CDI National Conference 2024: Keynote speakers
Day one
Keynote 1: The career priorities of a Labour government - Jane Hubbuck, Deputy Director, Careers, Department for Education
About the speaker: Jane is the Deputy Director for Careers, within the Department for Education. She is a long standing civil servant having worked across many policy areas within government. She has worked on policies which include adoption, child sexual exploitation, the skills requirements for London 2012, the children’s social care innovation fund, FE teacher workforce. Jane has worked on careers for over four years and leads a multidisciplinary team which includes policy, professional careers advisers, communications and digital specialists. Prior to joining central government Jane worked for a local education authority.
Session information: Jane’s keynote will cover policy priorities for careers under the new government, including next steps on the careers commitments in the Labour manifesto.
Keynote 2: Breaking down barriers to opportunity - ensuring young people leave school ready to keep developing skills. How do we encourage more adults to undertake lifelong learning. Tristram Hooley, Professor of Career Education, University of Derby
About the speaker: Tristram Hooley is a researcher and writer specialising in career and career guidance. He holds Professorial roles at the University of Derby, Canterbury Christ Church University and the Inland Norway University. He is the author of 11 books and over a 100 articles, papers and book chapters. His work focuses on the intersection between career, education, politics and technology and he is strongly committed to social justice. Ultimately he believes that the world should be a better place than it is and hopes that career guidance can play a role in moving it in a positive direction. He also writes the Adventures in Career Development blog at https://adventuresincareerdevelopment.wordpress.com/
Session information: This keynote will look at the obstacles that stand in people's way as they try to develop their careers. Whether it is issues of confidence, a lack of connections or a recognition of major societal level inequalities, career guidance can help people to understand and navigate these challenges. Such an approach requires us to think differently about what career guidance is and how it can best be delivered. It also asks us to think bigger, much bigger. For too long career guidance has been a marginal activity which has eked out its existence with poor funding and limited respect. With the election of a new government promising to transform Britain, it is time to place career guidance much more centrally. As the new government makes reforms in the education system and in the labour market, we need to be assertive and place ourselves at the centre of these things. Career guidance opens minds, it brings people together and it opens opportunities. But, these things can only happen if we are funded properly and our professionalism is supported. This is the task at hand…
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Day two
Keynote 1: Valuing Careers: Gaining respect for the profession - Pete Robertson, President of the CDI
About the speaker: Pete trained to be a career adviser at Bristol Polytechnic in 1987. He worked as a career adviser in Hertfordshire and North London, and specialized in supporting young people with disabilities and learning difficulties. After studying occupational psychology at the University of East London, he became a training manager in a career service company. He moved to Scotland to work for Edinburgh Napier University in 2001. His current role as a professor involves lecturing in career guidance and related research activities. He is the current President of the CDI, and a Fellow of NICEC.
Session information: Valuing Careers: Gaining respect for the profession. Many career development practitioners are concerned about how others see us. This relates to the public image of the profession - a disappointing lack of awareness of who we are, what we do, and some misplaced stereotypes of careers advice. It also relates to the level of understanding that policymakers and funding bodies have of the potential for career services to contribute to the policy goals. This presentation will suggest that this is a complex problem requiring a long term and strategic response from the profession. If we want others to change their behaviour towards us, we must first begin to change our own approach.
Keynote 2: Unlocking the secrets to becoming a successful career development practitioner - Gill Frigerio, Associate Professor, University of Warwick
About the speaker: Dr Gill Frigerio leads the career development and coaching professional programmes at the University of Warwick. She enjoys supporting practitioner researchers in projects that make a difference to career development practice as well as teaching (and learning) about calling, meaningful work and sustainability in careers, women’s working lives and faith and career. She is chair of NICEC, the learned society for serious thinking about career development, and co-author of the Career Development Handbook. She welcomes connections across the career development world via LinkedIn.
Session information: Unlocking the secrets to becoming a successful career development practitioner. Based on the recently published CDI/Trotman title 'The Career Development Handbook', Gill will suggest what makes for successful practitioners, whilst encouraging us to think creatively about success and ask ourselves why its a secret. Lets let the 'cat out of the bag', as the saying goes, as part of Valuing Careers.