Edinburgh Napier University

  This poster outlines a recent research study which examined the information landscapes of young people (age 15 – 24) in Scotland in the context of gender, vocational choice, and career development. The research context is Skills Development Scotland (SDS) who are Scotland’s national skills agency.
This study involved an exploration of extant literature on the subject of gender imbalance in STEM careers and a critique of a myriad of relevant theories on information landscapes (Lievrouw 2001: Lloyd & Wilkinson, 2019: Chen, 2021), gender identity and stereotyping (Brown & Stone, 2016: Siyanova-Chanturia, et al., 2015), and self-efficacy and possible selves (Bandura, 1997: Markus & Nurius, 1986).
The primary purpose of the research as outlined in the poster was to understand how gendered information landscapes may impact on the decision-making process of various groups of young people in relation to their career choices, particularly relating to apprenticeships and work-based learning, and how they may impact on gender balance in crucial sectors within STEM. The aims were to understand how information landscapes are formed, to identify different sources of information, and to explore how these information sources may embody and reinforce gender stereotypes.
Qualitative research methods used for data collection in the form of two focus groups and two interviews with a total of 12 careers guidance practitioners employed by SDS. These were carried out to ascertain the expert views of careers professionals on the topic. These focus groups/interviews were carried out over a 2-week period in February 2022, and were conducted, recorded, and transcribed via Microsoft Teams.
The main finding of this study was that whilst young people obtain information from a myriad of different sources, careers practitioners thought that people were the most influential source in regard to career decision making, and that stakeholders such as parents, teachers, and peers had a significant impact on the development of young people’s gendered information landscapes.
Although most participants alluded to the belief that parents, teachers, training providers and employers all had an impact on career choice and gender segregation, the extent of this impact was unclear. I believe it would benefit future research to include these stakeholder groups in the data collection process, to gain a more robust understanding of their role in the context of young people’s gendered information landscapes. Perhaps using a more quantitative method such as a survey would be a good way to facilitate this.