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News From North East - February 2006

Inside this issue...

Click on to your chosen topic from here.

• Focus on Social Inequalities
• Statistics on Higher Education Graduates from Scottish Universities and Colleges
• Labour Market Disadvantage Amongst Disabled People
• International Youth Film Festival
• The Geography of Poor Skills and Access to Work
• Maritime Careers
• BT Careers Start (Apprenticeship Scheme)
• Scottish Executive Website
• Froth & Bubble
• Contributions

Focus on Social Inequalities

Focus on Social Inequalities describes the different experiences of social groups in the UK today in six key areas: education, work, income, living standards, health and participation.  It looks at the advantaged as well as the disadvantaged and explores the relative differences between them.

Each overview in the Focus On series combines data from the 2001 Census and other sources to illustrate its topic, and provide links to further information.

Here are some examples of the types of reports which can be downloaded

• Education
  Exam results differ by social status  
• Work
  Employment grows for the disadvantaged
• Income
  Gaps in income and wealth remain large  
• Living Standards
  People on low income less likely to have PCs
• Health
  Manual workers die earlier than others  
• Participation
  More volunteers from higher income homes

Read more at the National Statistics online.

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Statistics on Higher Education Graduates from Scottish Universities and Colleges (A Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication)

This publication includes statistics on higher education graduates from Scottish higher education institutions (HEIs) and Scotland's colleges for 2003/04 along with survey information on the first destinations of full-time, EU domiciled graduates in the same year.

Key points

• In 2003/04, 65,720 students - around 2,000 more than in the previous academic year - successfully completed a higher education course in Scotland.  Of these, 42% obtained a first degree, 38% obtained a sub degree qualification and 21% obtained a postgraduate qualification.
• The number of graduates of subjects within the mass communication area increased most significantly from the previous year; other subject areas with increases included creative arts, medicine and dentistry, agriculture and social studies.  Areas that have fewer graduates than in 2002-03 include humanities, subjects allied to medicine and languages.
• The number of Scottish based graduates increased from the previous year by 2% while the number of foreign domiciled graduates increased by 13%.
• Of those graduates who responded to surveys of their first destination approximately six months after graduation, over half (57%) had obtained permanent or temporary employment in the UK at the time of the survey with a further 2% obtaining employment overseas.  29% of responding graduates continued in study/training while 6% were unemployed.  For all levels of study, women were slightly more likely than men to be in employment.
• Of postgraduate qualifiers who obtained a permanent job in the UK, 87% worked as managers, professionals or technical staff, while of undergraduates between 65% and 69% worked in those kinds of occupations.
• Of those gaining permanent UK employment after qualifying in 2003/04, 32% gained employment in the health social and community work sector, with 23% gaining employment in the finance and business services sector.
• 40% of all postgraduates from Scottish universities obtained their initial permanent UK job in finance and business services; of first degree graduates 28% of those with permanent UK employment six months after graduating worked in health or social work (26% in finance and business services); of those with sub degree qualifications about half started work in the health and social care sector.
• 79% of respondents who gained permanent employment after qualifying in 2003/04 gained employment in Scotland.  90% of the Scots-domiciled respondents in permanent employment were employed in Scotland.  A third of graduates from the rest of the UK responding to the surveys found initial employment in Scotland and a fifth of EU domiciled respondents took their initial job in Scotland.
• Some of those not working undertook further study: over half of those who had successfully completed a sub degree level qualification did so - this is ten percentage points more than in the previous year.

For the full report visit Scottish Executive Publications website.

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Labour Market Disadvantage Amongst Disabled People

According to a paper from the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at London School of Economics, a lack of qualifications, training and experience, financial disincentives, inaccessible transport, and employers' perceptions are all barriers facing disabled people when they try to enter the jobs market.  It is not just rates of job entry that are lower among disabled people, but rates of job retention as well.

Read Labour Market Disadvantage Amongst Disabled People: A Longitudinal Perspective, London School of Economics and Political Science website.

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International Youth Film Festival

The third International Youth Film Festival takes place from 28 to 30 of June 2006 in the Tyrol.

The event gives young film makers the chance to expose their work at an international level.

An international jury will score the films in three age groups.

Further information visit Jugend Film Festival website.

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The Geography of Poor Skills and Access to Work

Despite employment growth, high levels of worklessness persist for some people and in some places.  A study available, on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website, analyses statistics from the 2001 Census on access to work for people with poor skills in the context of important changes in the industrial and occupational profile of employment and the location of jobs.

Visit Joseph Rowntree Foundation findings website.

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Maritime Careers

Over 190 organisations from across the wider maritime sector, at sea and ashore, have joined together in Sea Vision UK.

Sea Vision UK is the national on-going campaign to raise awareness of the sea, including the maritime sector in its widest sense.

There are two objectives: to raise the profile of the maritime sector with the general public and specifically to target awareness among young people.

The UK has the largest maritime sector in Europe.  With a turnover of £37 billion – twice the size of aerospace or agriculture – and employing more than a quarter of a million people.

For more information visit the Sea Vision UK website.

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BT Career Start (Apprenticeship Scheme)

BT plans to recruit over 300 apprentices across the UK in the area of Technical, Information Technology, Business Management and Fleet Services.

For locations and details of vacancies, and how to apply on-line, visit the BT Career Start website.

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Scottish Executive Website

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Froth & Bubble

Following on from last month’s F and B item on family history… here’s a chance to see how your surname has been fairing.  Are there more or less of ‘you’ dotting around the country and where are your heartlands?

A recent research project based at University College London has investigated the distribution of surnames in Great Britain, both current and historic, in order to understand patterns of regional economic development, population movement and cultural identity.  This website allows users to search the databases, and to trace the geography and history of their family names.

Visit UCL Surname Profiler website.

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Contributions

If you would like to contribute an item to the newsletter we would be delighted to hear from you.  Contributions can be emailed to info.ne@careers-scotland.org.uk or faxed to 01592 623199