Dr Emma Bolger

On Wednesday 25 th April 2018, Marjorie McCrory and I delivered a paper presentation at the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) Conference Scotland. The slides for Professional Education in Career Guidance and Development: placing equality and diversity activity at the forefront of curriculum design and programme delivery are available on the ECU website at:  https://www.ecu.ac.uk/events/innovation-change-impact-scotlands-conference-2018/ Photos from the day to follow...

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

The annual U niversity of the West of Scotland (UWS), Edinburgh Napier University and Skills Development Scotland Career Guidance Research Symposium  was held yesterday, 15th March 2017, at UWS in Paisley.  The theme of the symposium was equality and inclusion in career guidance and development, with the title:  Supporting Inclusive Professional Practice Through Research My Keynote speech will be available here in due course. In the meantime, here is a news story about the event from Skills Development Scotland and a couple of photos from the day.  Selected Speakers (L-R):  Dr. Pete Robertson (Napier)  , Susan Meldrum (Napier),  Emma Bolger (UWS),   Dr. Marjorie McCrory (UWS), Professor Chik Collins (UWS), Leann Kelly (UWS/SAMH) Emma Bolger, Keynote Speech

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...