Further information and references

Future of work reports and modelling

Bakhshi, H., Downing, J., Osborne, M. and Schneider, P. (2017): The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030. London: Pearson and Nesta  

This report is based on foresight workshops with sector experts and machine learning modelling of the future labour market.  It gives predictions about occupations which are likely to grow and shrink as a result of automation.  Growth areas highlighted include education and healthcare, green occupations and the craft movement.  It also summarises likely skills needed including collaborative problem solving and systems thinking. 

Brynjolfsson, E. and McAfee, A. (2014): The second machine age: Work, progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. WW Norton & Company  

This text summarises trends in automation and digitalisation in the workplace, likely trends for the future, implications for individuals in terms of skills needed and policy recommendations for governments and institutions.  It focuses in particular on the need for individuals to be flexible and adaptable in their career aspirations and to ensure their skills keep pace with technological change.  The authors argue that there will always be a place for humans in the future of work as humans and machines don’t approach tasks in the same way.  Particular skills we should focus on include creativity and ideation. 

The British Academy (2017): The Right Skills: Celebrating skills in the arts, humanities and social sciences. London: The British Academy 

The report looks at how skills are taught, learned and applied in society and includes recommendations of areas for further action which set the agenda for the Academy’s programme of work on skills.  It focuses on the importance of language, data and digital skills in particular. 

The British Academy and The Royal Society (2018): The impact of artificial intelligence on work . London : The British Academy

This report is an evidence synthesis on the impact of artificial intelligence on work to support discussion and inform policy debates about potential steps to help prepare for this.  It concludes that AI is most suited to routine tasks and humans will be needed for roles that require social intelligence.  It argues for a broad education system that trains people across different disciplines in order to develop a wide range of skills, including digital skills, emotional intelligence and a stronger base for lifelong learning. 

CBI (2017): CBI Pearson Education and Skills Survey 2017: Helping the UK Thrive. Available from:  

https://www.cbi.org.uk/media/1341/helping-the-uk-to-thrive-tess-2017.pdf

This report looks at the value of various graduate skills among employers and raises some concerns about certain skill deficits including international cultural awareness, business awareness, self-management and resilience. 

CIPD (2017): From inadequate to outstanding: Making the UK’s skills system world class. Available from:  

https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/from-inadequate-to-outstanding_2017-making-the-UK-skills-system-world-class_tcm18-19933.pdf 

This report discusses the difference between skills and qualifications and the difficulties in defining/measuring skills (hence difficulties in measuring/quantifying skills gaps), it discusses the importance of lifelong learning and the challenges that Brexit will bring in meeting employers' skills needs.  it also highlights the current lack of investment by employers in training their workforces, which indicates that individuals will need to take responsibility for their ongoing learning and professional development in the future. 

Ford Motor Company (2019): 100 Jobs of the Future.  Ford Motor Company of Australia and Deakin University 

This report summarises the types of jobs that are vulnerable to a ‘new wave’ of automation including those in the middle of the job market that were previously deemed safe, such as paralegals and bookkeepers.  It also summarises the likely skills needed in the future including the importance of cross disciplinary teamwork, adaptability and flexibility.

PwC (2017): Workforce of the Future: The Competing Forces Shaping 2030. Available from:  

https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/people-organisation/workforce-of-the-future/workforce-of-the-future-the-competing-forces-shaping-2030-pwc.pdf   

This report summarises the megatrends predicted to shape the future of work and identifies four different future scenarios (red, blue, green and yellow worlds). Regardless of the scenario there is a clear message for business leaders about nurturing agility, adaptability and re-skilling and for workers in developing creativity, innovation, imagination and design skills. 

Schwab, K. (2017): The fourth industrial revolution. 

This text, published following the World Economic Forum Davos Summit in 2016 on the same topic, summarises the megatrends and drivers of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the likely impacts on individuals and the workplace.  Trends discussed include demographic change, urbanisation, the global climate crisis, the rise of new business models (for example more flexible and remote working and increased use of short-term contract work) and increasing uncertainty and complexity.  Schwab highlights the importance of a range of skills including creativity, decision making and a range of social skills including emotional intelligence, empathy, motivation and teamwork/collaboration.  

