Our Research

This is a collaborative research piece between IAL and UCL Institute of Education’s LLAKES and CGHE research centres. The first objective of this collaboration is to assess the current state of the Singaporean graduate labour market through the lens of graduate jobs and provide important intelligence on demand trends in times of continued expansion of higher education and changing demand patterns brought on by technological change and increased competition on globalised markets. The second objective is to draw on the OECD PISA and PIAAC data to explore the variation across countries, and in particular Singapore, in changes to levels and distributions of core skills (Literacy, Numeracy and Problem-Solving) between age 15 and early adulthood, through the stage of upper-secondary education and training.

While most workers maintain stable employment over their career, an increasing proportion of tertiary graduates (i.e. those with polytechnic diploma and above) have been experiencing worsening employment outcomes even before the pandemic. These individuals face difficulties gaining employment or re-employment, and may be entrenched in short-term or casual work earning low incomes. This study seeks to provide further understanding on employment vulnerability in Singapore by examining the extent to which individuals experience EV, the nature of EV, the role that individuals and employers play in mitigating EV, and suggest possible intervention measures that can help to mitigate EV. Time-ordered sequential information is collected over an individual’s work life span since graduation, on a multitude of variables that may affect employment or career decisions. The surveys is implemented on a large nationally representative sample with a focus on individuals with diploma and higher education and companies in industries that who are unemployed or left the labour force due to inability to find work.

This Critical Core Skills (CCS) profiling and development project is commissioned by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) to seek an understanding of how CCS are distributed and developed in different occupations. This study adopts a mixed method approach, that is, it uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to achieve the research aims.

This is an international survey designed to measure a range of skills that adults use in their work and daily lives – such as reading, finding information and using computers - as well as their education and work experience. It is the second cycle of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), an initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The first cycle was conducted from 2011 to 2018.

IAL and the University of Bristol (UoB) jointly conducted the COVID-19 Educator Online Survey in Singapore during May and June 2020. The project aims to capture educators’ perspectives to understand the impact of online learning on adult educators, learners and learning, current and long-term impact on education institutions/training providers, higher education/TAE sector, and potential changes to the future of education due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project aims to capture educators’ perspectives to understand the impact of online learning on adult educators, learners and learning, current and long-term impact on education institutions/training providers, higher education/TAE sector, and potential changes to the future of education due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Skills and Learning Study (SLS) is the third iteration of the Skill Utilisation series which aims to track skills utilisation in Singapore. Lifelong learning is a new area added into this iteration. This study will provide a set of continued skills utilisation measures in Singapore as well as a baseline measure of Singapore’s level of lifelong learning.

This project aims to investigate the demand side of the skills market in Singapore by surveying commercial establishments on their business strategies, skills utilisation and performance. Understanding the links between strategy, skills and performance will aid Singaporean policy makers in building an effective skills strategy for the future. Importantly, as the second wave of the Business, Performance and Skills Survey, this study will provide a sense of the changing landscape in Singapore regarding skills utilisation and the demand for skills.

Our intent in undertaking this research is to develop and uncover how the TAE sector can move towards teaching, and learning enables our learners to thrive in changing circumstances. Our objectives are to: • Develop a framework for future-oriented pedagogical practices • Develop change processes for individual Adult Educators and systems (training providers, institutions, and policy)

This is a mixed methods study conducted from September 2020 to February 2021. It aims to investigate Singapore adult learners’ experiences with transitioning to full online learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.