It was held at Somerest House , London at about 11:00am. The guest speaker was Claire Ward MP

PANNELLISTS

Jenny Rudge OBE,Chief Executive,Connexions Devon & Cornwall

Stewart Thomas, Education Adviser 14-19, Learning & skills Council

Simon Hallworth, Director of Centre for Social Evaluation Research , London Metropolitan University

Paul Flatter, Chief Executive , Future Foundation

Paul Oginsky, Strategic Director, Weston Spirit

Blossom Young , Chair , British Youth Council

Annabel Brog, Deputy Editor , Bliss magazine

Topics looked at

1. YOUNG PEOPLE'S VIEW OF THIER FUTURE- Young people appear to be optmistic and confident about thier futures. They are realistic about what is achievable and altruistic in thier motivations.
The sesion looked at:
. Why are there so many messages of doom and gloom for
this generation ?
. Are we failing to give young people enough credit?
. Is this optimism founded or are many young people in for
a nasty shock?

2. ACADEMIC AND VOCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS- Young people are
aspiriing to more traditional and hands on jobs like
health , the forces and trades. Traditional gender
stereotypes however remain.
The sesion looked at:
. Are we seeing a changing attitude with even young
people of high academic ability moving towards more
vocational courses?
. Are we doing enough to ensure young people are aware of
all the options open to them?
. Should we be doing more to encourage young people to
aim high or should we let them opt for 'safe' options?
. Why do gender stereotypes still exist and should more be
done to encourage young people out of them?

3.INFLUENCES ON YOUNG PEOPLE- Mother and fathers are by
far the bigest influence on young people's career
aspirations with careers advisors much further down the
list and celebrutes at the bottom . Yet most parents do
not encourage thier childeren to follow in thier own
careers and many do not encourage them to follow any
career path at all.
The sesion looked at:
. Are parents given enough guidance and advice on advising
thier childeren's choices for the future?
. should more careers guidance be channelled through
parents?
. How do we encourage/help parents to be more involved in
thier childeren's futures?
. Are young people as celebrity -obsessed as we may think?
How do we ensure celebrity role models have a positive
effect?

4.DISENGAGED YOUNG PEOPLE-Even young people who are not
in employement , education or training are optimistic
about thier futures and believe thier ideals jobs.Yet
they are not currently taking steps to progress towards
that ideal.
The sesion looked at:
. Does this group this group of young people expects
success to fall into thier laps?
. Is there an ostrich mentality among this group which
overwhelmingly recognises the value of hard work and
education but does not or can not act on this?
. Will we have a future generation of disillusioned adults
who did not achieve what they expected?
. How do we engage this group and encourage them to take
the necessary steps they are not currently taking, to
ensure thier future?