There's more to learning than earnings

The Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning (WBL) investigates the benefits that learning brings to the individual and to society as a whole. WBL's main objectives are to clarify, model and quantify the outcomes of all forms of intentional learning so as to inform the funding, implementation and practice of educational provision through the life course.  It is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

Our research looks to inform policy, to deepen understanding of the complex ways in which learning can benefit individuals, and to provide robust evidence about the scale of these effects and the returns they represent.

New WBL Research Report:
Determinants of aspirations
 

(2008) Leslie Morrison Gutman and Rodie Akerman

 

Aspirations vary for different sections of the population both in terms of parents’ educational and occupational goals for their children and the ambitions of the young people themselves. In this report, we review the current research literature across a range of disciplines to set out these differences and consider how educational and career aspirations are formed and developed in response to different environments and circumstances. We also examine the extent to which aspirations are related to eventual outcomes and discuss the implications for current policies and practices.


Research Report 27

New discussion papers from the WBL
Youths' career aspirations and socio-economic outcomes in childhood: a literature review

This discussion paper reviews the literature around the impact of young people's career aspirations and educational expectations on their future socioeconomic attainment. It focuses particularly on the impact of uncertainty in aspirations and on misaligned ambitions and it reviews evidence arising from the UK and Europe.

Use of ICT by young people in England

This research attempts to investigate the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of young people who do not use ICT and whether the lack of ICT use is associated with other outcomes of deprivation.