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MINDSET PROFILES Segmenting decision-makers at 14 & 16 Findings from exploratory research by SHM June 2005 SHM 1 st floor 20-22 Bedford Row London WC1R 4EB Tel: 020 7242 5504
MINDSET PROFILES
Segmenting decision-makers at 14 & 16
Findings from exploratory research by SHM June 2005
SHM 1st floor
20-22 Bedford Row London WC1R 4EB
Tel: 020 7242 5504
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Contents
1 Introduction 3
2 Research design 6
3 Mindset dimensions 9
4 Mindset segmentation 11
5 The segments and the educational system 21
6 Implications 22
6.1 Planning and evaluation 22
6.2 Innovation and creative challenge 22
6.3 Front-line activities 24
Appendix: summary of key lessons from Phase 1 NfER research 26
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1 Introduction
At points throughout their educational career, young people make choices which have a significant bearing on their own future lives and, by extension, on the future of the UK economy. A key aim of the educational system (and in particular Careers Education and Guidance) is to help young people make the best decisions at these points.
But how do these decision points look from the young person’s perspective? Unless we understand young people’s point of view, we run the risk of sending out messages that fail to engage, providing information and support which do not meet young people’s real needs, or focusing efforts and investment on particular groups while inadequately serving others. Understanding how young people see the decisions they face is critical if the educational system is to maximise the benefits to the individual and the economy.
We must also recognise, however, that different young people see the choices they face differently, because they have different mindsets: different views of the future, different pictures of themselves and the world around them, different stories of success and attitudes to risk. A better understanding of this diversity can shed light on a series of important questions:
• What sorts of information do young people need to make these decisions? How, when and by whom can it best be delivered?
• What messages will be most successful in influencing young people to consider unpopular options, or to re-engage with learning?
• What types of one-to-one guidance will assist young people through the decisions they have to make? – and what types will be unwelcome?
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• What educational options should be made available to young people? How should they be positioned? How should they be linked together into coherent pathways?
• When is the right time for young people to be expected to make decisions?
This research aims to deliver this understanding, and to provide a pragmatic, research-based model of the diversity of young people’s mindsets. In previous work for the Learning and Skills Council, SHM has identified important mindset differences in young people in response to specific problems of engagement, retention or achievement. In this project, we have conducted exploratory research to build on insights from earlier work and develop a general segmentation by
mindset of young people making decisions about educational options.
This segmentation is designed to be useful across a wide range of DfES activities, to provide a pragmatic basis for answers to the questions above, and – as this is exploratory research – to provide a basis for further research. Our priority has been to develop a segmentation that is fit for purpose, and we have therefore focused our work on understanding young people’s decision-making at two critical decision points – at age 14, when young people choose options, and at age 16, when young people choose whether and in what way to continue in education or training – and not young people’s decision-making in general.
Our work was also designed to provide a foundation for a major DfES programme of research into the processes by which young people make decisions about options at the end of KS3 and KS4. This programme will look at the interaction between a range of different factors in decision-making, including the school environment and external influences as well as individual differences in mindset, and will draw on a range of sources including interviews with young
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people. Our work provides an analytical framework for the further investigation of mindset differences in this major programme of research. In particular, by identifying a series of mindset dimensions which underpin our segmentation, we have endeavoured to provide subsequent researchers the means to test, enhance or indeed challenge that segmentation.
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2 Research design
This exploratory research is based on series of two workshops with each of six groups of 8–11 young people in Year 9 or Year 11 (see map below). The total number of young people spoken to was 58, 29 in Year 9 and 29 in Year 11. Each workshop lasted between 75 and 120 minutes.
SHM believes that young people are the experts in their own mindsets and motivations, and the mindsets and motivations of others like them. They are not, however, experts in articulating this knowledge. We have therefore developed a number of workshop-based approaches which enable us to explore their expertise by asking them to use it. (As well as delivering valuable insights, this approach has the added benefit of delivering valuable outcomes for participants. A number of participants in this research felt they had gained new insights into their own decision-making processes, and commented on the value of the exercises used as a way of both learning from/about others and building confidence.)
