Young people in Britain today: Engagement, careers, and wellbeing

The transition to adulthood is a critical period. Young people start to drift apart in their educational careers, norms and values and life experiences more generally. 

This conference examines how these diverging trajectories are expressed and what processes and social structures influence them. We’ll explore inequalities in careers, wellbeing and political engagement with a focus on developments in the United Kingdom and discuss the role of the education system and policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in amplifying or mitigating these inequalities.

Agenda

Day 1: The Youth Economic Activity and Health Monitor, Thursday 15 September

• 09:30-10:00 Registration  
• 10:00-10:15 Welcome and Opening (Prof Brad Blitz, UCL) 
• 10:15-11:15 Keynote (Prof Ingrid Schoon, UCL)
• 11:15-11:30 Coffee Break
• 11:30-12:30 Session 1: Youth employment policy interventions: The view from practitioners and young people (Dr Rachel Wilde, UCL)
• 12:30-13:30 Lunch
• 13:30-14:30 Session 2: Career worries, well-being, and future expectations (Dr Hans Dietrich, IAB)
• 14:30-15:30 Session 3: The value of career development activities (Dr Golo Henseke, UCL)
• 15:30-15:45 Coffee Break
• 15:45-16:45 Discussion Panel: Resilience and recovery towards meaningful work

Day 2: Political engagement, Friday 16 September

• 09:30-09:40 Welcome
• 09:40-09:45 Introducing the Nuffield-funded project on social inequalities in political engagement (Josh Hillman, Director of Education, Nuffield Foundation)
• 09:45-11:15 Session 1: Emerging social gaps in political engagement (Germ Janmaat, UCL IOE and Kaat Smets, Royal Holloway)
• 11:15-11:30 Coffee Break
• 11:30-13:00 Session 2: The widening gender gap in political interest (Nicola Pensiero, University of Southampton and Gemma Albacete, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid)
• 13:00-14:00 Lunch
• 14:30-15:30 Session 3: The school’s role in influencing the social gap in political interest (Bryony Hoskins, University of Roehampton and Robin Le Brun, Universite Libre de Bruxelles)
• 15:30-15:45 Coffee Break
• 15:45-16:45 Discussion Panel: What can schools do to reduce growing social, ethnic and gender gaps? Liz Moorse (ACT), Michelle Codrington-Rogers (Teacher), Rebecca Earnshaw (Voice 21)

It will be particularly useful for those interested in education, civic engagement, social inequalities, youth employment, wellbeing and COVID-19.

Related links

• COVID-19 youth economic activity and health monitor (YEAH)
• Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES)
• Department of Education, Practice and Society