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Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Education and Industry, University of Warwick

Sue Maguire is a Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Education and Industry (CEI), University of Warwick. Her main area of research is youth transitions, with a particular focus on disadvantaged and disaffected young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) and are faced with diminishing labour market opportunities and increasing employer demand for skills and qualifications. She has conducted research and published widely on the efficacy of measures to address the problems these groups encounter, including the role of intensive personal support, tailored learning and financial incentives.

She has particular expertise in conducting implementation and process studies, as well as evaluating the impact of national policy initiatives, predominantly for government departments and agencies. Recent examples include research on the Raising the Participation Age (RPA) Phase 4 Local Delivery Projects and the evaluation of the Youth Contract for 16 and 17-year olds, both of which were commissioned by the Department for Education and undertaken in collaboration with the Institute for Employment Studies (IES).

Sue has been engaged in policy-related research focusing on education, employment and training since 1988. For example, she directed the longitudinal process evaluation of the Activity and Learning Agreement Pilots, managed the evaluation of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) pilots; and was the consortium manager for the evaluation of the Adult Learning Grant. A key focus of these studies has been on identifying what works, and what does not work, as well as writing policy recommendations based on evidence from a range of national and local stakeholders.

She has also undertaken research funded by the ESRC and The British Academy. This research activity has been highly influential in informing policy making at national and European level. In 2013, she provided written and oral evidence to the House of Lords EU Sub Committee B Inquiry into youth unemployment; was invited by the Deputy Prime Minister to a private seminar to discuss provision for 16-24-year olds and the transition from school to the workplace; attended a meeting at the Cabinet Office, as part of the Government Review of Interventions for 16-24-year olds; and provided expert advice to a roundtable discussion at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) on policy development relating to the national launch of Traineeships.

Previously, she had provided evidence to the House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Select Committee Inquiry into young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) (2010); contributed to an Expert Seminar at BIS on Youth Unemployment (2012); and presented evidence as the representative from the UK, on policy and evaluation design at a Conference for EU Ministers, which was convened in Poland (2011). Sue was a Visiting Research Fellow at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) from 2011 to 2013 and is an Associate Fellow of the ESRC Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE). She was invited by the Policy Network to write a memo style paper entitled 'Responding to the NEET demographic', which was presented at the Policy Network and Global Progress conference in Copenhagen in April 2013.

Before moving into research, Sue was a careers adviser in schools, further and higher education.

Experience

  • –present
    Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Education and Industry, University of Warwick