YEAR 9 GROUPS
YEAR 11 GROUPS
Duchess Community High SchoolAlnwick
(6th form)
Holden Lane High SchoolStoke-on-Trent
(Specialist Sports, no 6th form)
Cornelius Vermuyden SchoolCanvey Island
(Specialist Arts, no 6th form)
Bishop of Hereford Bluecoats SchoolHereford(No 6th form)
Parkside Community CollegeCambridge(No 6th form)
Holland Park SchoolLondon(6th form)
YEAR 9 GROUPS
YEAR 11 GROUPS
Duchess Community High SchoolAlnwick
(6th form)
Holden Lane High SchoolStoke-on-Trent
(Specialist Sports, no 6th form)
Cornelius Vermuyden SchoolCanvey Island
(Specialist Arts, no 6th form)
Bishop of Hereford Bluecoats SchoolHereford(No 6th form)
Parkside Community CollegeCambridge(No 6th form)
Holland Park SchoolLondon(6th form)
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In the current research, the first workshop with each group turned on a profiling exercise. Participants were asked to select from a large range pictures of young people they considered ‘familiar’. They were then asked to develop stories about the choices (and educational choices in particular) these young people might make, together with their reasons for doing so. Probing by the facilitator focused on exploring the differences in how people (the characters, other people the participants knew, the participants themselves) approached choices. By allowing participants to talk about other people, profiling enables them to discuss mindsets and motivations far more readily and explicitly than they would if discussing their own choices and reasons. The invented characters are invariably composed from real elements, making this an excellent tool to get young people to discuss in a concrete way the kinds of variations they see in the mindsets of their peers.
Thematic analysis of the responses from the first workshop yielded a number of potential mindset dimensions: for instance, the extent to which a young person feels success is a product of hard work or luck. These dimensions were tested and developed in the second workshop with each group using a continuum exercise, in which participants were asked to place themselves on each of the dimensions. The questions used in this exercise turned the potential dimensions into practical, concrete problems (e.g. ‘Here are two pieces of advice: which would you give to a friend deciding what subjects to do next year?’). Participants were also invited to comment on the way each dimension was worded, and whether they felt it really distinguished people they knew.
The second workshops also made it possible for us to group the young people we had met according to the kinds of responses they had given across a range of challenges. This second level of analysis made use of the dimensions developed in the first set of workshops and refined in the second, but also went beyond them to consider what the young people had told us about the kinds of information they needed to make choices, the people they looked to for advice, and what they
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thought of the choices currently available to them. The eight distinct clusters of young people we identified are the basis of our segmentation.
Clearly, as this is exploratory research, we need to be circumspect in the claims made for the dimensions and segmentation we have developed. Our research focused on a specific, practical question – the mindsets of young people making decisions at the end of KS3 and KS4. While it seems most probable that individual differences (in the strong psychological sense) influence these differences in mindset, we make no suggestion that the dimensions we have identified correspond to personality differences. They are just as likely to be functions of our current educational culture. Nor do we claim that a person’s mindset is fixed: indeed, the young people’s own comments suggested that mindsets, while hard to shift, can and do change. Nor are we able to comment on the basis of this small, exploratory sample on the causes of differences in mindset. These questions could all be valuable topics for further research. We would also be delighted if further research suggested refinements to our dimensions and segmentation, or even one or more additional segments.
In the meantime, we believe we have provided a pragmatic model with potential application to a range of DfES activities. The dimensions and segmentation presented below were developed with young people, made sense to those young people, and correspond to differences between those young people. As such, they offer a learner-centred basis on which to test and ensure the fitness of policy to the diversity of young people’s mindsets.
