unprecedented mass migration from Poland. As a result Polish economic migrants make up over 60% of new EU migration to the UK. Most go to England, particularly London. Although Wales is not a typical migrant destination, Polish families have formed distinctive communities in many towns across the country. Their children (so called „new migrants‟) are the first Polish-born cohort to enter Welsh classrooms since EU enlargement.
The empirical base for this paper comes from an Economic and Social Research Council Studentship funded research which started in 2009. Since then I am conducting an ethnographic study with Polish families and their children who have migrated to South Wales after 2004. Data have been generated from participant observation and a participatory project with children in mid-childhood (aged 8-11). Observations and interviews have been carried out in a variety of social contexts: a Catholic primary school, a Saturday supplementary school, children‟s home neighbourhoods, playgrounds, two Catholic churches and community gatherings.
In this paper I use data from my participatory project (February 2011) with ten Polish primary school children. This generated rich data on children‟s lived experience of migration. By using the „new social studies‟ perspective on childhood, I explore children‟s views and perceptions of themselves and their situation. Although the migration situation strongly influences children‟s life and identity-formation, it cannot be separated from the whole range of other aspects of growing up and personal identity formation. In this context, in the first part I focus on how Polish children negotiate sameness and difference in a peer group context and how they build new friendships. I look at interactions and contradictions in children‟s constructions of ethnicity (Polishness) and religion (Roman Catholicism) in the multicultural context of their Catholic school and home neighbourhoods in one urban setting in Wales. Data show Polishness is a strong factor. Additionally, Polish migrant families‟ settlement dynamics impact on children‟s mediations between the cultural representations of the world of home (Poland) and the host country (Wales). The second part of the paper focuses on children‟s linguistic negotiations. This shows them both as users of their mother tongue - Polish - and as learners of English and Welsh. Both at home and in school, there are problematic issues. Parental attitudes towards language preservation and cultural orientation affect children‟s attitudes and motivation.
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These Polish migrant children‟s baseline experience resonates with issues prevalent in literature on transnational families. However, the specificity of the intra-EU mobility framework (migrants‟ legal rights, fluidity of migration, accessibility of Poland and maintenance of firm links with the „Background Generation‟) shape families‟ dynamics and impact on children‟s identity formation processes. Identities are mediated through parental commitment and the way families negotiate their belongingness in Wales and their aspirations for their children‟s futures.
“Examining the threats to Small and Medium sized Enterprises in Wales from business identity theft and fraud“
Tim Holmes, Bangor
There are several various forms of identity related crime, one type is identity theft targeted at business and organisations. These attacks can involve efforts to steal the organisations identity and fraudulently use it, or to steal information held by them on their customers or employees. Use of the internet and computer data basing provides a new dimension to this threat through e-crime. As organisations move to exploit the benefits of e-commerce they also put themselves at risk from online crime and data theft. Business identity theft in conjunction with more traditional forms of fraud will be discussed and examined in this paper in relation to how they may affect Small to Medium Enterprises (SME‟s) in Wales.
Strategies for preventing and detecting fraud are important elements of a successful enterprise. Losses from fraud can stunt the growth of an organisation and causes the collapse of enterprises. How Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SME‟s) protect themselves from the various forms of fraudulent attack and educate themselves is an area of increasing importance with the introduction of the Digital Wales initiative by the Welsh Assembly. Digital Wales seeks to turn Wales into „a truly digital nation‟; this paper will examine the threats that may accompany this move.
Session 4 Young People and Place: Sights, Sounds and Objects:
“Young People and Place: Sights, Sounds and Objects”
Convenors: Dr Gabrielle Ivinson and Dr Emma Renold, Cardiff
An interactive session using ideas, images and artefacts to portray how place makes sense to young people aged 13-17 in a South Wales ex-mining community.
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Session 5a Criminology and Devolution
“Ghost Commissioners – Responsibility and the Revolving Door of Devolution”
Dr Katherine Williams, WCCSJ, Abersytwyth and Dr Alex Plows, WISERD Bangor
Welsh devolution has always been perceived as a process rather than an event and the literature, academic and policy, focuses on a steady progression of functions / powers being devolved from Westminster to Wales. At a political and policy level that seems a realistic landscape but, within service commissioners and service delivery the situation is rather different. Devolution can move either way. For example, NOMS Cymru have recently been reunited with their English counterpart and the functions and responsibility have reverted to Ministry for Justice. This, often unseen, discontinuity in the devolution enterprise and the problems of service provision, accountability and funding/contracts which arise from it will be explored. Discussion of this devolution issue will be woven into a consideration of issues arising out of the move towards short term, dislocated funding of socially based criminal justice provision and how this impacts on the third sector so affecting the roll-out of provisions, especially those designed to have an effect within a social, rather than a penal, setting. It will examine whether holistic, women-centred provision can be effectively delivered in this fractured financial and policy climate and consider how the „Big Society‟ will impact on this landscape and the delivery of services.
Session 5b "The Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Who we are, what we do, how we work and current priorities"
"The Joseph Rowntree Foundation: who we are, what we do, how we work and current priorities"
Dr. Emma Stone Director, Policy and Research, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The session will begin with a presentation followed by opportunities for people to ask questions and for discussion.
This will be followed by a presentation more specifically on JRF's work in Wales - which will give people a better feel for JRF work specifically relevant to Wales - including flagging up work that is in progress and will complete this year, as well as issues for the future. There will be time for questions and discussion after this - and the floor will be open for ideas and listening to suggestions of how JRF might improve its relevance to and relationships in Wales in the future.
