Home

 Education, training and skills projects

In partnership with GHK, ETHNOS evaluated the impact of the diversity of the Children's Workforce (in terms of gender, race, religion, age and sexual orientation) on the effectiveness of the Workforce's services for children, young people and families. The evaluation sought to establish whether there is a relationship between workforce diversity and positive outcomes; what is the nature of any such relationship and how it works in practice; to what extent workforce diversity can drive positive outcomes; to what extent workforce diversity, in the form of a mismatch between workforce and community diversity, acts as a barrier to positive outcomes; how diversity mismatches can be manifested in poorer outcomes; and what policy responses can be put in place where workforce diversity does constitute a barrier to positive outcomes. These aims were achieved through an extensive literature review, national data analysis, and in-depth case studies which included an analysis of local workforce data, a series of qualitative interviews with key local authority and project staff, and interviews and sociometric maps with service users and service
"avoiders".

ETHNOS and GHK were commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to provide policy-makers and practitioners with evidence about the types of barriers that exist (or are perceived to exist) for black and minority ethnic parents in accessing children's and parental services, and the actions which can be taken to overcome these barriers. This involved a literature review, expert focus groups and an in-depth exploration of ten case studies on examples of good practice.

REACH is a project, led jointly by the Black community and Government, designed to raise the aspirations and achievements of Black boys and young Black men against a background of educational under-achievement, low employment and over-representation in the Criminal Justice System. REACH was designed by a team of 25 experts drawn from a variety of fields, including the voluntary and community sector, education, local authorities, academia and law enforcement. These experts recommended, among other initiatives, the introduction of a structured national role model programme for Black boys and young Black men, to offset negative media portrayals of Black boys and young Black men and help drive up aspirations and achievements.

ETHNOS was commissioned by Communities and Local Government to evaluate the REACH National Role Model Programme. The evaluation aimed to identify:

• how the programme has been implemented
• what have been the experiences of the main programme stakeholders
• whether role modelling works, in what ways and with whom
• what are the success factors and what can be improved

A very comprehensive evaluation protocol was devised to ensure that the perspectives of all stakeholders – e.g. members of the REACH working group, central government staff, programme managers, role models, young Black people involved in the selection of the REACH role models, organisations facilitating role modelling events, audiences - would be taken into account. In addition, 18 role modelling events were selected for in-depth analysis of short-term and long-term impact.

The evaluation reports on a range of programme implementation issues, with a view to learning lessons for future role modelling programmes. Despite some shortcomings, the evaluation found that most REACH role modelling events worked: they had a strong, positive and often lasting impact on Black boys and young Black men, especially in relation to:

• self-esteem, self-confidence, self-efficacy
• positive identity as Black boys and young Black men, and ability to challenge stereotypes of Black men
• appreciation of the need to treat oneself and others with respect
• appreciation of the value of knowledge/education/hard work
• appreciation of the need for parental engagement (among fathers)
• broadening of career options envisaged by and deemed possible for Black men
• desire to act as role models and to contribute to the Black community
• ability to enact the specific success strategies promoted by the role models
• willingness to seek advice and support
• some commitment to promote REACH among family, friends and relevant parties
• commitment to reject crime (among prisoners)

Lessons from the evaluation are relevant to anyone seeking to develop a role modelling programme or to find out how best to motivate Black boys to achieve their potential.

In partnership with GHK, ETHNOS was commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to provide policy-makers and practitioners with evidence about the role of DCSF policy in facilitating the engagement of fathers. The research consisted of three phases:

• Phase 1 examined all DCSF policy that is relevant to how family services engage with fathers
• Phase 2 surveyed local authorities to get a greater understanding of the ways in which DCSF policy affects engagement with fathers
• Phase 3 involved in-depth case studies of family services in eight local authorities

The research findings are used to support the improvement of family services for fathers by increasing awareness and understanding of the policy barriers that prevent the full and active participation of fathers in family services.

UCAS commissioned ETHNOS to investigate the profile of applicants who either did not get offers from higher education institutions (HEIs), withdrew their applications or declined offers made by HEIs. UCAS needed to understand their characteristics, motivations, the factors influencing their decisions, and their experience of applying through the UCAS system in order to be able to support them better in the future.

ETHNOS was commissioned to conduct qualitative research in order to:

• understand the attitudes, motivations and factors influencing choice of HEI of applicants
• follow the pathway for an applicant from career/subject choice, through progress at school, researching courses and HEIs, to UCAS application
and afterwards
• explore the roles played by other related parties (parents, friends, teachers, UCAS, admissions tutors) in advising and guiding the individual
through the process
• explore knowledge, awareness and experience of the UCAS website and other resources

Findings highlighted complex interactions between individual preferences, motivations, awareness and experience, on the one hand, and organisational processes, support and advice, on the other. Findings from the research fed into the design of the questionnaire and provided a number of key recommendations to help UCAS improve the level and type of support they give to future applicants.