Universities Scotland (2019): Tomorrow’s People: Universities building Scotland’s future 

This summary paper highlights the importance of higher order cognitive skills in the future labour market and also of supporting students to develop the capacity to adapt through creativity, drive and resilience.  It also highlights the importance of an enterprising and entrepreneurial mindset. 

Universities UK (2018): Solving future skills challenges 

This report sets out to define higher level skills and discusses how we can balance supply and demand and some of the implications for post-18 education.  It stresses that individuals will need to show a commitment to lifelong learning and that we need clear definitions on skills.  It also discusses the importance of students gaining work experience and the need for resilience and managing uncertainty for the future of work. 

World Economic Forum (2016, January):  The future of jobs: Employment, skills and workforce strategy for the fourth industrial revolution. Global Challenge Insight Report. Geneva:  World Economic Forum

This report followed the WEF Davos Summit in 2016 and summarises the likely trends in employment and skills in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.  It argues that students and graduates will need to develop ‘futureproof skills’ reflecting a trend towards more flexible work.  Roles that were seen of as purely technical are expected to need more creative and interpersonal skills and there will likely be a shorter ‘shelf life’ of employees’ skill sets with employees expected to take more responsibility for their ongoing learning, development and upskilling/reskilling as necessary. 

World Economic Forum (2018):  The future of jobs report 2018. Geneva: World Economic Forum

This follow up to the 2016 report has a strong focus of the impact of technological disruption to jobs, giving a five-year outlook across several sectors.  It echoes some of the findings of the 2016 report including the need for individuals to be agile and proactive and the importance of lifelong learning with employers expecting individuals to upskill themselves.  It also argues that technology-related and non-cognitive soft skills will become more important. 

Skills literature and definitions

Amabile, T.M. (2018): Creativity in context: Update to the social psychology of creativity. London: Routledge 

This text provides a comprehensive overview of creativity and the social aspects of and influences on creativity, for example in team settings and in organisations.  It also discusses the important role that motivation plays in fostering creativity and how creativity can be developed in educational and organisational settings. 

Anderson, V. and Johnson, L. (1997): Systems thinking basics. Cambridge, MA: Pegasus Communications 

This text provides an introduction to the concept of systems thinking and identifies some key characteristics of systems thinking including considering the big picture, balancing short and long-term perspectives, recognising the dynamic and complex nature of systems, taking into account measurable and non-measurable factors and recognising that we are part of the systems we’re studying; we influence them and are in turn influenced by them.  It also provides several simple activities to support learners with developing system thinking skills for identifying and solving problems. 

Arnold, R.D. and Wade, J.P. (2015):  A definition of systems thinking: A systems approach. Procedia Computer Science 44 pp.669-678 

This paper highlights that systems thinking has received little attention in educational settings, despite being critical for dealing with complex problems facing the world and that a complete definition of systems thinking is required for it to receive more attention.  The authors provide a definition, based on a comprehensive review of the systems thinking literature, that can be applied in a wide variety of disciplines. 

Bandura, A. (1997): Self-Efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman 

Bandura defines self-efficacy as an individual's perceived capability to produce a given level of attainment and although Bandura originally developed the concept in 1986, this text provides an update on the concept and research that has been undertaken on the topic since its development.  Bandura also shows that self-efficacy is not just a reflection of an individual's past performance or prediction of future performance but also a cause in its own right. 

Eccles, J. S., Wigfield, A., & Schiefele, U. (1998): Motivation to succeed. In W. Damon & N. Eisenberg (Ed.): Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development pp. 1017–1095). John Wiley & Sons Inc

This book chapter focuses on the important role that motivation plays in individuals' choices about which tasks to do, the persistence with which they pursue those tasks, the intensity of their engagement in those tasks, and their thoughts about their performance and their goals. 