Session 5c Exploring Behaviour Change in the Welsh Context
“Exploring behaviour change in the Welsh context”
The concept of „behaviour change‟ has become increasingly influential in exploring potential responses to engrained policy problems across a wide range of areas, including health, climate change and transport. The proposed „nudging‟ of citizens away from perceived „bad‟ behaviour towards „good‟ behaviour has been identified as offering the potential to combine significantly improved policy outcomes and cost savings in comparison to conventional policy tools. However, key questions remain as to how
18 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives these approaches can be operationalised, for example, the appropriate scale at which these approaches should be developed and implemented and the actors which should lead in their delivery. The objective of the session, held as part of the Annual WISERD Conference programme, is to build upon the discussions that took place at the Welsh Assembly Government‟s initial evidence symposium on behaviour change organised in September last year and to significantly expand the audience to encompass a wide range of public, private and third sector stakeholders. The session will review the work being undertaken around behaviour change within Wales and explore potential opportunities for further engagement to ensure the identification of best practice across Wales. It will bring together senior Welsh Assembly Government policy officials and analysts, academics from a range of disciplines and policy areas and stakeholders from across the public, private and third sectors. The format will be informal, encouraging networking, discussion and debate.
The session will include contributions from: Clive Bates, Director General for Sustainable Futures, Welsh Government Lee Waters, Sustrans Cymru Professor Ken Peattie, Cardiff
Post Graduate Session 3 Dwyieithrwydd ac ymddygiad ieithyddol: agweddau ar gynllunio iaith yng Nghymru Bilingualism and linguistic behaviour: aspects of language planning in Wales
(Translation facilities will be available for this session)
“Archwilio perfformiad unigolion dwyieithog ac I2 (ail iaith) ar dasgau uwch- wybyddol: materion o Gymru” / “Exploring bilingual and L2 speakers‟ performance on Executive Functioning tasks: issues from Wales”
Mirain Rhys, Bangor
Mae ymchwil diweddar wedi amlygu gwahaniaethau penodol yn systemau gwybyddol plant dwyieithog o‟u cymharu â phlant unieithog, ac mae hyn yn deillio‟n rhannol o angen y plant dwyieithog i gyfnewid rhwng dwy iaith a‟u gallu i atal un iaith wrth ddefnyddio‟r llall (Yang & Lust, 2004; Bialystok, 1999). Mae ymddygiad o‟r fath wedi arwain at fanteision uwch- wybyddol i blant dwyieithog sy‟n berthnasol i lwyddiant yn y dosbarth (Yoshida, 2008). Nod yr astudiaeth hon yw archwilio datblygiad ieithyddol a gwybyddol plant dwyieithog, gan ganolbwyntio ar fanteision posibl i blant o gartrefi unieithog (Saesneg) sy‟n mynychu ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg. Gan fod unigolion Saesneg-Cymraeg sy‟n dysgu Cymraeg fel iaith leiafrifol yn yr ysgol yn cyfnewid yn gyson rhwng Cymraeg a Saesneg, ac yn gweithio‟n galed i atal eu sylw i‟r Saesneg wrth ddefnyddio eu Cymraeg, roeddem yn rhagweld y buasai eu perfformiad ar dasgau uwch-wybyddol yn uwch i gymharu â phlant unieithog, ond ddim cystal ag unigolion dwyieithog oedd yn fwy hafal yn y Gymraeg a‟r Saesneg.
Recent research has highlighted certain differences in the cognitive systems of bilingual vs. monolingual children, partly resulting from the bilinguals‟ constant need to switch between their two languages and their need to inhibit one language whilst using the other (Yang & Lust, 2004; Bialystok, 1999). Such behaviour is said to lead to cognitive
19 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives advantages in bilingual children‟s executive functioning (EF), which are positively related to classroom success (Yoshida, 2008). The aim of this study was to explore bilinguals‟ linguistic and cognitive development, focusing on the potential benefits for children coming from monolingual English-speaking homes attending Welsh-medium schools. Since English-Welsh bilinguals learning Welsh as a minority L2 at school switch regularly between Welsh and English, and work hard at inhibiting attention to English whilst using their Welsh, it was predicted that performance on EF tasks would be superior among these children as compared to monolinguals, but less so than for more balanced Welsh-English bilinguals.
“Sut y mae ymennydd defnyddwyr dwyieithog yn prosesu negeseuon marchnata dwyieithog: Ffocws ar gyfathrebu ym maes marchnata o safbwynt seico- ieithyddol”/ “How does the brain of bilingual consumers process bilingual marketing messages: A marketing communication focus from a psycholinguistic perspective”
Karen Jones, Bangor Mae cyfathrebu cyfoes ym maes marchnata yn galw am negeseuon marchnata sy‟n apelio at y farchnad ddwyieithog yng Nghymru. Amcan yr astudiaeth hon yw hwyluso dealltwriaeth o‟r effaith a gaiff symbyliadau marchnata dwyieithog ar ddealltwriaeth, agwedd meddwl, a‟r modd y mae defnyddwyr dwyieithog yn ymddwyn o ganlyniad. Mae cynllun â dulliau cymysg yn darparu ar gyfer dull mwy cadarn o gasglu data, a dadansoddir ef gan ddefnyddio adnoddau parametrig a thematig. Mae canfyddiadau yn cynnwys cydberthynas ystadegol arwyddocaol ym marn defnyddwyr dwyieithog, yn canolbwyntio ar y dybiaeth fod cynhyrchion sy‟n cynnwys y Gymraeg yn gysylltiedig â nwyddau o ansawdd uchel. Mae‟r canfyddiadau‟n cyfrannu at addasu polisïau iaith ehangach o blaid Cymru ddwyieithog.
