Dr Emma Bolger

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a proper blog post, so here I am, attempting to get back into the swing of it. There’s a simple reason why I have the headspace and time to do so: I had a baby at the start of June. That’s probably not what you’d expect to come at the end of that sentence. Maternity leave is meant to be all about sleepless nights, being covered in milk/wee/poop, fighting extreme tiredness, trying to entertain a baby, right? Yes, there has been a lot of washing, nappy changing, wondering when I last ate or showered or managed to leave the house in less than an hour. But it’s also been a welcome break from the demands of my work, which had pretty much overtaken my life for the last 3+ years, in every moment when I wasn’t also co-parenting a lively toddler who turned into an even livelier pre-schooler. There is nothing like an enforced period of total confinement, of being “tied down” to a new baby who needs you 100% of the time, to force you to reset. Not ...

I am currently running a survey of Modern Apprentices (MAs) in Scotland as part of my PhD research. The survey is about the personal and family background of apprentices, and I am researching how and why people make the career decision to become an apprentice.  If you are an MA, know an MA or manage / train MAs, please ask them to complete my survey! Anyone completing the survey has the chance of winning one of 5 x £20 gift vouchers.  The link to the survey is:  https://hw.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/ma-background-survey-june-2018 

I made a trip onto campus today to visit the office, with the baby in tow. It was lovely to brighten up people’s days with a happy 12 week old over lunchtime! While I was also able to download 3 months’ worth of Windows updates in advance of actually being able to do anything at my desk from next week it also reminded me of how important keep in touch (“KIT”) days are to employees on maternity, paternity, shared parental and parental leave. I may have “only” taken 12 weeks off and remain aware of key things happening in relation to my work (not least with some time put towards my PhD when it’s been possible around a newborn) but it is only natural for anyone to have some back to work anxiety after a period of parental leave. I’ve often heard of KIT days being little more than people being required to “put a shift in” at work. They are however much more than that, and for me, my trip in today was a reminder that both work and me are fundamentally the same after a summer of big ...

I have two poster presentations coming up at conferences this autumn: Addressing under-representation in our sector  Network for Innovation in Career Guidance and Counselling in Europe, Academy Conference  (September 2018) Addressing gendered career decision-making: adapting career guidance and counselling practice to the contemporary family structure  International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance Conference (October 2018) Due to my return from maternity leave and having a small, still nursing baby, I will be unable to attend in person, however will have a representative beside my poster at these conferences.  Copies of the posters will be uploaded here afterwards.