Peter Robertson
Peter Robertson

Prof Peter Robertson

Professor

 0131 455 6288

  P.Robertson@napier.ac.uk

   

Biography

Pete took a degree in psychology at the University of Warwick, and then trained to be a career adviser at Bristol Polytechnic. He worked as a career adviser in Hertfordshire and North London, and specialized in supporting young people with disabilities and learning difficulties. After postgraduate training in occupational psychology at the University of East London, he became a training manager in a career guidance company. He moved to Scotland and joined the University in 2001.

Pete is the leader for the 'Global Online' Postgraduate Certificate in Career Development programme. He also teaches on the Postgraduate Diploma in Career Guidance and Development, which is our UK professional training programme. He leads modules related to career development theory, and policy.

Pete's research interests focus on several related topics:

- the links between careers, health and well-being
- unemployment and mental health
- public policy for career development
- the evaluation of career services and employment services
- the transition to adult life for disadvantaged young people
- the 'Capability Approach' of Amartya Sen
- the effective use of career information

Pete is the President of the Career Development Institute (CDI). He is a Chartered Psychologist, a Fellow of the National Institute for Career and Educational Counselling (NICEC), a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), and a member of the International Association for Educational & Vocational Guidance (IAEVG).

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

News

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Member of Scottish Government Career Strategy Review Group
  • Member of QAA working group to develop the Scottish subject benchmark statement for career guidance and development
  • Member of Scottish Government working group that produced the document: "A qualifications and continuous professional development framework for the career development workforce in Scotland".
  • Member and Co-Chair of the Institute of Career Guidance (ICG) Research Committee

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Host and lead organiser of the Career Development Institute (CDI) Scotland Student Conference: Online and open to practitioners.
  • Host and lead organiser for the Joint Career Guidance Research Symposium (ENU/UWS/SDS) at Edinburgh Napier University.
  • Member of the Scotland Team at the International Centre for Career Development in Public Policy (ICCDPP) international symposium at Tromso, Norway.
  • Chair of the symposium: Application of the Capability Approach to career guidance practice, at the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG) Annual Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden.
  • Host and lead organiser of Career Development Institute (CDI) Scotland Student Conference at Edinburgh Napier University.
  • Host and lead organiser of Career Development Institute (CDI) Scotland Student Conference at Edinburgh Napier University.

 

Editorial Activity

  • Lead Editor for a Special Section in the International Journal of Educational and Vocational Guidance on the Capability Approach to Career Guidance
  • Lead Editor for the Oxford Handbook of Career Development
  • Editor of the Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling
  • Publications Manager for the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling (NICEC)

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External Examiner for the MSc Guidance Counselling and Lifespan Development programme at University of Limerick
  • External Examiner for the postgraduate career development programmes at Canterbury Christ Church University
  • External Examiner for the Postgraduate Diploma in Career Guidance at University of West of England

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
  • Fellow of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling (NICEC)
  • Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (AFBPsS)
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
  • Chartered Psychologist (C.Psychol) - British Psychological Society

 

Invited Speaker

  • Connecting career development and mental health globally, and in your practice. Workshop presently jointly with David Redekopp and Michael Huston at online conference: Quariera - Le rendez-vous des professionnels en employ. Quebec, Canada.
  • Career theory: Online invited talk for postgraduate students and staff at the University of Limerick
  • Connecting career development and mental health for youth in school: Online invited talk, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Canada.
  • 21st Century career theory. Online presentation at the Institute of Work Psychology Conference, University of Sheffield.
  • Trade unions and career services - Potential partners for promoting social justice at work? Online invited talk for NICEC Webinar hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University
  • Should public health be a goal of career guidance policy? Paper presented at the lnternational Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG) Annual Conference, Bratislava.
  • The Capability Approach to Career Guidance. Newcastle: Association of Graduate Career Advisory Services (AGCAS) Research Conference. Repeated at the Career Development Institute Scotland Student Conference in 2020 and 2021.
  • Career development and well-being. Keynote address at the Career Development Institute national conference, Gateshead.
  • Burning down the house: A critique of contemporary career theory. Paper presented at 19th Congress of European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology. Turin.
  • How career decisions are really made. Invited talk for Scotland's Community of Access and Participation Practitioners (SCAPP). Aberdeen.
  • ‘Yer jacket’s on a shoogly peg’: The challenge posed by the gig economy to concepts underpinning career learning. Presentation at International Centre for Career Education and Guidance (iCEGs) conference: ‘Imagining New Perspectives on Work- the role of career development in shaping futures’, University of Derby.
  • Mental health in the transition from youth to adulthood: The contribution of career guidance in promoting well-being. Paper presented at the Joint Career Guidance Research Symposium. Edinburgh Napier University.
  • Positive psychology and career guidance: Are there many roads to career happiness or just one highway? Presentation at the Association of Graduate Career Advisory Services (AGCAS) Scotland Annual Conference, Edinburgh Napier University.
  • Introduction to career counselling: Invited talk to postgraduate psychotherapy/counselling students at Edinburgh University
  • The Capability Approach - from concept to practice. Symposium introduction at the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG) Annual Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden.
  • The service users’ voice in career guidance. Workshop presented at Network for Innovation in Career Guidance and Counselling in Europe (NICE) Academy, Krakov: Jagiellonian University. Repeated at the Career Development Institute Student Conference, Edinburgh Napier University.
  • The Capability Approach as a foundation for a social justice in career development. Presentation at the Network for Innovation in Career Guidance and Counselling in Europe (NICE) conference: ‘Counseling and Support for Decent Work, Equity and Inclusion’, University of Padova, Italy
  • Experiences of disabled job seekers: A qualitative study of the Remploy Work Choices Programme. Edinburgh: Presentation at joint seminar of National Institute for Career Education and Counselling/Edinburgh Napier University Employment Research Institute.
  • Career guidance, health and well-being. Presentation at the Joint Career Guidance Research Symposium. Paisley: University of the West of Scotland.
  • Career capabilities in disadvantaged youth. Paper presented at International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG) Annual Congress, Madrid.
  • Career guidance, health and well-being. Paper presented at National Institute for Career Education and Counselling (NICEC) Conference: ‘Rethinking career education and guidance for a globalized world’. Derby: University of Derby.
  • Underpinning concepts for Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG). Invited talk for widening participation practitioners at Edinburgh University.
  • Recent developments in career theory. Invited talk for the Association of Graduate Career Advisory Services (AGCAS) Scottish network meeting
  • Positive psychology: What has it ever done for us? Presentation at joint career guidance research symposium. Paisley: University of the West of Scotland.
  • The well-being outcomes of employment support for job seekers with mental health conditions. Presentation at the British Psychological Society, Division of Occupational Psychology Annual Conference, Brighton.
  • Introduction to the Scottish labour market and career services. Invited talk to a delegation of senior Swedish guidance professionals (repeated).
  • Employee well-being, mental health and career guidance. Presentation at ESRC seminar: ‘Stakeholder perspectives: how employers, trades unions and human resource management professionals see the purpose and practice of careers support in work settings.’ University of Ulster, Londonderry.
  • Can career guidance make you better? Presentation at the Institute of Career Guidance (ICG) annual conference, Brighton.
  • A practitioner’s guide to research. Joint presentation with Deirdre Hughes at Institute of Career Guidance (ICG) annual conference, Glasgow.

