New Research Highlights Long-Term Career Benefits of Gaelic Medium Education

The initial findings of our landmark research project exploring the career advantages of Gaelic Medium Education (GME) will be presented for the first time at the Rannsachadh na Gàidhlig conference this week.

The project, led by myself and Ann Morrison, and titled Gaelic Medium Education: A career advantage for school leavers in Scotland?, investigates what senior phase pupils perceive as the added value of Gaelic and how equipped they are to capitalise on these advantages. The study also surveyed young adults aged 17–25 who had been through GME, to explore its relevance to their career outcomes.

Independently funded by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, the research reveals that immersive Gaelic education delivers positive, long-term impacts.

Key Findings

  • Career advantages: Young people believe GME provides clear, tangible benefits that enhance employability, career opportunities and overall wellbeing
  • Impact: Benefits were recorded across multiple life stages: during school, post-school, and into early career pathways
  • Practical support: While pupils appreciate the intrinsic value of Gaelic fluency, research shows they could be better equipped and supported to fully leverage these skills in the labour market.

Summary quote

"Gaelic medium education appears to offer career benefits, particularly in enhancing early career decisions and employability. However, there is a clear need for enhanced, Gaelic-specific career resources to help pupils take full advantage of these opportunities."

Engaging with young people in Gaelic Medium Education

The study collected both qualitative and quantitative data across Scotland. Focus groups were conducted across 8 local authorities with 114 senior phase (S4–S6) pupils. All participants had been in GME from primary through secondary school and were fluent Gaelic speakers. The focus groups were led by a native Gaelic speaking researcher. In parallel a survey gathered detailed responses from GME school leavers aged 17–25 to assess the initial post-school career impact.

Implications

The project provides actionable recommendations for policymakers, educators, and career guidance organisations. At the upcoming conference presentation, the research will be presented alongside 2 other projects exploring topics relating to secondary GME.


Rannsachadh na Gàidhlig logo


Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for posting a comment. I moderate comments to avoid spam so there may be a delay in your comment appearing.

Popular posts from this blog

Why would someone choose to be a careers adviser?

One of the modules I’m teaching this trimester at UWS is Career Development Theory, examining the theories that explain how and why people make career decisions. A career decision I often wonder about is “Why would someone choose to be a careers adviser?” I’m not being flippant; I see few reasons why the media representation of the role would influence anyone to become one. From the outside, it’s not a job that gets good press. There is a heck of a lot of bad-mouthing of the careers profession and its purpose, the occasional high-profile media story (nobody mention  Mary Poppins ) and then there’s the section in every celebrity life story ever: “They told me to/not to do it, the clueless adviser, and they were so, so wrong.” We know that high profile TV programmes boost the profile of certain careers.  CSI  led to a raft of wannabe forensic scientists.  Call the Midwife  and  One Born Every Minute  respectively give young people a dramatised and f...
Read more

Veilederforum, Guest Editor

I have again been working closely with colleagues in Norway, delivering training and recording resources and a podcast for the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills. The resources and podcast will be published later in 2023. I am also the current guest editor for Veilederforum , for whom I have been commissioning new articles by experts in career guidance and development. Two articles have been published to date (at the end of the articles linked below, you will find a link to the English language translation).  Dr Laura Lebec and Dr Louise Ritchie: Career guidance through the lifespan: Working with clients with dementia Gill Frigerio: Practitioner Wellbeing Two further articles are forthcoming, a piece focusing on career guidance work with refugees/asylum seekers and migrants, authored by Dr Deirdre Hughes & Prof. Füsun Akkök, and another on client mental health wellbeing authored by Dr Deirdre Hughes, Chris Percy & Liane Hambly.   I will be writi...
Read more

No toddler-juggling allowed: university library access for student-parents

In early November 2014, I attempted to visit the library of a Scottish university with my 11 month old son. I was told by a security guard at the gate that due to the library’s rules on children I couldn’t access any area other than the ground floor, where there were only student access PCs and some study desks. There was no mention that during staffed hours a member of staff could retrieve materials for me to use on the ground floor (which in the process of collecting information for this extended blog post I discovered may be the case). So for starters, there was possibly an internal communications issue, but I want to put that aside for the moment and unpick the entire matter of library access for student-parents. This issue was highlighted in the Nuffield Foundation’s research (2012) into student-parent support within in English higher education institutions which concluded: …students with children are not getting the support they need to succeed in higher education. Whil...
Read more