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3 Mindset dimensions
Through thematic analysis of the workshops, we identified nine mindset dimensions which i) correspond to observed differences between young people in the way they see the decisions they face at the end of KS3 and KS4 and ii) have potential implications for DfES activity. The nine dimensions are presented below grouped into four categories. While we have made an effort to group dimensions which appear to show some tendency to co-vary, these categories remain for the time being largely intuitive and an aid to presentation only.
1 ORIENTATION: where is my focus in decision-making?
2 OUTLOOK: what is my view of the future?
FUTURE PRESENT PAST
When choosing between options, I will tend to pick whatever I think will take me where I want to go
When choosing between options, I tend to pick whatever experience
suggests I will be able to manage
When choosing between options, I will tend to pick something I enjoy which
does not impact adversely on my life
outside school
FUTURE PRESENT PAST
When choosing between options, I will tend to pick whatever I think will take me where I want to go
When choosing between options, I tend to pick whatever experience
suggests I will be able to manage
When choosing between options, I will tend to pick something I enjoy which
does not impact adversely on my life
outside school
No clear picture Clear picture
When I look into the longer-term future, I have no real
picture of what I will be doing with my life
When I look into the longer-term future, I have a very clear picture of what I will be doing
with my life
No clear picture Clear picture
When I look into the longer-term future, I have no real
picture of what I will be doing with my life
When I look into the longer-term future, I have a very clear picture of what I will be doing
with my life
Anxious – Pessimistic Optimistic
When I look into the future, I feel worried or downhearted about what is likely to happen
When I look into the future, I feel confident that things will turn out well for me
Anxious – Pessimistic Optimistic
When I look into the future, I feel worried or downhearted about what is likely to happen
When I look into the future, I feel confident that things will turn out well for me
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3 RISK TOLERANCE: how safe do I want to play it?
4 THEORY OF SUCCESS: how do I think success comes about?
This decision is critical This decision isn’t critical
The decisions I take now will have important consequences:
it will be hard to correct mistakes I make now
The decisions I take now will not have major consequences: it will be very easy to change
correct mistakes
This decision is critical This decision isn’t critical
The decisions I take now will have important consequences:
it will be hard to correct mistakes I make now
The decisions I take now will not have major consequences: it will be very easy to change
correct mistakes
Build on what I’m good at Look for new challenges
I would like to get better and better at things I am already
good at
I enjoy the challenge of learning something completely
new
Build on what I’m good at Look for new challenges
I would like to get better and better at things I am already
good at
I enjoy the challenge of learning something completely
new
Stay with the familiar New places, new people
I want to stay with the places and people that are familiar to
me
I am happy to go to new places and meet new people
Stay with the familiar New places, new people
I want to stay with the places and people that are familiar to
me
I am happy to go to new places and meet new people
You need intuition You need a clear picture
In order to be successful, you need a strong sense of
intuition for the right thing to do next
In order to be successful, you need to have a very clear
picture of where you are trying to go
You need intuition You need a clear picture
In order to be successful, you need a strong sense of
intuition for the right thing to do next
In order to be successful, you need to have a very clear
picture of where you are trying to go
Change course as needed Climb the ladder
The route to success is to be flexible and change course as
and when you need it
The route to success is to work your way up a ‘ladder’ step by
step
Change course as needed Climb the ladder
The route to success is to be flexible and change course as
and when you need it
The route to success is to work your way up a ‘ladder’ step by
step
Success = luck Success = hard work
If I am successful, it will be as a result of a lucky break
If I am successful, it will be as a result of my own hard work
Success = luck Success = hard work
If I am successful, it will be as a result of a lucky break
If I am successful, it will be as a result of my own hard work
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4 Mindset segmentation
Further analysis of the responses of participants during the second workshops, when they were invited to place themselves on continua corresponding to the nine mindset dimensions, suggested a segmentation of participants. These segments corresponded not only to a set of positions on the nine dimensions – a mindset profile – but also to:
• a clear story linking those positions together into a coherent perspective
• a particular experience of 14/16 choices as they are currently set up
• preferences for:
o an ideal timeline (when and how quickly) for making decisions about the future
o an ideal person to look to for reliable information
o the kind of information needed to make a choice about options
• possible implications for:
o the kind of messages that would be most successful with the group
o the kind of one-to-one guidance appropriate for the group
o the educational options and pathways best suited to the group
Our exploratory research has identified eight segments of young people. Because this is exploratory research, it is possible that
• some segments may mask important differences
• others may combine into single clusters
• other important segments may be missing entirely
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It is worth, however, moreover, that any segmentation exercise of this kind represents a pragmatic compromise between on the one hand the need to generalise as a basis for policy-making and strategy, and on the other the need adequately to represent diversity and individual differences.
