Dr Emma Bolger

We are now halfway through our month of data collection for our major project exploring the career planning and career outcomes of Gaelic medium education (GME) pupils in Scotland ( https://linktr.ee/gmecareers ). This article is an update for stakeholders and wider interested parties on the fieldwork so far. If the project is new to you, here is a quick summary: the purpose of the study is to explore the benefit of Gaelic medium education for young people’s careers. We are exploring senior phase (S4-S6) pupils' perceptions of the career benefits of GME and the impact of GME on the early career decisions of GME school leavers aged 17-25.  Our online survey targeted at young adults aged 16-25, who have left GME within the last 8 years, launched on 1st September 2025. Our first respondent was a recent GME leaver, whose Gaelic language skills helped them to secure a highly competitive Modern Apprenticeship, so that was a great start! We took a soft start, by promoting the survey throu...

The final proofs of my forthcoming book have been checked and it has gone to the printers! A few reflections at this point on how it came about, and why. I wrote The Career Professional’s Guide to Research  primarily to encourage career development professionals to engage in practitioner-led research. Through it, I hope to demystify research, and promote how frontline practitioners are uniquely positioned to conduct meaningful, ethical, and impactful research project. In the book, I explore the full research journey; from identifying and justifying a topic thought to data collection, analysis, and dissemination (sharing your work with the right audiences). I cover what makes a good researcher and topic, explore key skills such as qualitative and quantitative methods, and provide practical tools to support you through the planning and delivery of a research project. Throughout the book you will find practitioner quotes and practical templates to support readers’ learning now an...

The website is now live for my project looking into the career outcomes of pupils who have been through Gaelic Medium Education:  https://linktr.ee/GMECareers A press release about the project is available here:  https://www.uws.ac.uk/news/new-study-to-explore-if-gaelic-gives-school-leavers-in-scotland-career-advantage/

I recently contributed a short piece to the current Comann nam Pàrant (Nàiseanta) newsletter, regarding the additional support needs (ASN) in Gaelic Medium Education (GME) group that is now running here in Glasgow. Full text reproduced below. https://www.parant.org.uk/_files/ugd/5dbf25_69f6bd8881da4be5a25ff9e3dfadc75c.pdf An ASN in GME group is now running in Glasgow, which has been set up by, Emma Bolger, in collaboration with Kathryn Farrow, Quality Improvement Officer for Parent Partnerships within Glasgow City Council Education Services. The group is open to children and all parents/carers/children/siblings of children aged 0- P7 who currently attend or are planning to attend GME or Gaelic Early Years provision.  The group runs meet up events where like experienced parents/carers can have a chat and access information, while the children play in a safe, inclusive environment. Glasgow Life playworkers have attended the sessions to support the children, meaning parents are able t...

I had the pleasure of delivering a keynote speech this week, as part of the the Skills Development Scotland / Scottish Graduate School of Social Science collaborative doctoral programme annual networking event.  It is testament to the quality and value of the programme that each year, at a time when many of us in policy, practice and academia are gearing up for a much needed summer break, that we prioritise our attendance at this annual event. We hear from those who have been through the programme, those who lead it, and those who are currently studying.  My slides can be viewed here: Slides

The article below is reproduced from its original publication in the Summer 20025 issue of Dyslexia Voice, published by Dyslexia Scotland Our son, Fiachra, has autism (diagnosed age 10) and dyslexia (identified age 11). Our journey to identifying our child as having dyslexia highlights the challenges that co-occurring conditions can play in the identification journey. Fiachra had early challenges in relation to speech and language, but our concerns were dismissed. Challenges became more apparent during the Covid-19 lockdown. I think this is when many of us realised that there was something “going on” with our neurodiverse children, in the sense of feeling alienated when parents referred to home learning as “difficult,” listed their reward strategies, shared their tactics. For us it wasn’t difficult, it was impossible. We are parents not schoolteachers, and certainly not teachers with specialist training in supporting neurodiverse children. Fiachra was in P2 when lockdown commence...

Full text below of my guest blog post that appeared in today's #TheWeekInCareers on one of my favourite topics, the gender balance within the career development sector. #TheWeekInCareers:  Episode 106 Link *** “It has only crossed my mind when you’ve pointed it out. I’ve never really associated it as a sort of woman’s role.” These are the words of a CIAG Modern Apprentice I interviewed a few years ago as part of my PhD. As career professionals we are all familiar with concepts of occupational segregation and gender balance, or lack thereof, across employment roles and sectors. I am concerned about the presence of occupational segregation within our own field. Diversity matters for our profession. As public facing advisers, we need to reflect the demographics of the public. Ok, so on the occupational segregation front, it’s not as marked in CIAG as other sectors (I’m not going to list them here, we know what they are), but we could do better. However, there are other reasons w...