Contemporary marketing communication calls for marketing messages that appeal to a wider Welsh bilingual market. The aim of this study is to facilitate an understanding of the impact of bilingual marketing stimuli on comprehension, attitudes and resulting behaviour of bilingual consumers. A mixed method design provides for more robust data collection and is analysed using non-parametric and thematic techniques. Findings include statistical significance correlation in bilingual qualities of consumers and narratives that focus on the assumption that Welsh products are associated with high quality goods. The findings contribute to the adaptation of wider language policies in favour of a bilingual Wales.
“Chwarae ar eiriau: Persbectif sosioieithyddol ar ddefnydd o eirfa mewn gweithle dwyieithog”/ “What‟s in a word? A sociolinguistic perspective on lexical use in a bilingual workplace”
Elen Robert, Caerdydd/Cardiff
Mae safbwyntiau sosioieithyddol yn gweld iaith fel adnodd sy‟n cael ei ddefnyddio wrth “constructing personal identities, relational configurations and group-level associations” (Coupland, 2009: 312). Hynny yw, rydyn ni‟n defnyddio iaith i fynegi pwy ydyn ni, ein perthynas ag eraill a‟n cysylltiad (goddrychol) â grwpiau ehangach. Gan ystyried enghreifftiau o iaith lafar a recordiwyd mewn gweithle dwyieithog yng Nghymru, bydd y papur hwn yn archwilio sut mae‟r siaradwyr yn defnyddio‟r adnoddau geirfaol sydd
20 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives ganddynt i gyflwyno eu hunain o fewn yr amgylchedd gwaith. Bydd yn ystyried yn benodol a yw dwyieithrwydd yn chwarae rhan yn y ffordd mae‟r siaradwyr yn cyflwyno eu hunain.
Sociolinguistic perspectives conceive of language as a resource in “constructing personal identities, relational configurations and group-level associations” (Coupland, 2009: 312). That is, we use language to perform who we are, our relations with others and our (subjective) affiliation with wider collectives. Drawing on examples of spontaneous speech recorded at a bilingual workplace in Wales, this paper will examine how participants use the lexical resources (words and phrases) at their disposal to style themselves within the work environment. It will consider in particular what role, if any, bilingualism plays in participants‟ performances.
Coupland, N. (2009). Dialect style, social class and metacultural performance: The pantomime dame. In N. Coupland & A. Jaworski (Eds.), The New Sociolinguistics Reader (pp. 311-325). Basingstoke; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Session 6a Crime and Social Justice
“Third generation youth crime prevention initiatives: Is the Pentrehafod Prevention Project improving outcomes for children?”
Dr. Stephen Case, Swansea Anthony Charles, Swansea
This paper will explore the emergence, development and impacts of a third generation youth crime prevention initiative: the Pentrehafod Prevention Project.
The Pentrehafod Prevention Project (PPP) is a multi-intervention programme working in a socially-deprived Swansea community with young people assessed as needing support to prevent the development of problematic outcomes such as youth offending, substance use, school failure and family breakdown. PPP intervenes early to prevent problematic outcomes developing and to improve young people‟s access to opportunities, positive experiences and services as a way of increasing their quality of life and ability to achieve their full potential.
“Police and Courts - Experiences and Perceptions”
Dr Stefan Machura, Bangor
The paper will summarise results from a series of research projects related to how people in North Wales form their opinion on the police and the courts.
Study 1 focused on students' perception of Police Community Support Officers.
Study 2 focused on a broader population's views of the crack down on speeding, the figure of the then Chief Constables and effects for trust in the Force.
Study 3 looked at how studying law, personal and family members' experience shape views of the courts and the police.
Study 4 investigates how various professionals in the health sector, social work and other areas evaluate their cooperation with North Wales police.
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“A theoretical exploration of memory processes following rape or sexual assault and the Provision of Therapy Prior to a Criminal Trial”
Julie Dorey, Cardiff
This pre-proposal stage thesis aims to look at the existing provision of therapy for adult witnesses prior to a criminal Trial as set out by the Home Office, Crown Prosecution Service and Department of Health (2001) and the Welsh Assembly Government (2010). The study will examine the political, psychosocial and legal implications that impact on the witness. The requirement of the witness to provide „very detailed evidence, such as the exact timing of events‟ (Crown Prosecution Service, Pre-trial Witness Interviews Leaflet, 2010) is often contradictory to the traumatic psychological impact of rape and sexual assault. Research in the area of memory mechanisms in PTSD indicate that there is peritraumatic memory disturbances to episodic or conscious memory and the retrieval of events prior to and directly following the traumatic event (Layton and Krikorian, 2002). This can impact on the coherent reporting of the incident and the recollection of a detailed narrative.
The proposed study will be informed by the Medical Research Council‟s pre-clinical and phase I of the framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions (Craig et al. 2008). This phase of the study will be a qualitative design and will use a number of analytical strategies to collecting data.
The research will aim to examine the relevant literature in relation to memory recall and reporting of traumatic events for criminal trials and consider how this can be managed within the criminal justice system. The study will also investigate the critical components to be included in an initial therapeutic assessment in an attempt to reduce the development of PTSD and enable the witness to proceed to trial as a credible witness.