The pages that follow present details of our eight segments using the template below.
Indecisive worriersHow can I decide? – it’s all too much
You need to decide soon – you need to have a clear view before you leave schoolI worry about things in general – even when there is nothing to worry aboutThere are hundreds of jobs out there – and things may change in ten yearsIf you pick the wrong things you really have to start all over again
A few very clear and broad (not vocational) pathwaysPathways
Simplify and reassureGuidance
Reassuring, focus on ‘reducing risk’Messages
Simplified, clarity about how ‘you will be OK’Information
Doesn’t know how to trustLooks to
Loads of preparation and lead time – no surprisesIdeal timeline
Too much time pressure – too many inputs14/16 choices
FUTURE (short-term)
No clear picture
Anxious
This decision is critical
You need a clear picture
Success = hard work
Theo
ry o
f su
cess
Out
look
PROFILE
Ris
k to
lera
nce
Name
Summary
Illustrative quotations from
workshops
Mindset profile
Dimensions which are not significant for this segment
greyed out
Experience of 14/16 choices
Preferences
Implications
Indecisive worriersHow can I decide? – it’s all too much
You need to decide soon – you need to have a clear view before you leave schoolI worry about things in general – even when there is nothing to worry aboutThere are hundreds of jobs out there – and things may change in ten yearsIf you pick the wrong things you really have to start all over again
A few very clear and broad (not vocational) pathwaysPathways
Simplify and reassureGuidance
Reassuring, focus on ‘reducing risk’Messages
Simplified, clarity about how ‘you will be OK’Information
Doesn’t know how to trustLooks to
Loads of preparation and lead time – no surprisesIdeal timeline
Too much time pressure – too many inputs14/16 choices
FUTURE (short-term)
No clear picture
Anxious
This decision is critical
You need a clear picture
Success = hard work
Theo
ry o
f su
cess
Out
look
PROFILE
Ris
k to
lera
nce
Name
Summary
Illustrative quotations from
workshops
Mindset profile
Dimensions which are not significant for this segment
greyed out
Experience of 14/16 choices
Preferences
Implications
Confident aspirationalMy ambition will get me there
Whatever it will take to get me somewhere in life – I have ambition – I don’t want my job to be a chore.Your mind can be changed. The ladder might go wrong and you have to make a new ladder – or maybe you have a number of ladders. It’s more boring to have a life like a ladder.You should be adaptable – you never know what might happen. You have to see what life brings you – anything can change you.I didn’t have a clue this time last year, you should debate it in your head, you’ll get an idea at the end of it – wait and see where your head takes you
Many pathways to success – choices not constrainedPathways
Help them avoid pitfalls and overcome obstaclesGuidance
Inspirational, focus on ‘quest’Messages
What opportunities does this open up?Information
People who have made it to the topLooks to
I’ll decide in my own timeIdeal timeline
If I have to make a choice, fine – I’ll succeed anyway14/16 choices
FUTURE
No clear picture
Optimistic
This decision isn’t critical
Look for new challenges
New places, new people
You need intuition
Change course as needed
Success = hard work
Theo
ry o
f su
cces
sR
isk
tole
ranc
eO
utlo
ok
PROFILE
Determined realistsI know what I want to do: let me focus on that