Ferguson, S.D. and Terrion, J.L. (2014): Communication in Everyday Life: Personal and Professional Contexts. Oxford University Press 

This text provides an overview of the concepts and theories of communication and the role of factors including how we perceive ourselves and others, listening, verbal and non-verbal communication. It includes a range of examples drawn from a wide range of disciplines to demonstrate how we communicate in both professional and personal contexts and how communication skills support the managing of relationships with others including negotiation, conflict resolution and teamwork.   

Fisher, A. (2011): Critical thinking: An introduction. Cambridge University Press 

This text is aimed at students and provides a solid introduction to critical thinking, beginning with a discussion of definitions of critical thinking drawing on several well-known and widely-held definitions, before going on to discuss some of the other skills that underpin critical thinking.  Later chapters provide students with background and exercises around several aspects of critical thinking including understanding and improving reasoning, judging the credibility of sources and decision making. 

O'Grady, A. (2013): Lifelong learning in the UK: An introductory guide for education studies. Routledge 

This text provides a comprehensive introduction and background to lifelong learning and its benefits to society and organisations.  It starts with providing definitions of lifelong learning and how these have changed over time according to the policy context and subsequent chapters discuss the meaning of the concept in different contexts including further and higher education, adult education and work-based learning.  The concept of lifelong learning is sometimes contested and misunderstood, and this text provides a good overview of its meanings in different contexts. 

Krathwohl, D.R. and Anderson, L.W. (2009): A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. Longman 

This text is based on the models of Bloom’s Taxonomy, first developed in 1956 and updated to apply in the knowledge domain.  It makes clear the distinction between lower order and higher order cognitive or thinking skills.  The lower order skills focus on memorising of facts while the higher order skills focus on understanding, applying, evaluating knowledge and creating new knowledge.  Although there is debate about and some criticism of the taxonomy among educational experts, particularly around the sequential and hierarchical nature of it, it provides a useful framework for conceptualising thinking skills. 

Von Ludewig, H.H. (2017): Why is collaboration so difficult? Available from: 

https://opensource.com/open-organization/17/11/what-is-collaboration 

This article explores the concept of collaboration and how it is different from other related and sometimes confused concepts of coordination and cooperation.  Coordination is defined as people working together to a shared goal within pre-defined roles, while cooperation implies a level of agreement and helpfulness in a shared activity (therefore making the shared goal easier to achieve).  Collaboration involves people or groups who might not normally work together and who initially have different goals, coming together through cooperation and negotiation to achieve a shared goal.  

Lunenburg, F.C. (2011): Self-efficacy in the workplace: Implications for motivation and performance. International journal of management, business, and administration, 14(1), pp.1-6 

This paper discusses four aspects that affect individuals’ level of self-efficacy including their past performance, vicarious experience (seeing others succeed at performing tasks), verbal persuasion (individuals convincing others they can complete a task) and emotional cues (physiological symptoms an individual might experience if they expect to fail at a task).  Lunenburg concludes that self-efficacy has important implications for the workplace as it influences the tasks that an individual chooses to learn, the goals they set themselves and the level of effort and persistence they put in to achieving those goals. 

Masten, A.S. and Reed, M.G.J. (2002): Resilience in development. Oxford Handbook of positive psychology pp. 117-131. Oxford University Press

This book chapter provides an introduction to the concept of resilience which the authors define as a positive adaptation in the context of significant adversity.  They provide an overview of the history of the study of resilience and present different models of resilience along with discussion about how to foster the development of resilience and factors affecting the development of resilience in children and young people. 

Mayer, J.D., Salovey, P. and Caruso, D.R. (2000): Models of emotional intelligence in RJ Sternberg (ed.) The Handbook of Intelligence p396-420 New York: Cambridge University Press 

This book chapter provides an overview of the history of the study of emotional intelligence. The authors define emotional intelligence as the ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion and regulate emotion.  Beyond this definition they discuss a range of competing models for defining and understanding emotional intelligence including those that focus on mental abilities and those which also incorporate individuals’ personality characteristics.   