Session 6b Housing and homelessness roundtable
Housing and homelessness roundtable
This session is convened by the WISERD Housing Research Network and will bring together academics, policy makers and practitioners to discuss two contemporary issues surrounding the provision and quality of housing in Wales. The roundtable discussion will focus on two key issues:
i] the concept and implementation of sustainable housing development ;and
ii] the potential for improving the homelessness system in Wales.
Format: The session will adopt a roundtable format, with one brief presentation delivered on each topic before an open discussion amongst delegates.
Chair: Dr. Peter Mackie, Cardiff
Issue 1: Sustainable housing development: an achievable aspiration?
Brian Gould, Welsh Government and Dr. Wouter Poortinga, Cardiff
The sustainable development of housing is a policy priority in Wales, perhaps even more so than in other UK nations. This debate will begin with a brief introduction to the
22 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives concept and policies of sustainable housing development, before delegates are invited to explore the following three questions:
1. Why is it necessary to deliver housing that is deemed to be socially, economically and environmentally sustainable?
2. Housing development is delivered to higher sustainability standards in the social sector than in the private sector. Why is this, what are the implications and what policy responses are required?
3. People‟s unanticipated behaviours often negate the anticipated benefits of sustainable housing developments (e.g. better insulation leads to reduced energy costs, which leads to residents turning the heating up and using more energy). What role should public policy play in shaping people‟s behaviours to become more sustainable consumers within their homes?
Issue 2: Rights and wrongs: a critical debate on how homelessness should be addressed in Wales?
John Puzey, Shelter Cymru and Chris Price, Homelessness Network Coordinator.
Despite decades or research, policy and practice interventions, homelessness continues to be a major social issue in Wales and across the UK. The Welsh Assembly Government recently commissioned a study to explore the deficiencies in the current homelessness legislation and there appeared to be only limited concern amongst key stakeholders about its current state. Legislation is one part of a broader approach to addressing homelessness: this debate provides a platform to consider the effectiveness if this wider system: how might homelessness be addressed more effectively in Wales? Two different arguments, each of which challenges the current legislation, will be put forward by key stakeholders in the homelessness sector before delegates will be invited to debate the following questions:
1. What needs to be done to more effectively prevent homelessness? 2. When people do become homeless, what rights should they be entitled to, how should these rights be met and who should be responsible for delivering these entitlements? 3. What role should legislation play in addressing homelessness?
Session 6c Space and Place in the Context of Economic Development 1
Space and Place in the context of economic development: Comparative perspectives from Brazil, France and Wales
The panel theme addresses questions of changing social and spatial relations in the context of economic restructuring. It aims to showcase emerging international collaborations on these issues. The case studies from Brazil discuss concerns arising out of large-scale restructuring as a result of industrial growth and investment. In contrast, the contributions from France and Wales deal with similar concerns as a result of deindustrialisation and lack of investment. The panel aims to highlight the opportunities for comparison across nations and across industrial regions and are therefore organised to bring together a Brazilian, French and Welsh perspective in each session.
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The first session concentrates on company towns and changes in the aftermath of large-scale restructuring, be that privatisation in Brazil, a restructuring of the workforce in Clermont-Ferrand in France or closure in Ebbw Vale, Wales. Volta Redonda has traditionally been dominated by one major employer, the formerly nationalised steel company CSN. Having recently undergone privatisation, the company but also residents, public institutions and local government are confronted with a situation in which social, political and economic relations are renegotiated. In particular, local civil society and the university are emerging as important actors in this moment of local and regional economic restructuring. The city of Clermont-Ferrand, similar to Volta Redonda, was dominated by one employer (Michelin) and characterised by paternalistic social relations. The restructuring of the company which meant the relocation of the manufacturing departments but retention of the managerial and research departments therefore has brought with it a visible rupture to these relations. Similar experiences are visible in those Welsh towns which have experienced deindustrialisation. The change in these relations is presented through an examination of the relationship between individual biographies and the wider historical development in Ebbw Vale. The second session offers a regional perspective (with examples from the Amazon region, the state of Rio de Janeiro and the Stephanoise region in France) and a wider look at shifts between the agencies of the state, entrepreneurs and employers, and the local population and the opportunities for both cooperation and conflict in such moments of change.
The two panels function as a round table rather than a traditional presentation followed by questions and answers session. The aim is to draw out the similarities/ differences in the cases in Brazil and France in relation to recent and ongoing restructuring efforts in Wales and encourage lively debate. The overriding objective is to present the opportunities for comparisons of the Welsh experience to both, other mature industrial regions and recently developing regions, with particular focus on the links between local social, political and economic actors and to profit from an exchange of experiences in other parts of the world.
Contributions from: Dr Raphael Lima (Universidade Federal Fluminense, Volta Redonda) Dr Rodrigo Santos (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
Dr Corine Vedrine (Université Saint-Etienne) Dr Christelle Journel Morel (Université Saint-Etienne/ Université de Lyon)
Dr Heike Döring WISERD, Cardiff Dr Bella Dicks Cardiff
"From paternalist town to the city of pleasure: the case of Clermont-Ferrand and the Michelin company"
Corine Védrine (University of Jean-Monnet, Saint-Etienne, Laboratoire Cresal- Modys/Cnrs)
This paper deals with the recent transformation of Clermont-Ferrand from a city of industry to a city of pleasure. Clermont-Ferrand has been synonymous with the Michelin Company from the mid-19th century. This can be clearly seen through economic, demographic and spatial development. The four Michelin factories used to dominate the city and the company provided many social institutions, such as housing estates, schools, cooperative stores, sports facilities, hospitals, etc. These were the symbols of
24 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives a paternalistic policy that was aimed at winning the loyalty of the working classes, called the “Michelin spirit”. From the 1980s onwards, the globalisation of production brought about a restructuring of the workforce with an increasing proportion of managerial rather than manual workers. As a result, both social relations in the city and the labour force‟s demands of the city have changed. The need to attract young, mobile, cosmopolitan professionals to Michelin and Clermont-Ferrand requires a shift in urban policy prioritising the needs of the major employer and potential future residents. This paper will explore issues arising out of this close partnership between employers and local government in the implementation of regeneration policies and the resulting change in the city‟s image and character.