I want to work as a mechanic. There is no point going to secondary school. No point learning about History and Buddhism: that won’t let you change a cam-shaft – and that’s what you need to get on in lifeYou need to make your decisions properly. If you don’t enjoy it, it doesn’t matter – you will just work harder to get to a point where you do enjoy it. I want a structured lifeI know what I want to do- it’s good to know what you want to do because it helps you to know what you want to do next
Proven routes to clear destinationsPathways
Give practical advice; help to assess & overcome obstaclesGuidance
Reinforcing, focus on ‘how you get there’Messages
How do you get there? – with evidence that it worksInformation
People who demonstrably know the jobLooks to
I’ve already decided: let me get on with itIdeal timeline
Fine if there are choices that fit chosen career14/16 choices
FUTURE
Clear picture
Optimistic
This decision is critical
Build on what I’m good at
New places, new people
You need a clear picture
Climb the ladder
Success = hard work
Theo
ry o
f su
cces
sO
utlo
ok
PROFILE
Ris
k to
lera
nce
Long-term preparersSchool, degree, masters, get rich (I’m not sure what I’ll be doing)
I am going to do A levels, but after that – I could do different things – I’m not sure whatI believe in the ladder – there are different stages – 6th form , Uni and then I will try and get a job
Options that build, broaden and have wide recognitionPathways
Provide ‘worldly wisdom’Guidance
Motivational, focus on ‘progression and rewards’Messages
Stories about people in the ‘real world’Information
People who live in the ‘real world’Looks to
I’ll decide in my own timeIdeal timeline
If that’s what it takes, I’ll do it14/16 choices
FUTURE
No clear picture
Optimistic
This decision isn’t critical
Look for new challenges
New places, new people
You need a clear picture
Climb the ladder
Success = hard work
Theo
ry o
f su
cces
sO
utlo
ok
PROFILE
Ris
k to
lera
nce
Indecisive worriersHow can I decide? – it’s all too much
You need to decide soon – you need to have a clear view before you leave schoolI worry about things in general – even when there is nothing to worry aboutThere are hundreds of jobs out there – and things may change in ten yearsIf you pick the wrong things you really have to start all over again
A few very clear and broad (not vocational) pathwaysPathways
Simplify and reassureGuidance
Reassuring, focus on ‘reducing risk’Messages
Simplified, clarity about how ‘you will be OK’Information
Doesn’t know how to trustLooks to
Loads of preparation and lead time – no surprisesIdeal timeline
Too much time pressure – too many inputs14/16 choices
FUTURE (short-term)
No clear picture
Anxious
This decision is critical
You need a clear picture
Success = hard work
Theo
ry o
f su
cess
Out
look
PROFILE
Ris
k to
lera
nce
Short-term conformistsWhat’s the next step in the (educational) system?
You decide as you go along – take it as you go but it would be good to know what you want to doOnce you finish your GCSE’s you just see what you want to do nextYou need to make the right decsion so you don’t need to worry about it later – I’ll probably know in a few monthsI wouldn’t do something that will “take me where I am going” because I haven’t thought about the rest of my life
Ensure they really can access all the optionsPathways
Enable comparison of choicesGuidance
Reinforcing, focus on ‘choices within the system’Messages
Side-by-side comparison of optionsInformation
People who know the educational systemLooks to
Whatever is set out in the systemIdeal timeline
Make complete sense14/16 choices
FUTURE (short-term)
No clear picture
Optimistic
This decision isn’t critical
Build on what I’m good at
New places, new people
Climb the ladder
Success = hard work
Theo
ry o
f su
cces
sO
utlo
ok
PROFILE
Ris
k to
lera
nce
Unrealistic dreamersYeah, I’m going to be a surgeon. Or a deep sea diver.
