News and Blog

Job quality is worse for teachers who are expecting an Ofsted inspection, report finds

Teachers in England who are expecting an Ofsted inspection in the coming 12 months have worse job quality and a higher work intensity, according to a report. The study from academics at Cardiff University and University College London (UCL) also showed that the conditions for teaching professionals have barely changed since the pandemic and have,…

The UK Strike Wave: ‘the genie is out of the bottle’?

2023 brought a new wave of strikes following six months of increasing industrial action across the country. More and more workers, including those in key public sector roles, voted for industrial action often with huge majorities and mostly comfortably clearing the high ballot turnout threshold imposed by government legislation aimed at making strikes more difficult….

Is job quality better or worse after the pandemic?

In a new, open access paper, Rhys Davies and Professor Alan Felstead share insights from quiz data collected before and after Covid-19 to examine what short-term effects the pandemic has had on job quality in the UK. The results show that non-pay-related job quality has improved, differences between occupations have shrunk and the growth of…

Dr Dan Evans launches new book ‘A Nation of Shopkeepers’ at Waterstones, Cardiff

On Wednesday 12 April, Dr Dan Evans will be launching his new book: ‘A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Unstoppable Rise of the Petty Bourgeoisie’ at Waterstones, Cardiff. Dan will be in the store discussing his book, which will be available to purchase on the day. Tickets for the book launch are available on the Waterstones website….

WISERD researchers present findings on teachers’ job quality

Katy Huxley, Alan Felstead (WISERD) and Francis Green (UCL) presented the first results of their research on the changing job quality of teachers to a fringe event at the National Education Union (NEU) annual conference in Harrogate today (3 April 2023). The evidence is based on a research project carried out by WISERD at Cardiff…

New research examines effectiveness of careers guidance and how it is prioritised

New research carried out by ADR Wales has examined the effectiveness of careers guidance in supporting participation in post compulsory education and training and how careers guidance is prioritised. The work, which was undertaken by ADR Wales researchers Dr Katy Huxley and Rhys Davies, used anonymised Careers Wales data to examine how the provision of careers support to key stage…

The ongoing impact of gender pay gap transparency legislation

Since April 2017, UK employers with over 250 employees have been required to annually report their gender pay gap to the public. The introduction of pay transparency legislation is undoubtably one of the most significant policy developments aimed at tackling the gender pay gap worldwide. The original publication comprised 10,000 organisational gender pay gaps, attracting…

Effect of Economic Turbulence on the Experience of Work to be Investigated in Study

The experiences of workers will be investigated as part of a major survey led by Cardiff University and funded mainly by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The Skills and Employment Survey 2023 (SES2023), which also involves researchers at UCL, the Universities of Oxford and Surrey and the National Centre for Social Research, will…