Post Graduate Session 4 Business and Employment
“The Regional Nature of Pay Structure Across Three European Countries”
Sami Souabni, Swansea
In recent years, it has been established that in Great Britain, as well as across Europe, labour markets are not entirely homogenous; pay structure, or indeed rewards to characteristics, have a tendency to vary, in some cases quite substantially across many countries' regions. The aim of this paper is not only to compare and contrast varying pay structure for an average worker across a country's regions, but to also evaluate the pay structure facing workers with different earning levels, by extending the analysis to different points of the earnings distribution for each region. As expected, some variation is found in the regional pay structure estimates across the earnings distribution, particularly for the most common human capital variables. As is noted from the estimates achieved by Quantile Regression, this variation is hidden away when pay structure is estimated within an OLS framework, for the average worker. As a result, it can be seen that to acquire the most accurate picture possible of a country and indeed region‟s labour market, not only should each of the regions be considered separately (although estimated pay structure differences are sometimes insignificant), but also the different points in the earnings distribution, rather than only the mean (where again estimated pay structure differences are only sometimes insignificant).
“Wage curves for different unemployment specifications”
Sandra Dettmer, Swansea
This paper explores the impact of different measures of joblessness on wage determination. The analysis builds upon a series of empirical studies on the wage- unemployment relationship which is commonly known as the „wage curve‟, a convex downward sloping curve in a wage-unemployment setting. The stability of an estimated unemployment elasticity of -0.1 has been confirmed over time and across nations by a vast number of researchers.
Central to the argument for the wage curve is the assumption that the unemployment rate represents local labour market tightness in wage equations. This work analyses whether the official ILO unemployment rate is the most appropriate measure to be used in order to estimate the impact of joblessness on wages. The calculation of the ILO unemployment rate follows a search based definition and therefore captures only the minority of individuals who are out of work. Inactivity rates,
25 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives which are generally higher than the corresponding ILO unemployment rates, are alternative measures to describe excess labour-market supply. Furthermore, administrative rather than survey data in form of claimant count rates, are used as another measure of joblessness in wage equations. This study is based on micro level data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and estimates augmented Mincerian type wage equations for the UK labour market over a 14 year sample period. Estimates based on the ILO unemployment measure deliver not only the most reliable results across a variety of specifications, but the corresponding coefficients are also the closest to the widely accepted „universal law‟ of -0.1. In contrast, results on the inactivity rate exceed those coefficients by far, whereas the findings on the claimant count rate are very similar to the ILO unemployment estimates. However, further estimations over time and across regions question the proposed stability of the wage curve.
“Keep Burberry British: A Welsh Campaign with Global Reach”
Jill Timms, LSE
In September 2006 it was announced that the Burberry factory in Treorchy would close at Christmas; the work was to be outsourced overseas. Such a move reflects the restructuring of employment relations as part of neo-liberal globalisation, with flexibility being a core feature. Some corporations can draw on the cheapest labour available globally, whilst pursuing consumers worldwide. However the resulting new patterns of work have met with transnational resistance and socially responsible employment has become an established part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda. In Treorchy, the Keep Burberry British campaign was immediately launched to save the factory and the jobs of the 309 Welsh workers. This paper presents findings from a case study of Keep Burberry British, investigated as part of a wider project on the mobilisation of CSR discourse in labour rights campaigns. The case study involved textual analysis of corporate, campaign, media, and governmental documents; and interviews with key campaign organisers, Burberry employees, trade unionists, politicians, Rhonda Trust beneficiaries and trustees, and a playwright commissioned to dramatize the events. My focus was not on the case as an example of a factory closure or industrial dispute, although it involved both of these. Instead I was interested in how the concept of CSR was mobilised in campaign strategies, corporate responses and eventual outcomes. It was found that Keep Burberry British was able to access a transnational audience and to draw on popular concerns about globalisation and corporate power at local, regional, national and transnational levels. Campaigners and politicians were able to frame Burberry‟s responsibilities to workers and the Rhondda community in terms of CSR, and used Burberry‟s CSR profile to leverage improved outcomes.
Session 7a Work and Wellbeing in Wales
“Work and Well-Being: Lessons from the Workplace”
Professor Keith Whitfield, Cardiff
There is now a considerable body of research on the impact of various aspects of the work environment on employees' well-being. Much of it builds on the Job Demands, Employee Control and Worker Stress (JDCS) model associated with the work of the
26 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives occupational psychologist Karasek. The aim of this paper is to report the results of a review of this literature and the implications that it has for future research and policy on work and well-being. The key finding is that great care is needed in the measurement of both work characteristics and employee well-being. Of particular importance is the need to cross-check key measures using multiple respondents and objective measures of subjective factors.
“Wellbeing at Work: What is a good job?”