I am going to be quite high up with a big family and a big houseI have always known that I am going to be a vet, I love animals, it’s all I am interested in. It would be really good to be a vet. Or a fireman
Structured and deterministicPathways
Don’t wait for them to come to you: reach out and hold onGuidance
Wake-up call, focus on ‘urgency’Messages
Won’t attend to informationInformation
Nobody – doesn’t look for informationLooks to
WhateverIdeal timeline
Inconsequential14/16 choices
PRESENT
Clear picture
Optimistic
This decision isn’t critical
Look for new challenges
Change course as needed
Success = luck
Theo
ry o
f su
cces
sO
utlo
ok
PROFILE
Ris
k to
lera
nce
Comfort-seekersI’d like a nice life
You have a whole life to change things – you don’t have to feel the pressureI’m going to choose the subjects that don’t have too much course work otherwise you can’t see your friends or go outI want to do something I know and something I enjoy
Manageable chunks within structuresPathways
Give them tools to think about the future and the consequences of present actionsGuidance
Cautionary, focus on ‘what can go wrong’Messages
What you actually do in the courseInformation
People who are already around meLooks to
Timing doesn’t matter if I can do something I enjoyIdeal timeline
Fine – provided choosing doesn’t become a big hassle14/16 choices
PRESENT
No clear picture
Optimistic
Stay with the familiar
Theo
ry o
f su
cces
sO
utlo
ok
PROFILE
Ris
k to
lera
nce
Defeated copersI’ll make do with what I can do
I’m no good at English so I’m better doing something practical. I want to be a mechanic but I didn’t like the bloke so I’ll do carpentry or somethingGet out and try and earn a livingGet a trade I suppose?
Small steps that build a sense of achievementPathways
Build confidence and self-esteemGuidance
It’s not as bad as you think, focus on ‘possibilities’Messages
Clearly mapped out steps. Hands on experience. Pictures.Information
Someone in ‘authority’ who can tell me what to doLooks to
More about resignation than an ideal timelineIdeal timeline
I don’t really have any choice14/16 choices
PAST
Clear picture
Pessimistic
This decision is critical
Build on what I’m good at
Stay with the familiar
Climb the ladder
Success = hard work
Theo
ry o
f su
cces
sO
ulto
ok
PROFILE
Ris
k to
lera
nce
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5 The segments and the educational system
The eight segments identified in this research emerged from analysis of the responses of participants, not from prior theoretical considerations. On reviewing the eight segments, however, some patterns worthy of note were apparent. In particular, it is possible to organise segments according to:
• whether they are more focussed on the outcomes or process of education
• how they are likely to fare in the education system
The diagram below shows our preliminary thinking on how the segments can be arranged along these lines.
Confidentaspirational
Determinedrealists
Long-termpreparers
Indecisiveworriers
Short-termconformists
Unrealistic dreamers Comfort-seekers
Defeatedcopers
May bypassthe system
Makes the mostout of the system
Passes throughthe system
Hides in thethe system
Likely to dropout of the system
Outcome focusProcess focus
Confidentaspirational
Determinedrealists
Long-termpreparers
Indecisiveworriers
Short-termconformists
Unrealistic dreamers Comfort-seekers
Defeatedcopers
May bypassthe system
Makes the mostout of the system
Passes throughthe system
Hides in thethe system
Likely to dropout of the system
Outcome focusProcess focusOutcome focus Process Focus
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6 Implications
One key question this work raises is: how can it best be put to use. To answer this question, we have not only talked to colleagues in the DfES but also gone back to some of the schools we worked with. We have also drawn on our experience of the way successful commercial organisations make use of similar segmentations by mindset. Drawing on these sources, we have identified three main ways in which this work might be put to use.
6.1 Planning and evaluation
To support the decisions of young people, we ultimately have to take decisions ourselves – about what policies to adopt, what pathways to offer, how to communicate with young people, what services and materials to make available, and so forth. A validated segmentation could guide planning and evaluation across a range of DfES activities.
