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A HUB OF RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE
Gabi Binnie, AGCAS Policy and Research Manager, provides an overview of the AGCAS Research and Knowledge Committee and how the work of the committee supports AGCAS members to embed research into their practice.
The AGCAS Research and Knowledge Committee is a dedicated group of AGCAS members who are passionate about championing careers and employability research. Members have a broad range of roles and research interests, enabling the committee to identify emerging issues, ideas and gaps in careers and employability research. The committee helps to identify research projects and collaborations that are of the most value to the AGCAS community and lend a critical eye on research projects to ensure that central AGCAS research is robust and of high quality. Recently, the committee has supported a number of central and task group-led research projects, including: research commissioned by Universities UK International on supporting international students; a HEPI report exploring the policy focus on graduate employment; and a survey by the AGCAS Employer Engagement Task Group exploring the effectiveness of employer engagement activities for universities and employers.
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MAKING RESEARCH ACCESSIBLE The committee plays a critical role in helping AGCAS members and groups to develop and manage their own research projects with AGCAS support. Through the research review process, any AGCAS member or group can submit a research proposal and tap into the committee’s expertise to gain feedback and guidance. We hope that through this collaborative process we can help any AGCAS member, particularly those new to research, to have the confidence to research topics that are important to them, the careers profession and wider society.
FROM RESEARCH TO PRACTICE The committee also acts as a conduit to disseminate knowledge and encourage it to be utilised by AGCAS members in their everyday practice. One of the ways that the committee showcases research is through the Research and Knowledge Hub, which is a repository for articles, research and resources in the field of careers and employability. Any AGCAS member can contribute to the Hub, provided that their submission is researchbased (i.e. based on observation or data rather than opinion). The committee is keen to convey that it is not just academics or practitioner researchers who have valuable research to contribute. As a result, we welcome a wide range of submission types from published journal articles to unpublished dissertations/theses, case studies and media articles.
RESPONDING TO A CRISIS The Research and Knowledge Hub was originally intended to launch in time for AGCAS’s Annual Conference in June 2020. However, when the Covid-19 crisis hit, the committee recognised the value of utilising the resource to collect research that will help inform members’ practice during this period. The committee put out a call to action early in April 2020 and we have already received submissions on a huge range of topics, from careers in times of uncertainty to virtual careers service delivery.
IMPACT AND INFLUENCE Whilst it is difficult to estimate what will happen as a result of the current global crisis, there is a lot that can be learned from previous recessions and periods of uncertainty. The committee hope that the Hub will provide AGCAS members with empirical data and insights to help them to respond as best they can.
Looking ahead, we hope that more careers and employability professionals see the benefit of using research findings in their work and have the confidence to undertake research projects of their own. It is through these mechanisms, and by drawing on the expertise of the committee, that we will achieve our vision for AGCAS to be recognized as the experts in higher education student career development and graduate employment. In turn, we can grow our abilities to influence policy at a national level to support the best possible career outcomes from higher education for individuals, institutions, society and the economy. This is crucial during economic uncertainty to ensure that any impact on students and graduates is recognised and remedial action put in place to support them.
