Transcript LSIS BME Research Dissemination Event

LSIS BME Research
Dissemination Event
Exploring the barriers and issues facing
BME young people within Newcastle,
that affects their participation in Work
Based Learning.
Background
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Around 3% BME participation in
Apprenticeships
15% of school leavers (2009) BME
Large number of BME young people in
the ‘Not Known group’
Projections
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Since 2006, the proportion of BME children
has risen from 14.7% to 20.3% and the
proportion of EAL children has risen from
12.7% to 17%. If this pattern continues, a
quarter of children in Newcastle schools will
be from BME backgrounds by 2020.
Projections indicate that the cohort will be
smaller but the BME proportion will increase
Methodology
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Completion of individual questionnaires.
Interviews with key workers within BME
community groups.
Interviews with young people
Findings
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Education Is important to Asian parents
90% of the young people we spoke to
had wanted to go into further education
either at college or school
Reasons for change of direction
‘Didn’t get grades’
‘Didn’t have course I wanted’
‘None of my friends were going’
Findings (2)
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50% of the young people we spoke to
have not used Connexions or any other
support agency
25% of those who did were not
satisfied
All of the young people we spoke to
would seek IAG from friends and family
Findings (3)
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The data depends on how a young person views
themselves and not necessarily what they are.
Providers have reported that young people who are
Black/Asian have ticked the ‘British’ box
African,
Any Other Asian Background,
Any Other Black Background,
Any Other Ethnic Group,
Any Other Mixed Background,
Any Other
White Background,
Bangladeshi,
British,
Chinese, Indian,
Information Not Obtained,
Irish,
Pakistani, Refused, White And
Asian, White And Black African,
White And Black Caribbean (17 categories)
While I do not think that this would make a huge
difference to the numbers reported in
Apprenticeships it may show a different picture.
Findings (4)
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“It’s a generational thing”
Young people who had just come into the country
had to learn the language which held them back and
in some cases were too old for apprenticeships by
the time they were able to make decisions
1st generation were still greatly influenced by
parents, who may not speak English or have
integrated into the local area networks. It was also
an issue round the importance of education as
opposed to training for these parents
Findings (5)
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“Go away and find an employer”
Some providers require the young
people to find their own employer this
is particularly difficult for young people
from ethnic minorities as they do not
have the networks, confidence or in
some cases language skills to do this
Findings (6)
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“I need too many days off for Holy days “
10% of the young people we spoke to
indicated that their parents expected them to
attend religious celebrations both here and
abroad and they believed that employers
would not allow this. This was not tested by
any of the young people.
Findings (7)
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“I was surrounded by white faces”
Young BME people who have tried WBL report the feeling of
isolation. This is supported by feedback from the young people
and their advisors. Some young people have reported that they
felt intimidated when attending training providers and
consequently dropped out.
Within Newcastle training providers there is less than 3% of the
workforce from the BME community and this is mainly in
support positions. The charity/voluntary sector providers have
BME representation within other aspects of their provision but
not mainstream Work Based learning
Findings (8)
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Marketing material
The most popular were the ones that had
more visual images rather than narrative.
The young people thought there would be no
benefit to marketing material in other
languages
Of the providers marketing material they
looked at NACRO and TTS was the most
popular.
Conclusions (1)
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The BME community in Newcastle is in itself
very diverse and until we understand this we
are only going to scratch the surface. The
communities tend to be exclusive even within
geographical areas.
It is very difficult to complete this research
without appearing to criticise the existing
support available. Most of the young people
we spoke to did not have positive experiences
of school and were disengaged before they
left. This was supported by the advisors.
Conclusions (2)
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50% of the young people had not used
Connexions 25% had but were not happy
with advise given. All of the young people we
spoke to depended on and acted on advice
given to them by people within their own
communities. This information was not
always accurate.
Although these issues are important they are
beyond the scope of this research and cannot
be addressed by one sector or organisation
The Way forward
WBL providers (1)
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We need to be more effective in our
promotion with an emphasis on the learning
rather than assessment. Education is vital to
most of the BME groups in Newcastle
We need to work with partners to support
young people in their decision making.
Further developing the relationship with the
14 – 19 partnership and IAG sub group
The Way forward
WBL providers (2)
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WE need to review our recruitment
processes. As part of our PRD activity we
need to review existing practice and develop
a strategy to increase the number of BME
trainers and assessors.
WE must develop a mentoring programme
ensuring that new entrants do not feel
intimidated and young people on programme
become ‘good’ role models.
The Way forward
WBL providers (3)
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We must work with the local employers to
encourage them to offer training, promoting
the benefits of apprenticeships to non
traditional users of funded programmes.
Work with local communities, schools and
Connexions to promote the offer. We must
ensure that we keep Connexions staff and the
schools up to date with changes within our
Sector to ensure that the IAG they give is
accurate and current
The Way Forward
Newcastle UXL
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Diversity In Apprenticeship Funding
Thank you
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The young people who completed the questionnaires and shared their
thoughts with us
Angelou Centre
Unity Programme
Vin Kapour (Scotswood Area), who works with young males aged 12 19 and John Percival from Changemakers. They were very supportive
and arranged to bring a group of young men to NACRO to complete a
questionnaire and be interviewed.
Connexions staff for their experience and also supplying us with data
14 – 19 partnership for the ongoing support
Arvind Sharma our critical friend who has been very supportive
Rathbone for sharing their experiences gained through their Outreach
programme
LSIS for their financial support to complete this research
And to you for listening to me