Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Launches Futureskills Conference

The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop, launched Futureskills Scotland’s conference on 4^th March.  Sir Michael Rake, the Chair of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills also provided a keynote speech.

Over 100 senior policymakers, researchers and academics attended the conference.

Jim Martin of the Scottish Funding Council expertly chaired a Q&A session at which leading policy-makers were given the opportunity to reflect on the research and policy issues.  The panel members were:

• Dr Janet Lowe – Scottish Funding Council
• Donald Henderson – Interim Chief Executive, Skills Development Scotland
• Peter Lobban - Chair for Devolved Regions, Sector Skills Development Agency
• Alan Wilson – Chief Executive, Scottish Council for Development and Industry

The conference was jointly organised by Futureskills Scotland, the Scottish Centre for Employment Research (SCER) and the ESRC Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE).  Professor Chris Warhurst (SCER), Professor Ewart Keep (SKOPE) and Dr. Patrick Watt (Futureskills Scotland) all addressed the conference.

Conference workshops included presentations by acknowledged labour market experts on a range of issues, followed by a discussion and debate:

• Professor Ewart Keep (SKOPE) - Employers’ use of recruitment and selection as a method of skills acquisition
• Michael Davis (CfE) - Fishing in the footnotes
• Professor Alan Felstead (University of Cardiff) – Up-skilling Scottish Jobs: what do the 1997-2006 skills surveys tell us?
• Professor Chris Warhurst (SCER) – Low wage work: here to stay?
• Professor David Bell (University of Stirling) – Labour market flows in Scotland

Futureskills Scotland would especially like to thank Taylor Stewart from SEN and Holyrood Events for the smooth running of the conference.

Speakers’ presentation slides can be downloaded below.

• Patrick Watt Presentation
• Ewart Keep Presentation
• Ewart Keep Workshop
• Michael Davis Workshop
• Alan Felstead Workshop
• Chris Warhurst Presentation
• Chris Warhurst Workshop
• David Bell Workshop