Dr Emma Bolger

I have recently been reviewing and refreshing my social media and wider online presence. If you aren’t already following my new page on LinkedIn, you can follow Dr Emma Bolger – Careers here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dr-emma-bolger/ I also have a LinkTree where you can find a summary of my work and links to connect to me on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/emmabolger   Connections who work in academia might balk at the idea of having a wider social media presence, but there are some really good reasons for doing so; some are covered in this article from the Open University, The benefits of social media in academia :  https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education-development/learning/the-benefits-social-media-academia Career development professionals who have been my students over the years will also recall my teaching on why your online presence matters! For those who are seeking a recap, you might want to spend some of your CPD time completing the FutureLearn Co...

I have recorded a video presentation that gives an overview of how we deliver the MSc Career Guidance and Development at the University of the West of Scotland. This is adapted from a "Learning and Teaching Dialogue" I delivered for the university previously. You can watch it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqx21kBARhM

Last month, I took my ten month old baby with me to a conference away from home. It's not common to see a baby accompanying a delegate on the academic conference scene and I had quite a few questions and comments whilst at the conference and more since. For those curious as to how it came to happen, here's how (and why) I did it.  " Did you ask if you could bring her?" I had a baby less than a year ago, so she comes with me to a lot of work events. She's been seen regularly throughout this academic year, as I returned to work " early " when she was only 3 months old. For the conference "all" I need to do for explicit practicalities was ask the hosting venue for a travel cot and high chair. There were plenty of other logistical issues to navigate. First of all, I'm not going to suggest bringing your baby with you to a work event is easy or suitable for everyone and every working environment but it has often worked for me and it worke...

I had a perfectly timed academic baby this year: she arrived the first weekend in June, just before the quieter period, where academics with greater teaching responsibilities in the first two trimesters of the academic year get on with ( amongst other tasks ) writing papers and undertaking research. You'd be surprised by how many of us “coincidentally” time things just right when growing a family to keep our academic careers on track, whilst acknowledging that any time out is a risk. I've missed out on a lot of excellent conferences in my field this summer-autumn, including turning down presentation spots that would've been REF-able and good to have on my CV. I'm back at work but attending events away from Scotland is becoming increasingly tricky. I'm not averse to taking one or both children with me, and their dad. Like many academics, a conference trip often becomes an opportunity for a “workcation” for me with the family in tow. Plenty of folk have met my ...

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 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 ...

An abridged audio recording of this keynote speech I delivered at the University of the West of Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University and Skills Development Scotland annual career guidance research symposium in March 2017, is now available on my YouTube channel at:  https://youtu.be/16y40HftwO8

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...

December has been a busy month! I have left my job at Skills Development Scotland as a gender equality adviser and have taken up a new post at the University of the West of Scotland, lecturing in careers guidance. Many careers professionals across the UK and beyond will know that my move to UWS marks the end of an era! It’s quite something to step into the shoes of the two well-know, valued and extremely experienced outgoing members of staff, Graham Allan and Janet Moffett. An online message book has been set up for Graham and Janet, which can be found here: http://farewelljandg.123guestbook.com/ Information on the career guidance and devemopment programmes at UWS can be found here . 

Earlier this year, I became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, having completed an independent research project into my professional practice.  My research project looked at the use of career guidance skills in university teaching.  Enabling people to reach their career potential is the responsibility of everyone involved in education. Post-course employability is at the forefront of my own approach to teaching; working in careers prior to and whilst teaching and bolstered with the postgraduate qualification career guidance and development (and a PhD rooted in career development theory on its way). The (abridged, it was quite long...) research project may be of interest to:  careers researchers, careers professionals,  creative/cultural industry academics, the wider HE community.  I hope it may also be of help to others who have portfolio careers in the creative and/or careers sectors and are considering applying for HEA fellowship. My project is avai...

Delighted to have been been told today that I have been recognised as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy for my research project on creative writing and employability. 

Yesterday I a ttended the official launch and first networking event of The Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences (SGSSS) Collaborative PhD Programme in Glasgow. As a recipient of one of the ESRC co-funded studentships my research into Gender and Modern Apprenticeships will contribute to this knowledge exchange programme between the academic community, policy makers and practitioners, that seeks to understand skills issues from a Scottish perspective. More details on the event and the attendees can be found here . Here I am with my supervisor,  Prof. Mike Danson, demonstrating how much fun doing a PhD can be!