Professor Andy Smith, Cardiff
This presentation will describe recent research on wellbeing at work. It will start with a brief review of the literature which shows that we have no clear conceptualisation of wellbeing and few valid measuring instruments. Based on research on stress at work, the idea of the “wellbeing process” will be developed. This covers occupational factors that influence wellbeing, appraisals of wellbeing and a range of outcomes that are often included under the term wellbeing. The relationship between positive and negative aspects of jobs will then be discussed. This will show that the presence of a positive component is not always equivalent to the absence of a negative feature (and vice versa). Finally, new data will be present to address the issue of what job characteristics are related to perceptions of wellbeing and which outcomes are associated with wellbeing. The results showed that the best predictor of positive health outcomes was the total score of positive job characteristics and positive job appraisals.
“Identifying the robust determinants of happiness: A longitudinal analysis of European Social Survey data for the UK”
Professor Peter Huxley, Swansea, Bazoumana Ouattara, IDEAS and Dr Mamata Parhi WISERD Swansea
Using longitudinal data based on four waves of European Social Survey (ESS) between 2002 through 2008 and model averaging technique we attempt to identify robust predictors of happiness in the UK. We pay particular attention to social capital variables in determining happiness. We find strong evidence that social capital variables are robust predictors of happiness in UK. This finding remains unchanged even when we use quality of life as a proxy for happiness. Our results also indicate that marital status, income perception, religion, and discrimination are also robust predictors of happiness.
“Work-Related Ill-Health: An Analysis using the LFS”
Rhys Davies, WISERD Cardiff
Work has long been acknowledged as an important social determinant of health with research being conducted as to how a range of workplace, personal and job characteristics influence occupational health. This paper provides an analysis of work related ill-health within the United Kingdom based upon data from the UK Labour Force Survey. Analysis reveals that employment within physically demanding occupations is the key risk factor associated with an individual suffering from a musculoskeletal disorder. Working long hours and employment within managerial, customer service and teaching occupations were associated with an increased risk of suffering from stress, depression and anxiety. Reported levels of ill-health are higher among males, older workers and those in the public sector. Despite these findings, downward trends in rates
27 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives of work related ill-health cannot be explained by changes in the observable characteristics of people and their jobs as recorded by the Labour Force Survey.
Session 7b Urban Outreach & Homelessness - Perspectives on Research and Practice Roundtable
Urban outreach and homelessness: perspectives on research and practice
This session is organised by the „Urban Patrols‟ WISERD project and brings together practitioners and researchers in the field of urban outreach and homelessness to discuss issues in relation to welfare provision and homelessness in the context of the contemporary city. The session will reflect upon street-level experiences of researchers and practitioners in both addressing and documenting urban social exclusion. Presentations will be delivered by key participants before a roundtable discussion.
Contributors: Jeffrey Rees and Dennis Donovan, Cardiff City Council HANR Outreach Services Tom Hall, Cardiff and Robin Smith, WISERD Cardiff Sarah Johnsen, Herriot-Watt
“Revanchist sanitisation or coercive care? The management of street populations in England”
Dr Sarah Johnsen, Herriot-Watt
This paper will examine recent responses to „problematic street culture‟ (particularly begging and street drinking) in England. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with enforcement agents, support providers, and targeted individuals, it will assess the extent to which the strategies employed are indicative of a „revanchist expulsion‟ of the deviant Other and/or expression of „coercive care‟ for the vulnerable Other. It will conclude that whilst the recent developments appear, at first glance, to be symptomatic of revanchist sanitisation of public space, closer examination reveals that the situation is actually much more complex than a revanchist reading of the situation might suggest, and perhaps not as devoid of compassion.
Session 7c Space and Place in the Context of Economic Development 2
Space and Place in the context of economic development: Comparative perspectives from Brazil, France and Wales
The panel theme addresses questions of changing social and spatial relations in the context of economic restructuring. It aims to showcase emerging international collaborations on these issues. The case studies from Brazil discuss concerns arising out of large-scale restructuring as a result of industrial growth and investment. In contrast, the contributions from France and Wales deal with similar concerns as a result of deindustrialisation and lack of investment. The panel aims to highlight the opportunities for comparison across nations and across industrial regions and are therefore organised to bring together a Brazilian, French and Welsh perspective in each session.
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The first session concentrates on company towns and changes in the aftermath of large-scale restructuring, be that privatisation in Brazil, a restructuring of the workforce in Clermont-Ferrand in France or closure in Ebbw Vale, Wales. Volta Redonda has traditionally been dominated by one major employer, the formerly nationalised steel company CSN. Having recently undergone privatisation, the company but also residents, public institutions and local government are confronted with a situation in which social, political and economic relations are renegotiated. In particular, local civil society and the university are emerging as important actors in this moment of local and regional economic restructuring. The city of Clermont-Ferrand, similar to Volta Redonda, was dominated by one employer (Michelin) and characterised by paternalistic social relations. The restructuring of the company which meant the relocation of the manufacturing departments but retention of the managerial and research departments therefore has brought with it a visible rupture to these relations. Similar experiences are visible in those Welsh towns which have experienced deindustrialisation. The change in these relations is presented through an examination of the relationship between individual biographies and the wider historical development in Ebbw Vale. The second session offers a regional perspective (with examples from the Amazon region, the state of Rio de Janeiro and the Stephanoise region in France) and a wider look at shifts between the agencies of the state, entrepreneurs and employers, and the local population and the opportunities for both cooperation and conflict in such moments of change.
The two panels function as a round table rather than a traditional presentation followed by questions and answers session. The aim is to draw out the similarities/ differences in the cases in Brazil and France in relation to recent and ongoing restructuring efforts in Wales and encourage lively debate. The overriding objective is to present the opportunities for comparisons of the Welsh experience to both, other mature industrial regions and recently developing regions, with particular focus on the links between local social, political and economic actors and to profit from an exchange of experiences in other parts of the world.