O'Connell, D.J., McNeely, E. and Hall, D.T. (2008): Unpacking personal adaptability at work. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 14(3), pp.248-259 

This article provides an overview of the concept of adaptability in a work context and some discussion on factors that affect individuals’ adaptability including gender, education and management support. 

Oney, E. and Oksuzoglu-Guven, G., 2015. Confidence: A critical review of the literature and an alternative perspective for general and specific self-confidence. Psychological reports, 116(1), pp.149-163 

This article provides a summary of the literature and study of the topic of self-confidence.  The authors provide a definition of self-confidence and some discussion on the characteristics of self-confidence. They also explain how this differs from similar but distinct concepts such as self-esteem, self-efficacy and trust and how self-confidence influences other skills including problem solving. 

Osborne, N. and Connelly, L. (2015): Managing your digital footprint: Possible implications for teaching and learning. In Proceedings of the 2nd European Conference on Social Media ECSM pp. 354-361 

This paper discusses how social media are increasingly embedded in students’ university experiences, which presents both opportunities and risks.  The authors report on a study conducted at the University, prompted by the need to identify whether and to what extent students are aware that they are creating online tracks and traces (digital footprint) through their online activities.  It provides a number of recommendations for how students can be supported with managing their digital footprint, including referring students to the Managing Your Digital Footprint resources available through the Institute for Academic Development (available from https://www.ed.ac.uk/institute-academic-development/about-us/projects/digital-footprint). 

Plous, S. (1993): The psychology of judgment and decision making. Mcgraw-Hill Book Company 

This text provides a comprehensive introduction to judgement and decision making and discusses how individuals make decisions including the role of information in decision making and factors that affect decision making.  It also discusses perceptions and biases that can lead to faulty decision making and undermine individuals’ abilities to weigh decisions rationally. 

QAA (2018): Enterprise and Entrepreneurship: Guidance for UK Higher Education Providers. Available from: 

https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaas/enhancement-and-development/enterprise-and-entrpreneurship-education-2018.pdf?sfvrsn=15f1f981_8 

The QAA guidance on enterprise and entrepreneurship reflects current thinking and practice in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education, drawing on contemporary best practice.  It is not specific to any degree programme, subject specialism or level of study and is designed to be used in conjunction with the appropriate QAA Subject Benchmark Statement to support practitioners seeking to embed enterprise and entrepreneurship across the curriculum. 

Robertson, I.S. (2001): Problem Solving. Psychology Press 

This text discusses the psychological processes underlying problem solving and examines both how individuals learn from experience of problem solving and how learning transfers from one situation to another. It covers methods used for both novice and skilled problem solving and presents a process for problem solving including generating a useful representation of the problem, strategies to use in unfamiliar situations and lateral thinking.   

Salas, E., Burke, C.S. and Cannon‐Bowers, J.A. (2000): Teamwork: emerging principles. International Journal of Management Reviews, 2(4), pp.339-356 

This paper presents a review of the research on teamwork in order to define teams and teamwork.  through review and analysis of the research the authors present some dimensions of teamwork including adaptability, feedback, leadership, interpersonal relationships, communication and decision making. 

Stueber, K. (2013): Empathy. International Encyclopedia of Ethics 

This is a comprehensive discussion of empathy and its history.  It defines empathy as the ability to recognise what other people are thinking and feeling, and the ability to engage with other people in a social manner.  It also discusses the psychological processes involved in empathy and individuals’ ability to understand another’s state of mind and how they think and feel about situations.  It also discusses that although the concept of empathy was only developed in the twentieth century, it has in fact been studied before that time but under the heading of sympathy. 

Career management and employability literature and definitions

Artess, J., Mellors-Bourne, R. and Hooley, T. (2017): Employability: A Review of the Literature 2012-2016. York: Higher Education Academy 

This systematic review of the employability literature 2012-2016 has a focus on UK universities. It provides a comprehensive review and definition of career management skills drawing on the relevant literature and case studies and explains how these skills are distinct from but related to employability.  The review also provides several employability good practice case studies in UK universities and identifies key issues and challenges around the employability agenda. 

