- Jul 2, 2017
- 5 min
Talking Careers in the Faroe Islands
A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to deliver a keynote speech at a conference on careers guidance policy and practice which took place the Faroe Islands. The conference was titled ”Vegleiðing – nær og fjar” and it was supported by the Nordiskt nätverk för vuxnas lärande (NVL). You can see full details of the conference including copies of the presentations on the NVL website. I took the family too and we made a bit of a holiday out of it – and what a fantastic time we
0 views0 comments
- Feb 25, 2017
- 3 min
Nordic Egalitarianism….?
I’ve just been reading a paper by Agnete Wiborg (2001) about the experience of students from rural Norway in their transition to higher education. A recurrent theme in the paper is about the egalitarian nature of Norwegian society and how this is a challenge for students who progress to higher education, because they feel that they have very little in common with those they leave behind, but find it difficult to talk in terms of these social differences – becoming as a result
0 views0 comments
- May 12, 2016
- 3 min
Migration, education and employment: socio-cultural factors in shaping individual decisions in Orkne
So, my latest paper has just been published in the Island Studies Journal. The paper is titled: Migration, education and employment: socio-cultural factors in shaping individual decisions and economic outcomes in Orkney and Shetland. The paper unpacks some of the theoretical background to my research and discusses some of the initial findings from the first interviews in the project. I have summarised some of the key points from my paper below. Front cover of the Island Studi
0 views0 comments
- Mar 12, 2016
- 5 min
The Outrun – one experience of growing up in, leaving and returning to Orkney
I have just read “The Outrun” by Amy Liptrot, and what a great read it was! Amy’s book is an autobiographical account of returning to Orkney from London and her struggle with alcohol addiction. Returning to Orkney, Amy reflects on her upbringing (on a sheep farm in the West Mainland), her drive to leave the islands as a teenager, and her return to the islands, newly sober. Trying to make sense of these movements, Amy’s book is a fascinating read for people interested in the e
0 views0 comments
- Dec 4, 2015
- 6 min
Young People’s Attitudes and Aspirations in the Islands
So, over the last couple of months Highlands and Islands Enterprise have been publishing a range of reports on the attitudes and aspirations of young people in the Highlands and Islands. The research consisted of a survey of young people (aged 15-30), some online focus groups and consultations with a range of stakeholders (I’m rather proud to be named as one of the consulted stakeholders!). As well as a general report on aspirations and attitudes in the Highlands and Islands,
0 views0 comments
- Nov 13, 2015
- 2 min
Stats busting: the Higher Education experiences of students from Orkney and Shetland
So, as part of my PhD I have been looking at the destinations of higher education graduates who were originally based in Orkney and Shetland. I have looked at data collected as part of the annual Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey over a five year period and some initial observations were published recently in the latest Graduate Market Trends. Basically I make several observations: In terms of which Higher Education Institutions students are graduatin
0 views0 comments
- Oct 13, 2015
- 2 min
Cross-cultural research: careers in island communities
Sultana’s report “Challenges for Career Guidance in Small States” In my last blog I was discussing how being at the ECADOC summer school got me thinking about the potential for collaborative research looking at cultural differences in the impact of rurality on career development. In this blog I want to consider what this research might look like…. So, during the ECADOC week one of the keynote speeches was from Ronald Sultana who talked about his experience of doing research i
0 views0 comments
- Sep 30, 2015
- 2 min
Rasing children: Islands are best!
So, readers of this blog may have noticed something of a hiatus over the last few months….. What is the reason for this? There’s a clue in the picture below… The strange thing is that while I’ve been on blog-break, a news story broke about how the islands of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles are the best places to bring up children (isn’t that strange timing?!). The rankings were based on the Children’s Quality of Life Survey, where variables covering education, urbanisa
0 views0 comments
- Jul 9, 2015
- 2 min
RETI Conference
Cover of the RETI 2015 conference programme The week before last I was lucky enough to attend the latest RETI conference, being held right here in Orkney (hosted by the Centre for Nordic Studies). RETI stands for Réseau d’Excellence des Territoires Insulaires and is a network of island based universities, of which the University of the Highlands and Islands is one. The conference itself focused on the “Impact of culture heritage on economic development in island destinations”
0 views0 comments
- Apr 20, 2015
- 3 min
Orkney Research in Progress Conference
A couple of weeks ago I went to the Orkney Research in Progress Conference, I meant to blog about it at the time but I’ve only just got to it now! The conference was arranged by Orkney Heritage Society, and included a fantastic range of speakers. My presentation was on the career and migration pathways of students from Orkney and Shetland (no surprise there!) and in the presentation I covered some national trends in entry to Higher Education and destinations from Higher Educa
0 views0 comments
- Apr 10, 2015
- 2 min
Aquapelagos and Island Careers: a case study of Orkney and Shetland
This week I published a paper in Shima: the International Journal of Research into Island Cultures titled “Career Decision making in Island Communities: applying the concept of the Aquapelago to the Shetland and Orkney Islands”. Front Cover of Shima: love the puffins! It reminds me of some great puffin-watching at Sumburgh Head a couple of years ago. In this paper I take Hayward’s concept of the Aquapelago (which I have previously blogged about) and examine how useful it can
0 views0 comments
- Mar 9, 2015
- 2 min
New Research Project on Youth Aspirations and Attitudes in the Highlands and Islands
A new piece of research has just been commissioned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) on the attitudes and aspirations of young people in the Highlands and Islands. According to the researchers the project aims to: ‘capture the aspirations of young people with regard to living and working in the region, and their perceptions of the Highlands and Islands in terms of the opportunities it affords young people’. I’m excited about this project because of the potential it af
0 views0 comments
- Feb 17, 2015
- 1 min
Wanted: Men and / or Engineers….
