Public Seminar 'European research; a personal employment odyssey'

Tuesday 3 March 2009, 1:00-2:00pm
at Room 212, Level 2, 234 Queensberry Street, The University of Melbourne
A Spinelli Lecture

presented by

Prof Richard Pearson

(Visiting Professor at the University of Sussex’s Centre for Migration Research, and at the Centre for Labour Market Studies at the University of Leicester, and formerly Director of the Institute for Employment Studies (IES))

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Abstract

All developed societies and economies seek to ensure that they have effectively skilled, developed and productive workforces. To this end they invest heavily in the design of education, training and skill programmes for new and existing workers, they create and often, but not always, evaluate new initiatives to boost skills and productivity, and most seek to learn from the experiences of other economies and societies. In this seminar Richard will draw on over 30 years experience to discuss the nature of research and how it fits in to the policy making process. Drawing off practical, employment related research and policy issues, he will also focus on some of the issues relating to conducting comparative research within, across and outside of the European Union. He will conclude by drawing out some lessons for those interested in following a career in research.

Bio

Richard has over 30 years research and consultancy experience relating to the labour market and international mobility. He has worked for the EC, OECD, government departments and major corporations. He was Director of the independent Institute for Employment Studies (IES), the UK’s leading independent centre for employment research and consultancy form 1992-2004 and is now an independent consultant. He is also Research Director at the Employability Forum, which supports and monitors the integration of refugees in to employment; a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Migration Research at the University of Sussex, and at the Centre for Labour Market Studies at the University of Leicester, and also a member of the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) which sets the salaries of senior public sector figures and parliament in the UK. He has published widely and spoken at numerous conferences and corporate events, and for 10 years he wrote a monthly column for Nature, the international scientific journal.

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