“Sociopolitical relations in the Brazilian steel industry: developmental processes in the Eastern Amazon and Rio de Janeiro”
Rodrigo Santos, Rio de Janeiro
This paper focuses on the sociopolitical relations underlying concrete processes of economic development in contemporary Brazil. It presents part of the research findings of the author‟s doctoral research about the structural change produced by the steel industry in two Brazilian regions: Eastern Amazon and Rio de Janeiro. It is argued that the 'great project' embeds into a relatively stable social structure, so that the transformation that it gives rise to produces a new positioning of the economic, political and social agents. Both regions, Eastern Amazon and Rio de Janeiro, are now preferred destinations for large investment projects in the steel industry. This study is focused on two exemplary projects: ThyssenKrupp CSA in Itaguaí, Rio de Janeiro (in operation) and the abortive joint venture between Baosteel and Vale, in São Luís, Maranhão. These projects caused significant mobilization of social and political agents that ultimately undermined an investment decision and continue to impose high operating costs on the other one. The repositioning of the economic, social and political agents in this arena, a metafield as proposed here, then produces effects in relation to the concrete realization of projects and their impacts on the territories.
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“From economic to urban dominant strategies: mobilizations in an old industrial city (Saint-Etienne, France)”
Dr Christelle Morel Journel, Saint-Etienne, France
This paper focuses on the analysis of the “urban turn” of the policies led in Saint- Etienne from the middle of the nineties until today. Saint-Etienne is the most important city in an industrial area once described as “an illusion”, because it is characterised by several economic distinct districts which are fragmented to the point of rivalry. In the 19th century, the city grew very quickly, from nearly 20,000 inhabitants in 1792 to 146,600 in 1901. After Word War II, the restructuring of the main economic sectors (mining, metal working, textile) and the building of new housing estates was begun but strategic choices were limited by resistance arising out of socioeconomic legacies. These strategic choices were based on a system of socio-spatial relations shaped by a growing distance between economic and political elites and a kind of “division of labour” between local actors and actors more or less linked to the French State sphere. In the 1970s and 80s, local policies focussed on available industrial lands and housing, without any transformation of the structure of local relations.
Numerous scholars observe a turning point in the city‟s urban policies in the 1990‟s when the former mayor, Michel Thiollière, got involved in the transformation of the town in order to provide amenities and change its image. Still a shrinking city – the town has lost nearly 22,000 inhabitants between 1990 and 2006 – Saint-Etienne benefits from different regeneration projects carried out by public institutions. In this context, we would like to analyse Saint-Etienne‟s contemporary urban policies: are they one-dimensional attractiveness policies? Are they hybrid policies taking into account both “territory” and “place” issues? Are they underlined by a growing local “capacity” of urban actors to define projects and to act collectively, in the context of deep transformations in French State policy?
Post Graduate Session 5 Education - Change and Decision Making
“Returns to Higher Education Across the UK: Regional Evidence”
James Carey, Swansea
With tuition fees on the rise, knowledge of the private rates of return to higher education is highly relevant. In this paper we assess the graduate premium using the Annual Population Survey. Results confirm that the graduate premium has persisted, despite the large influx of graduate into the labour market, and that women have more to gain from obtaining a degree than men. We place particular focus on how the graduate premium varies across regions in the UK, an area of research that has received little attention. We find that the returns to higher education differ greatly by region. We take our regional analysis one step further by including a sub-regional analysis, looking at how the graduate premium changes between smaller areas within Wales. In addition to our regional analysis, we look at the returns paid to different classes of first degrees and the premium found for higher degrees. The graduate premium is also calculated according to 20 subject areas. We find that the returns to degrees are highly dependent on the subject chosen.
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“Young People, Post Compulsory Education and Employment. Decisions and transitions in a cold economic climate”
Ceryn Evans, Swansea
Background to the topic In recent years Wales has experienced a great many changes to its economic, social and political landscape. These contexts, in particular, the recent global economic recession and the recent cuts in public spending have had important implications for the labour market and higher education funding. The significance of these contexts for the decisions which young people make about their post-compulsory education, training and employment is in need of exploration.
Research questions/focus of the enquiry The research focuses on the significance of geographical location and temporal contexts, including the social, economic and educational landscapes in which young people are situated, for their aspirations and decisions about post-compulsory education and employment. The research addresses the question, to what extent does space, place and time bear upon and frame the decisions which young people make about post-compulsory education (including further and higher education), training and employment?
Research methods The study, conducted during the academic year of 2010/2011, involved 60 6th form students (age 16-18) who attend two comprehensive schools in South Wales. It explored, through qualitative interviews, students‟ hopes, aspirations and decisions about further and higher education and future employment. The purpose of conducting the research during a single academic year and locating the fieldwork in 6th forms in two contrasting locations in South Wales was to explore the extent to which decisions might are framed by space and place as well and by historically and temporally specific landscapes (such as key political events, or policies and local economic landscapes).
Contribution to knowledge Existing „choice‟ literature has suggested that the choices, decisions and transitions which young people make regarding further and higher education and employment are strongly associated with social class and ethnicity. This research, however, aims to transcend this focus on social class and ethnicity and to additionally highlight „geography‟ and „time‟ as important conceptual tools for understanding how education and employment decisions and aspirations might be framed by these factors.
