Dr Emma Bolger

As part of the 16 Days of Action activities at the University of the West of Scotland, I will be presenting a free workshop for career development practitioners on domestic abuse, career guidance and career decision-making. Time and date: 10am, Monday 6th December. Register here to attend:  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/domestic-abuse-and-career-guidance-practice-tickets-215592491947  

Today Uuganaa Ramsey and I appeared on the WeAreCareers show with Chris and Sabiha, to discuss the impact of unconscious bias on our work as careers professionals, how we can challenge common misconceptions about unconscious bias and what we can do as professionals to facilitate conversations in this space and increase representation within our sector. If you missed us live, you can watch on-demand here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKjsRS9GhWk

Today marks the publication date of the article below. In the last week we've also learned that we've been awarded funding from the Alzheimer's Society for a major project into developing a career guidance intervention for people with dementia.  Bolger, E., Egdell, V. and Ritchie, L. (2021) Dementia in the workplace: the implications for career development practice . British Journal of Guidance and Counselling. doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2021.1902471

On Friday 26th February 2021, I will be presenting at the CDI/SDS/Napier/UWS CPD Conference Scotland 2021, on Family Background and Career Decision-Making, with my collaborator from Germany, Jens Boernemeyer. 

A very well spent day today, (virtually) attending the national Career Development Researcher Conference, organised by the CDI, AGCAS and iCeGs. Excellent speakers, some of whom have inspired and supported my own research over the years. I presented as part of the UK panel, sharing my own insights on ethics in CIAG practitioner-led research. I'll be sharing an extended version of my presentation in a few weeks, when I have a bit more time on my hands!

A new article written by Uuganaa Ramsay and I is available in this month's issue of the Career Development Institute publication, Career Matters.  Uuganna is the founding trustee of the Mongol Identity , and recently appeared on BBC Radio Scotland talking about her work, which you can listen again to here . In our article we discuss the limitations of unconscious bias training, how career development professionals can actively mitigate their own biases in their work and practical positive action approaches that can be taken to address racial stereotyping and oppression. Our article can be viewed online here .