Career guidance for social justice

This editorial sets the context for issue 36 of the NICEC journal which is focused on social justice and career guidance. The editorial explores the key themes of the issue highlighting the social justice tradition within the career guidance field and making the case for a strong focus on social justice. However the editorial also highlights the tensions that exist between career guidance’s orientation to the individual and understandings of social justice which are more socially orientated. The editorial concludes by arguing that if career guidance is to formulate a meaningful response to social injustice it needs to draw on diverse theoretical traditions and stimulate new forms of practice

Careers work with young people: collapse or transition? An analysis of current developments in careers education and guidance for young people in England

This paper analyses the current information available (in July 2011) about the changes that are taking place in careers work following recent government policy initiatives and public-sector austerity measures. In particular, it examines the local developments that have emerged in relation to a national policy context in which: • Existing careers work is being radically reconfigured. • The new National Careers Service (NCS) will principally serve adults (apart from its telephone/web-based services, which will cover young people too). • Securing careers guidance for young people has been made the responsibility of schools. • The requirement for schools to provide careers education has been removed. • There has been very limited transition planning at national level: this has led to considerable local confusion. • In particular, there is continuing confusion about the future relationship of remaining face-to-face Connexions services to the NCS, and about the branding of such services. Implications for Connexions services, Local Authorities, schools, new market players and the careers profession are identified

Advancing ambitions: the role of career guidance in supporting social mobility

Career guidance describes activities which support individuals to learn about education and employment and plan for their future lives, learning and work. These activities contribute to social mobility, helping people to discover and access opportunities that might exist outside of their immediate networks. They also encourage individuals to challenge their pre-existing assumptions about what they are capable of and to develop practical strategies to operationalise their aspirations.The Sutton Trus

Careering through the Web: the potential of Web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies for career development and career support services

This paper examines the environment that the web provides for career exploration. Career practitioners have long seen value in engaging in technology and the opportunities offered by the internet, and this interest continues. However, this paper suggests that the online environment for career exploration is far broader than that provided by public-sector careers services. In addition to these services, there is a wide range of other players including private-sector career consultants, employers, recruitment companies and learning providers who are all contributing to a potentially rich career exploration environment.UKCE

Enhancing choice? The role of technology in the career support market

This report explores the role that technology has played in the development of the career support market. This market is conceived broadly to include all possible resources that individuals might draw upon to support them in their career development. A key element is the role that is played by public-sector career services and by careers professionals; though these resources are supplemented by services paid for in a wide range of ways and delivered by a range of professionals and non-professionals.UKCE

Teachers and Careers: The role of school teachers in delivering career and employability learning

Teach Firs

Careers 2020: options for future careers work in English schools.

Careers work in English schools has endured much turbulence recently. The government has now established a statutory duty on schools to secure provision, placing commissioning of careers advice and guidance in the hands of schools rather than local authorities or central government. But the duty is framed very loosely, comes with no funding and offers no clear model of provision. The previous funding for face-to-face guidance from qualified careers advisers has been removed, as has the duty for schools to provide careers education. So what should schools’ careers offers look like in future? How can schools ensure the quality of the career development support that is so vital for young people, and particularly so for those who cannot rely on their existing networks for advice and opportunities?Pearson Think Tan

Embedded AGN and star formation in the central 80 pc of IC 3639

[Abridged] Methods: We use interferometric observations in the $N$-band with VLTI/MIDI to resolve the mid-IR nucleus of IC 3639. The origin of the nuclear infrared emission is determined from: 1) the comparison of the correlated fluxes from VLTI/MIDI with the fluxes measured at subarcsec resolution (VLT/VISIR, VLT/ISAAC); 2) diagnostics based on IR fine-structure line ratios, the IR continuum emission, IR bands produced by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and silicates; and 3) the high-angular resolution spectral energy distribution. Results: The unresolved flux of IC 3639 is $90 \pm 20\, \rm{mJy}$ at $10.5\, \rm{\mu m}$, measured with three different baselines in VLTI (UT1-UT2, UT3-UT4, and UT2-UT3; $46$-$58\, \rm{m}$), making this the faintest measurement so far achieved with mid-IR interferometry. The correlated flux is a factor of $3$-$4$ times fainter than the VLT/VISIR total flux measurement. The observations suggest that most of the mid-IR emission has its origin on spatial scales between $10$ and $80\, \rm{pc}$ ($40$-$340\, \rm{mas}$). A composite scenario where the star formation component dominates over the AGN is favoured by the diagnostics based on ratios of IR fine-structure emission lines, the shape of the IR continuum, and the PAH and silicate bands. Conclusions: A composite AGN-starburst scenario is able to explain both the mid-IR brightness distribution and the IR spectral properties observed in the nucleus of IC 3639. The nuclear starburst would dominate the mid-IR emission and the ionisation of low-excitation lines (e.g. [NeII]$_{12.8 \rm{\mu m}}$) with a net contribution of $\sim 70\%$. The AGN accounts for the remaining $\sim 30\%$ of the mid-IR flux, ascribed to the unresolved component in the MIDI observations, and the ionisation of high-excitation lines (e.g. [NeV]$_{14.3 \rm{\mu m}}$ and [OIV]$_{25.9 \rm{\mu m}}$).Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Seed Dispersal and Spatial Pattern in Tropical Trees

Theories of tropical tree diversity emphasize dispersal limitation as a potential mechanism for separating species in space and reducing competitive exclusion. We compared the dispersal morphologies, fruit sizes, and spatial distributions of 561 tree species within a fully mapped, 50-hectare plot of primary tropical forest in peninsular Malaysia. We demonstrate here that the extent and scale of conspecific spatial aggregation is correlated with the mode of seed dispersal. This relationship holds for saplings as well as for mature trees. Phylogenetically independent contrasts confirm that the relationship between dispersal and spatial pattern is significant even after controlling for common ancestry among species. We found the same qualitative results for a 50-hectare tropical forest plot in Panama. Our results provide broad empirical evidence for the importance of dispersal mode in establishing the long-term community structure of tropical forests