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Affiliate Member of the Association of Graduate Career Advisory Services (AGCAS)
  • Member of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG)
  • Member of the Career Development Institute (CDI)
  • Member of the Institute of Career Guidance (ICG)
  • Member of the British Psychological Society (BPS)

 

Non-executive Directorship

  • Board Member for FEAT (Fife Employment Action Trust), a mental health charity.
  • Voluntary Director of Worktrack, a community employability agency.

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Job seekers with health conditions - Employment support and well-being. Presentation at 'Power, politics and society' Research showcase, School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University.

 

Research Degree External Examining

  • External Examiner for Ghazal Vahidi, Loughborough University - PhD thesis: Representation of Careers in British Print Media, 1985-2015
  • External Examiner for Malcolm Greig, Heriot-Watt University - PhD thesis: Factors affecting apprenticeship completion in Scotland

 

Reviewing

  • Peer review for the Journal for Specialists in Group Work
  • Peer review for Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice
  • Peer review for the International Journal of Lifelong Education
  • Peer reviews for the International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance (multiple)
  • Peer reviews for the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling (multiple)
  • Reviewer for the Institute of Career Guidance (ICG) periodical 'Constructing the Future'

 

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58 results

Positive psychology: A movement to reintegrate career counselling within counselling psychology

Journal Article
Robertson, P. (2015)
Positive psychology: A movement to reintegrate career counselling within counselling psychology. Counselling psychology review / the British Psychological Society, 30(3), 26-35
Content & Focus: In the UK career counselling has tended to evolve separately from the counselling psychology profession. Elsewhere, notably in North America, counselling psyc...

Towards a capability approach to careers: Applying Amartya Sen's thinking

Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2015)
Towards a capability approach to careers: Applying Amartya Sen's thinking. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 15(1), 75-88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-014-9280-4
Amartya Sen’s capability approach characterizes an individual’s well-being in terms of what they are able to be, and what they are able to do. This framework for thinking has ...

Health inequality and careers

Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2014)
Health inequality and careers. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 42(3), 338-351. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2014.900660
Structural explanations of career choice and development are well established. Socioeconomic inequality represents a powerful factor shaping career trajectories and economic o...

Updating Qualifications for the Career Guidance Profession in Scotland: Navigating the Maze

Journal Article
Allan, G., Moffett, J., & Robertson, P. J. (2013)
Updating Qualifications for the Career Guidance Profession in Scotland: Navigating the Maze. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 1(2), https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v1i2.62
This paper describes work in progress to modernise the initial training arrangements for the career guidance profession in Scotland. In a process initiated by the University o...

Career guidance and public mental health

Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2013)
Career guidance and public mental health. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 13(2), 151-164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-013-9246-y
Career guidance may have the potential to promote public health by contributing positively to both the prevention of mental health conditions and to population level well-bein...

The impact of career guidance on well-being outcomes

Thesis
Robertson, P. J. The impact of career guidance on well-being outcomes. (Thesis)
Edinburgh Napier University. Retrieved from http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/6133
The thesis explores the interrelationship between career guidance, mental health, and well-being: an area neglected by the career guidance community in the UK. This topic is e...

The well-being outcomes of career guidance

Journal Article
Robertson, P. J. (2013)
The well-being outcomes of career guidance. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 41(3), 254-266. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2013.773959
The potential for career guidance to impact on well-being has received insufficient attention in the UK. There are both conceptual and empirical reasons to expect that the imp...

Clients with mental health conditions: a challenge for career guidance practice.

Book
Robertson, P. (2011)
Clients with mental health conditions: a challenge for career guidance practice. In B. A. Irving, & L. Barham (Eds.), Constructing the Future: Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice, 131-146. Stourbridge: Institute of Career Guidance
This article explores meeting the needs of clients with mental health conditions and seeks to establish this group as one of particular interest to career guidance practitione...

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