However, further research would be needed to validate/refine the segmentation and establish segment sizes before the work could be used in this way. Work being undertaken by NfER, while not intended as a formal validation process, will provide some input here.
6.2 Innovation and creative challenge
Innovation is a critical component of our ability to improve what we do and respond to changing priorities. The mindset segmentation developed in this exploratory research can help ensure we have the right inputs to the innovation process. Because the segmentation is based on what young people themselves told us about the different ways that they experience and approach decisions about subject and career choices, it can help us to consider challenges from the
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perspectives of different young people, and so generate possible solutions that are genuinely learner-centred.
Moreover, because the new ideas we generate will themselves require validation before they are put into practice, the exploratory status of this research should not be a bar to its being used, alongside a range of other tools, as a creative starting point for idea-generation. The segmentation is a valuable tool even without further research.
For instance, suppose the challenge was to market a particular subject group (e.g. languages) to young people. By considering what strategies might be most effective in marketing this subject group to each of the eight segments in turn (it is unlikely any one strategy would suit all eight), a team could rapidly generate an initial, varied long-list of approaches that could be used, all of them based in the mindsets and motivations of young people. From this long-list, a short-list could then be selected for further investigation.
Along similar lines, the segmentation may have a role to play in providing a creative challenge to pre-existing policies, strategies, provision, marketing materials etc. Suppose, for instance, the task was to review current provision of careers advice in schools. By considering the strengths and shortcomings of current provision for each of the eight segments in turn, a team could rapidly generate a list of potential areas for improvement, all of them based in the mindsets and motivations of young people. The process might even highlight ways in which current provision was potentially counter-productive for certain groups (while serving very well the needs of others).
Use of the segmentation as a tool for innovation and creative challenge could deliver significant benefits, including:
• Efficient generation of genuinely learner-centred innovations – at the level of policy, the development of new provision, and the positioning and communication of that provision with young people
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• Identification of options (again, at all levels) that would otherwise not have been considered – some of which will prove to be highly important and valuable
• Early identification of possible unintended consequences and risks of policies, provision or communication
• Positive actions to address different learner motivations and mindsets now, in advance of a possible validation of the segmentation for use in planning and evaluation through future research
• The basis of a common framework for thinking about decision-making across organisations and institutions
6.3 Front-line activities
A major finding about the process that we used to develop these mindset categories was the positive effect it had on the young people themselves. They commented on the value of the workshops in helping them think through the decisions they face, and understanding more about their own way of approach these decisions. In particular they commented on the value of the group setting, as this enabled them both to learn how their peers approached the same decisions differently and to reassure themselves that others had the same concerns that they did.
The process we used could clearly be used as the basis for one or more lesson plans looking at decision-making around subjects and careers. There would also be value in looking at the wider applicability of the process to decision-making and choices in general.
We also believe there could be significant value in exploring the possibility of a computer-based tool using the process and findings of this work as its starting point. This tool would focus on creating an environment for a number of young people to work together – and would not be designed for individual users or
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diagnostic purposes. The emphasis would be on empowering young people to come up with their own solutions to actively seeking out appropriate information, advice and guidance, rather than actually supplying any of these.
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Appendix: summary of key lessons from Phase 1 NfER research
The use of SHM’s mindset segmentation as an analytical tool in NfER’s research, ‘How do young people make choices at age 14 and 16?’, has yielded three kinds of insight relevant to the model itself:
• Lessons about how to establish the mindset of a young person.
• Potential developments the model.
• Possible uses of the model.
1. Lessons about how to establish the mindset of a young person
There are two types of challenge in establishing the mindset of a young person: eliciting appropriate information, and interpreting this information.
Were establishing mindsets the primary purpose of a study, the first type of challenge might be addressed by developing appropriate questions and exercises. NfER was able to interview participating young people for only half an hour, using a narrative questioning approach which was not expressly designed to elicit information relating to the mindset model. Given these constraints, it is encouraging that enough information was elicited to enable the classification of so many young people. Without explicit questions or exercises, however, little information was gleaned on certain dimensions, e.g. ‘theory of success’.