Wanted: men and engineers. Preferably both! Can you help? Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net I have been doing some initial analysis on the responses to the survey for my PhD. So far I have responses from 71 final year undergraduates from Orkney and Shetland, which I reckon is about half of the total number of eligible students. So that’s not too bad…! Thank you to everyone who has taken part so far… What I did notice, however, is that only 11 men have tak
0 views0 comments
- Nov 15, 2014
- 3 min
Cornwall to Orkney: was it destiny….?!
“Positive image is vital for the West” my prize winning schoolgirl essay published In the Western Morning News, May 24th 1997 Tidying up, I just found an essay I wrote when I was 16 which was published in the Western Morning News after it was placed second in the Western Morning News – South West Enterprise Limited Business Essay competition in 1997. This is the opening of the essay, I think you’ll see why it made me laugh….! “As a whole the Westcountry has a poor economy, ch
0 views0 comments
- Nov 11, 2014
- 1 min
Orkney and Shetland Student Survey is live! Can you help….?
Well, this is exciting. The first stage of my PhD project – a survey of final year undergraduates from Orkney and Shetland has just gone live! Image courtesy of mrpuen at FreeDigitalPhotos.net So, if you lived in Orkney or Shetland before going on to study for a degree, and you are due to graduate in 2015 please do take part! The survey is available online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6XWVS2M Alternatively you can download the Final Research Information Sheet and Survey
0 views0 comments
- Oct 15, 2014
- 2 min
Graduates should be matched to local jobs… just an urban issue?
I just read this article by Times Higher Education: “Graduates should be matched to local jobs says report”. This article refers to the UniverCities report, which looks at how universities can support city growth. Part of the backdrop to the report is the issue of graduate migration after graduation – some graduates will return to their familial homes and others will be drawn to the bright lights of London, which potentially deprives their university towns and cities of the
1 view0 comments
- Jul 21, 2014
- 2 min
Aquapelagos….
So, here’s an interesting idea. Reading about island studies and definitions, I came across the idea of the ‘aquapelago’. This term is used by Hayward (2012) in an article in Shima: The international Journal of Research into Island Cultures’. In his article, Hayward notes that the term ‘archipelago’: ‘has increasingly come to define the land area of a group of islands within a sea’ (p.3). In this definition the sea is simply the boundary that delineates the island. However,
4 views0 comments
- Nov 28, 2013
- 1 min
NICEC article
Well, this is exciting. I have just published my first article about my research! The article appears in the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling journal for October, and covers the main findings of my masters research, as well as offering some suggestions for careers advisers working with clients in rural areas.The link is below if you fancy a read – do let me know what you think… rosie-alexander-nicec-journal-oct2013 #NICEC #CareersAdvice #rural #Alexande
0 views0 comments
- Oct 28, 2013
- 2 min
Orkney school leavers (2010-11) – the impact of gender
The dive into statistics continues…. Today I have been looking at the School Leaver Destinations for Orkney, compiled by Skills Development Scotland. I have been focusing on the 2010-11 cohort, as many of these people will graduate in 2015 and will be part of the sample I interview in the future. Here is what I have found: The percentage of leavers entering higher education was low at 30.5% compared to a national average of 35.8%. The proportion entering further education was
0 views0 comments
- Oct 24, 2013
- 2 min
Unemployed people more likely to hold a degree in areas with low unemployment? Really? That makes Or
So, here’s a weird thing I discovered while browsing the 2001 census data for Scotland (as you do). I knew that Orkney and Shetland had some of the lowest unemployment levels in Scotland, but did you know that the proportion of unemployed people who hold a degree in Orkney and Shetland is among the highest in Scotland? In fact 16.43% of unemployed people in Orkney held a degree (or equivalent qualification) – the third highest rate in Scotland (behind the City of Edinburgh an
0 views0 comments