Arthur, M.B. and Rousseau, D.M. eds. (2001): The boundaryless career: A new employment principle for a new organizational era. Oxford University Press  

This text provides a comprehensive overview of the concept of the Boundaryless Career and implications for individuals and organisations.  The authors argue that the Boundaryless Career is a feature of the modern economy, characterised by uncertainty, flexibility, opportunity and uncertainty.   They also argue that traditional concepts of job security, linear career trajectories and job for life no longer apply as careers are not bounded by organisations.  Implications for individuals include the need to be agile and flexible and that concepts including lifelong learning and enterprise characterise the Boundaryless Career. 

Bates, G.W., Rixon, A., Carbone, A. and Pilgrim, C. (2019): Beyond employability skills: Developing professional purpose. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability 10(1) pp.7-26 

This paper argues for a broad focus on employability, beyond skills, to also include the importance of mindset and supporting students to develop flexibility and resilience.  It also considers the need for students to develop self-confidence, self-awareness and adaptability in order to be able to manage their careers throughout their working lives and suggests students can do this through reflection and examining their values. 

de Blaquière, G., Nolan, J.E. and Wray, K. (2019): Joining up the dots: Telling the story of employability: How can students in Higher Education be supported to better understand and articulate their employability? Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability 10(2) pp.15-35 

This paper highlights how enterprise education can enhance careers education and student employability by enabling students to be more opportunity focused, self-aware and attuned to the business environment, drawing on the definitions of enterprise and entrepreneurship in the recently updated QAA Benchmark Statement (2018).  The paper also highlights the role that reflection can play in supporting students to articulate their skills development and support them to develop metacognition. 

Hall, D.T. (1996): Protean careers of the 21st century. Academy of Management Perspectives 10(4) pp. 8-16  

Hall, D.T. (2004): The protean career: A quarter-century journey. Journal of vocational Behaviour 65(1) pp. 1-13 

Hall (1996) developed the notion of the Protean Careerist in acknowledgement of an increasingly complex and turbulent business environment where the traditional contract where an employee entered a firm, worked hard and was guaranteed security has been replaced by one of continuous learning and identity change on the part of the individual.  In 2004 Hall provided an update on the research into this concept to see how it as played out in developed economies and suggests a set of questions that individuals can use to see how competent they are in this area: 

• Have I been undertaking varied projects and assignments over the last few years?

• Do I have a network of relationships that both challenge me and support my growth? 

• Have I been consciously seeking learning opportunities? 

• Have I been engaging in personal reflection processes (through a journal, a learning log, a diary)? 

Overall, Hall argues for the importance of continual learning and development on the part of the individual in order to navigate a complex and uncertain labour market and in order to manage likely multiple career transitions. 

Rae, D. (2007): Connecting enterprise and graduate employability: Challenges to the higher education culture and curriculum?  Education + Training 49 (8/9) pp.605-619 

This paper highlights that enterprising students are regarded as more employable and argues that enterprise skills are the outcome of enterprising learning and that graduates can use enterprising approaches to create career opportunities.  In order to encourage students to act in enterprising ways the author argues that enterprise needs to be taken out of the domain of business and economics departments and applied in all disciplinary contexts. 

Templer, A.J. and Cawsey, T.F. (1999): Rethinking career development in an era of portfolio careers. Career development international, 4(2), pp.70-76 

This paper argues that that nature of work and employment have changed and as a result we need to redefine the concept of career development.  The authors cite multiple examples of the changing nature of work and employment including the rise of self-employment, part-time and temporary work and the rise of the portfolio career; a situation where an individual holds multiple jobs simultaneously.  They also discuss some of the implications for both individuals and organisations including the need for individuals to have career management skills in order to manage such situations. 

De Vos, A. and Soens, N. (2008): Protean attitude and career success: The mediating role of self-management. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73(3), pp.449-456 

This study of employees examined the influence of protean career attitude on career success.  A protean career attitude is characterised by career self-management on the part of the individual, including the setting of goals and working towards them independently.  The authors conclude that a protean attitude has a positive influence on career success and the development of career insight among the individuals studied.