Towards a New Zealand system of skill ecosystems

Abstract

This final report from the ‘Employer-Led Channels’ theme of the Education Employment Linkages research programme addresses how to help young people make effective education employment linkages, focussing on institutions that use direct contact with employers to channel information to young people in secondary school or in further education or training. The report develops stylised models of employers and employees and integrates the two models to produce a model of a ‘skill ecosystem’. It discusses a case study involving the Careers, Internships and Employment centre at the University of Canterbury, using the soft systems approach. A ‘rich picture’ shows the heart of their work to be an integrated set of menus of services provided to employers, students and faculties. The report proposes a New Zealand system of regional skill ecosystems anchored by Careers New Zealand. It further recommends that careers offices in secondary and tertiary education organisations (or the tutors performing that role in a small private training establishment) be regarded as key actors in the regional skill ecosystem. A very important step in this direction has been the recent development by Careers New Zealand of Career Education Benchmarks for secondary schools and for tertiary education organisations.