Presentation by Rosie Alexander at the NVL seminar on Career Guidance, Faroe Islands, May 2017

1. Career Guidance in Island
Communities: a Scottish Island
Perspective
Rosie Alexander
University of the Highlands and Islands
University of Derby

2. Structure of this presentation
• Background to the
research
• Features of islands
• Impact on career
pathways
• Impact on career
guidance
Photo presenter’s own

3. Background
• Integrated
university
• 13 colleges and
research centres
• 8,300 HE
students
• 31,243 FE
students

4. Research project
• Aim: To identify how living in a remote
island community prior to entering
higher education impacts on students’
narratives of their career journeys.
• Longitudinal qualitative approach
– Initial survey
– Interview with a sample (23) at the point of
graduation (Spring 2015)
– Survey with the same participants in
January 2016
– Second interview with participants in
Autumn 2016
• In addition: analysis of background
statistics
• Supervised by Professor Tristram
Hooley and Dr Siobhan Neary, iCeGS

5. Shetland Orkney
Photos presenter’s own

6. Islands: key features
• Islands are small
• Mobility is important
• Islands are connected
• Island economies have particular
characteristics
Photo courtesy of Ronnie Robertson via Flickr

7. 1. Islands are small
“Everyone knows everyone”
– Lack of qualified personnel
– Occupational multiplicity
– Chameleon expertise
– Personalised hierarchies
– Role of reputation
– Management of intimacy
– Conflict avoidance
Sultana (2006)
Restricted labour market
Photo presenter’s own

8. 2. Island economies are
particular
• MIRAB, PROFIT, SITE (Bertram, 2006)
• Aquapelago (Alexander, 2015)
Photos courtesy of flickr: nz_willowherb, eutrophication&hypoxia, Herry Lawford

9. 3. Mobility and islands are
inextricably linked
• Goods, services
and personnel
all brought in.
• Common
migration
patterns: youth
out-migration, in-
migration from
older lifestyle
migrants. King
(2009), McCall
(1994)
Photo presenter’s own

10. 4. Islands are connected
• Physical: transport
links
• Social: Island
diaspora
• Economic: trade
The contested
‘periphery’ – islands
may be centres.
Sumburgh Flight routes: courtesy of
www.hial.co.uk

11. Implications for career developmen
Photo courtesy of Julien Carnot via Flickr

12. Island career development
• Models of career
development:
chameleon careers.
Strategic approach.
(Sultana, 2006)
• Career skills: flexibility,
practicality, enterprise,
‘social floating’.
• Job-search ‘below the
radar’(Alexander, 2013)

13. Career choice
Career choice may be
influenced by:
• Awareness of
different jobs.
• Availability of work
experience
• Social and family
environment
Image courtesy of: eutrophication&hypoxia on Flickr

14. Moving away
• “Learning to leave”
(Corbett 2007) - mobility
may be assumed but is not
straightforward
• Mobility capital –
background, financial
resource, social networks
are all important
• Certain places may be
more attractive than
others. (Alexander, 2016)
Photo courtesy of Alan Jamieson on Flickr

15. Returning home?
• Return migration
especially for:
– Child-rearing
– Quality of life
– Proximity to family
• Islands as a stable base
• Being away but ‘close
enough’
• Retaining island links
Photo presenter’s own

16. Implications for guidance
Careers advisers need to:
• Explore experiences of
place
• Explore mobility
• Explore wider life
choices
• Make geographical
considerations explicit
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com

17. Thank you
• Email: rosie.alexander@uhi.ac.uk
• Website: rosiealexander.wordpress.com
• Twitter: @rosie148

18. Reflective questions
• What is your experience of career
development (your own or other people’s)
in island communities?
• What is your experience of careers
guidance and counselling in island
communities?
• How might you adapt your practice to
accommodate the specific needs of island
communities?

19. References
• Alexander, R. (2013) ‘Here you have to be a bit more fluid and willing to do different
things’: Graduate career development in rural communities’, Journal of the National
Institute for Career Education and Counselling v31: 36-42
• Alexander, R. (2015) Career decision making in island communities: Applying the
concept of the aquapelago to the Shetland and Orkney Islands. Shima: The
International Journal of Research into Island Cultures, 9(1), 38-52.
• Alexander, R. (2016) Migration, education and employment: socio-cultural factors in
shaping individual decisions and economic outcomes in Orkney and Shetland. Island
Studies Journal, 11(1), 177-192
• Bertram, G. (2006) ‘Introduction: The MIRAB model in the twenty-first century’, Asia
Pacific Viewpoint, v47 n1: 1-13
• Corbett, M. (2007) Learning to Leave: The Irony of Schooling in a Coastal Community.
Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing.
• King R (2009) ‘Geography, Islands and Migration in an Era of Global Mobility’ Island
Studies Journal vol.4 no. 1 pp53-84
• McCall, G (1994) ‘Nissology: A Proposal for Consideration’ Journal of the Pacific Society
Vol 17, 2-3 pp. 1-14
• Sultana R (2006) Challenges for Career Guidance in Small States. Malta: EMCER.