IER News & blogs
Erika Kispeter presented to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on digital skills and work
Erika Kispeter was invited to present research on workforce digital skills to the on 26th April. The virtual meeting focused on the topic of 鈥�Digital skills and work: The role of national government鈥�.
Drawing from the evidence review on current and future digital skills needs of the UK economy she had conducted with Sally-Anne Barnes, as well as from other relevant projects, in particular, Beyond 4.0, and One by One, Erika spoke to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Digital Skills on Tuesday about the challenges public policy makers face and the need for a design framework when planning public policy for digital skills provision.
Your chance to inform UK Government research and innovation policies and funding decisions
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has launched the first government survey of the UK-wide research and innovation workforce.
We ask anyone in the diverse occupations that are vital to innovation and research in the UK to complete it to offer better data for policy decisions that impact this whole workforce.
Find out more about the short survey and complete it online .
Commission on Social Security published its Plan
Since 2018 the has been working on a plan for a decent social security system in the UK. The Commission has adopted a consensus building and participatory model and its work was supported by four secretariat members, including IER's Michael Orton.
The Commission has recently published its Plan calling for major changes, for example, replacing Universal Credit with a 鈥楪uaranteed Decent Income鈥� for all and the introduction of a new disability benefit. The Plan is available in a written and an audio version and it is accompanied by a and a , that contain further details and the statistical modelling of the impact of the Commission鈥檚 proposals.
Event: Graduate careers and Covid-19 - winners and losers

Speakers: Professors Kate Purcell and Peter Elias, CBE, Gaby Atfield and Dr Erika Kispeter
Date and time: 1.00 pm - 3.30 pm, Thursday, 10 March, 2022. Lunch will be provided for those attending in person, with the online event starting at 1.30 pm
Venue: Wolfson Research Exchange, Warwick University Library/Zoom
Please register on Eventbrite: or .
Professor Chris Warhurst on BBC Radio 4
Chris Warhurst talked about the social construction of skilled and unskilled work on BBC Radio 4's Thinking Allowed programme with presenter Laurie Taylor and fellow guest, Natasha Iskander of New York University.
Chris argues that skilled and unskilled work are not objective categories, rather, skill has 鈥榓 complex history鈥�, one which has 鈥榝avoured male workers鈥�. Listen to the programme aired on 2 February 2022 on the .
Further reading: Warhurst, C., Tilly, C. and Gatta, M. (2017) 'A New Social Construction of Skill' in Buchanan, J., Finegold, D., Mayhew, K. and Warhurst, C. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Skills and Training. Oxford University Press.