Investing in careers: What is career guidance worth?

Career describes our pathway through life, learning and work. It is how we make a difference in the world and how we balance the competing demands on our time. When individuals make good choices about their education and training, access decent work, balance their various responsibilities and develop and progress throughout life, we have well-functioning societies. We have done extensive costing work to estimate how much the government is currently spending on career guidance and to compare that to the level of spend in 2009. We estimate the figures as follows: • We currently spend £68 per person, per year on the delivery of career guidance to young people. The equivalent figure in 2009 (adjusted for inflation) was £159. • We currently spend £26 per person, per year on the delivery of career guidance to adults. The equivalent figure in 2009 (adjusted for inflation) was £35. The level of investment is one of the major issues that career guidance in England faces. However, it is not the only one. Funding is currently highly fragmented and dependent on a series of local decisions in schools, colleges, universities and local authorities. There is a desperate need to manage funding more strategically to ensure greater consistency. The career guidance workforce has also been depleted and the system has been de-professionalised. There is a need to take actions to improve quality and strengthen the professionalism of the system. The Career Guidance Guarantee represents is a thought through and costed plan to achieve the improvements that are needed. To implement it in full we would need to spend an additional £315m on youth careers services and an additional £235m on adult careers services. This equates to an average additional spend of £47 per person on career guidance for young people and an additional £6 per head on working age adults. This represents a very modest new investment, which when combined with the other reforms in the Career Guidance Guarantee would lead to a much more effective system. Career guidance is a powerful intervention that can make a substantial difference to the lives of those who are able to access it. Currently too few people in England are able to access career guidance or are even aware that services are available and those that do get it often find that it is too poorly resourced. Government needs to take a more strategic approach, professionalise the system and ensure its quality and begin a programme of new investment. The Career Guidance Guarantee represents a clear and costed blueprint as to how this can be achieved

Cell cycle regulation of astrocytes by extracellular nucleotides and fibroblast growth factor-2

Extracellular ATP enhances the mitogenic activity of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) in astrocytes, but the molecular mechanism underlying this synergistic interaction is not known. To determine whether the potentiating effect of extracellular ATP involves cell cycle control mechanisms, we have measured the expression of cyclins that are induced in different phases of the cell cycle in primary cultures of rat cortical astrocytes. We found that ATP potentiated the ability of FGF2 to stimulate expression of cyclin D1, a regulator of cell cycle entry, as well as cyclin A, a regulator of DNA replication. Because FGF2 and P2 purinergic receptors are coupled to extracellular signal regulated protein kinase (ERK), a key member of a signaling cascade that regulates proliferation, we also investigated the role of ERK in regulating cyclin expression induced by FGF2 and ATP. We found that the potentiating effect of ATP on cyclin expression was significantly reduced by U0126, an inhibitor of MEK, the upstream activator of ERK. P2 receptor agonist studies revealed that UTP enhanced FGF2-induced cyclin expression and mitogenesis whereas 2-methylthioADP was ineffective. By contrast, 2-3-O-(4-benzoyl)-benzoyl-ATP markedly inhibited FGF2-induced mitogenesis. Consistent with opposing effects of P2Y and P2X receptors on mitogenesis, UTP stimulated a transient activation of ERK whereas BzATP stimulated a more sustained ERK signal. These findings suggest that signaling by P2Y receptors, most likely of the purine/pyrimidine subtype, enhance the ability of FGF2 to stimulate entry into a new cell cycle, as well as DNA replication, by an ERK-dependent mechanism, whereas signaling by P2X receptors, possibly the P2X7 subtype, inhibits FGF2-induced mitogenesis in astrocytes. Interactions between P2Y, P2X and polypeptide growth factor signaling pathways may have important implications for CNS development as well as injury and repair

Ensuring quality in online career mentoring

This article explores the issue of quality in online career mentoring. It builds on a previous evaluation of Brightside, an online mentoring system in the UK which is primarily aimed at supporting young people's transitions to further learning. The article notes that participants in Brightside's mentoring programmes reported satisfaction with their experiences, with many stating that it helped them to make decisions and to positively change their learning and career behaviours. However, the article argues that there are challenges in ensuring quality and consistency connected to both the voluntary nature of mentoring and the online mode. The article proposes a 10-point quality framework to support quality assurance, initial training and professional development for online mentors

International Centre for Guidance Studies (iCeGS) Annual Review 2022

This publication offers a brief insight into the wide range of activities the iCeGS team are involved with over the year. It explores our contribution to policy, research and practice within the career development sector both in the UK and wider afield. iCeGS Annual Review also gives the team an opportunity to reflect on our many achievements over the last year. This year, like other years, we feel particularly proud of several activities

ATP regulates the differentiation of mammalian skeletal muscle by activation of a P2X5 receptor on satellite cells

ATP is well known for its role as an intracellular energy source. However, there is increasing awareness of its role as an extracellular messenger molecule (Burnstock, 1997). Although evidence for the presence of receptors for extracellular ATP on skeletal myoblasts was first published in 1983 (Kolb and Wakelam), their physiological function has remained unclear. In this paper we used primary cultures of rat skeletal muscle satellite cells to investigate the role of purinergic signaling in muscle formation. Using immunocytochemistry, RT-PCR, and electrophysiology, we demonstrate that the ionotropic P2X5 receptor is present on satellite cells and that activation of a P2X receptor inhibits proliferation, stimulates expression of markers of muscle cell differentiation, including myogenin, p21, and myosin heavy chain, and increases the rate of myotube formation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that ATP application results in a significant and rapid increase in the phosphorylation of MAPKs, particularly p38, and that inhibition of p38 activity can prevent the effect of ATP on cell number. These results not only demonstrate the existence of a novel regulator of skeletal muscle differentiation, namely ATP, but also a new role for ionotropic P2X receptors in the control of cell fate

International Centre for Guidance Studies (iCeGS) Annual Review 2023 - 25th Anniversary

This publication offers a brief insight into the wide range of activities the iCeGS team has been involved with over the year and the last 25 years. It explores our contribution to policy, research and practice within the career development sector both in the UK and wider afield. iCeGS Annual Review also allows the team to reflect on our many achievements over the last year. Like other years, we feel particularly proud of several activities this year