“A curriculum for All: An analysis of the implementation of the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification”
Sara Knight, Cardiff
My PhD focuses on how policy is understood and implemented into schools and colleges as this is a highly overlooked area of the policy process and often results in misunderstanding and incorrect implementation. The face of post-compulsory education in Wales has changed since the establishment of the Assembly, part of the devolution settlement that resulted from the 1997 referendum. Further developments arose in the publication of “The Learning Country” (2001) which outlined the plans to pilot and then implement The Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification (WBQ). The WBQ allows me to
31 Changing Wales: Social, Economic and Political Perspectives explore the extent to which parliamentary devolution since 1997 has allowed the development of distinctive approaches to addressing what are pervasive issues within post compulsory education sector (academic vs. vocational, specialisation vs. generalism, dealing with disaffection). The WBQ brings together existing awards such as GCSE‟s, A levels, GNVQ‟s and other vocational courses with a common core of key skills development. My PhD research aims to explore the variations in how the WBQ is being embedded in FE colleges and sixth forms throughout Wales and whether it is has achieved its aim to provide a diverse and inclusive package that supports the individual student. I will discuss the initial plans for my research, my progress so far before finally addressing the possible wider implications of the research findings.
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Director‟s Address
Professor Gareth Rees, WISERD Director
„Home and Away‟: higher education, social mobility and locality in Wales
Universities have hit the headlines in post- devolution Wales. Successive administrations have startled the UK media by adopting distinctive policies, especially on student fees, but also on the organisation of higher education more generally. As in other parts of the UK (and elsewhere), the wider context of higher education has been transformed through the enormous growth in the numbers of university students and the rate of participation in higher education. Finding effective policies for higher education requires a robust foundation of research and analysis. This lecture explores some of the work in this area that is being carried out at WISERD. In particular, it is clear that historical patterns of recruitment have been transformed by the „massification‟ of higher education. This has implications for the role that HE plays not only in the lives of individuals, but also in the social relations characteristic of local areas. Moreover, the growth of participation in higher education has also disrupted the traditional patterns of recruitment of Welsh graduates into public-sector professional occupations; again with implications not only for individuals, but also the localities where they live. In present-day circumstances, participation in higher education is therefore implicated in people‟s lives in very different ways from hitherto. Geographical mobility plays a significant part for some groups of students, especially those attending „elite‟ universities. However, others negotiate a different set of relationships between home and university, which are not in all cases simply a response to the exigencies of financial support. These new circumstances pose significant issues for the development of higher education strategy in Wales, especially where higher education is seen to be a straightforward route to economic regeneration.
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Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods
Training Events September 2011 to March 2012
Wednesday 14th & Tuesday 8th & Thursday 15th September Wednesday 9th November WISERD Conference 2012 2011 2011 (Two day course) (Two day course) “WISERD 2012: Multidimensional Scaling Multi-level Modelling Devolution, Place and Using NewMDSX Using MLwiN Course Leaders: Trainer: Change” Professor Tony Coxon Dr Helen Brown (Edinburgh (Cardiff University) & University and AQMEN) and Phil Brown (SERAC, Cardiff) Rebecca Pillinger (LEMMA and Monday 28th & Venue: Glamorgan Building, University of Bristol) Tuesday 29th
Cardiff University Venue: WISERD, March 2012 46 Park Place, Cardiff
Thursday 15th Venue: Main Arts Building, September 2011 Bangor University Locating and Using Data Tuesday 29th & Wednesday Resources on Wales 30th November 2011 Key Note Speakers:
Trainer: Various Presenters from (2 day course) the Welsh Government Introduction to Spatial Professor Ron Martin, Professor Venue: WISERD, 46 Park Place, Analysis Using of Economic Geography and a Cardiff OpenSource GIS Software Fellow of the Cambridge-MIT Trainers: Dr Robert Berry and Institute, is a Research Associate Dr Richard Fry (WISERD of the Centre for Business Wednesday 21st Glamorgan) Research attached to the Judge September 2011 WISERD, 46 Park Place, Business School. His research Mapping your Research Cardiff interests fall into five major areas; Data (familiarity with GIS software is a The Geographies of Work, The Trainer: Dr Robert Berry and prerequisite for attending this course please check if you are unsure) Geographies of Financial Systems, Dr Richard Fry (WISERD Regional Economic Development, Glamorgan) Venue: Haldane Building, Economic Theory and Economic Thursday 8th & Friday 9th Swansea University Geography (and especially March 2012 Evolutionary Economic (Two day course) Geography), Geography and Public Wednesday 21st Undertaking Research Policy. September 2011 with Children and Young Quantitative Methods: People Professor John Curtice M.A. Refreshing your Skills Trainer: (Oxon), Professor of Politics, Dr Sally Holland, Dr Emma Trainer: Dr Clair Wilkins (WISERD University of Strathclyde, conducts Cardiff) in association with AQMEN Renold (Cardiff University) Venue: University of Edinburgh and others research into social and political Venue: WISERD, 46 Park attitudes, electoral behaviour, Place, Cardiff electoral systems and survey Thursday 22nd research methods in Scotland, September 2011 Britain and comparatively. He is a Quantitative Methods: Full details of all courses and events are frequent broadcaster and Refreshing your Skills available on the WISERD website contributor to newspapers, and has www.wiserd.ac.uk. Trainer: Dr Clair Wilkins (WISERD been a regular member of the Cardiff) in association with AQMEN WISERD can also offer bespoke training BBC‟s general and local election Venue: University of Edinburgh courses on request. To enquire about night programmes‟ production WISERD events, please contact the (repeat of course delivered on 21 team. September 2011) WISERD Office on 029 2087 5345 or email [email protected]
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