The second challenge raises deeper questions. What an individual says about their decision-making may not be an accurate representation of what they actually do.
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For instance, someone who expresses that they have made a particular choice about their future may be a genuine ‘determined realist’, or an ‘indecisive worrier’ addressing their anxiety by fixing on a (temporary) choice, or a ‘short-term conformist or even ‘comfort-seeker’ who has learned to give this kind of answer in this kind of conversation with adults. It is worth noting that those closer to young people (e.g. teachers) have the opportunity to weigh what a young person says against the evidence of their behaviour.
2. Potential developments of the model
NfER’s work suggests a number of possible refinements and developments of the mindset model.
First, NfER’s work suggests possible changes in the language used to describe some of the mindsets:
• The use of the terms ‘realists’ and ‘unrealistic’ in two names suggests that there is a question about how realistic their ambitions are. Were this the case, establishing someone’s mindset would require an assessment of their ability and potential, which is not the case. The issue here is how thoughtful a young person is about the steps that are needed to get somewhere, and what it means to take those steps. For this reason, it might be better to change ‘determined realists’ to ‘determined planners’, and ‘unrealistic dreamers’ to ‘unplanned dreamers’.
• The second question raised concerned the terms ‘determined’ and ‘indecisive’, which might sensibly be replaced by ‘decided’ and ‘undecided’.
• Overall, NfER’s work raises a question about the use of ‘value-laden’ terms in the model. This, however, raises a further, more complex
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question: to what extent are some mindsets more desirable, more ‘mature’, or more ‘rational’ than others. This question potentially blurs the boundaries between research and policy-making.
NfER’s work also suggests useful refinements some of the dimensions used to distinguish mindsets:
• NfER’s work confirms that a number of dimensions are not ‘either-or’ but a spectrum. This is as anticipated. By the same token, the eight mindsets are envisaged as broad types rather than hard-and-fast segments.
• The dimensions grouped under ‘Risk Tolerance’ may in fact be less about risk than ‘inertia’. For instance, the question is less whether young people want to see new things and meet new people than how much it takes to move them away from the familiar and the status quo.
In one area, NfER’s work provides a potentially deeper challenge for the mindset model as perceived. On the ‘orientation’ dimension (past-present-future), a number of young people presented what might be called a portfolio approach, for instance choosing a some of their options on the basis that they needed them to get where they wanted to, but picking others for the enjoyment they would yield, or as ‘fall-back positions’. More work would be needed to understand both what is involved in this portfolio thinking, and the best way to handle it within the model. (Does it involve an adjustment to just this one dimension, a revision of one or more mindsets, or a wider revision of the model?)
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Possible uses of the model
In NfER’s research, SHM’s mindset model was used as an analytical tool for the interpretation of information gained from interviews with young people.
The model could potentially also be used as a diagnostic tool – e.g. in further research. Doing this would require addressing the challenges identified in Section 1 (eliciting appropriate information, and interpreting this information) in the design of the diagnostic tool.
Potentially, such a diagnostic tool could be of use in the delivery of services as well (e.g. careers guidance), or as something young people themselves might use to understand and learn more about their decision-making. However, we believe that the model would better be applied in settings such as these as a learning
framework rather than a diagnostic tool. For instance:
• The exercises used in the second series of SHM workshops might be used in lessons on effective decision-making for young people, especially in the run up to their decisions at ages 14 and 16.
• The mindset model might be used as a framework for supporting teachers and other staff in challenging their own assumptions about how young people make decisions. The NfER work makes it clear how different the perspectives of teachers and young people can be. It would not be surprising if teachers made assumptions based on the memory of their own decision-making mindset, or that of their children.
• The mindset model might serve a related purpose as a framework policy and strategy development. To what extent do policies and strategies embody similar assumptions about how young people do and should make decisions at ages 14 and 16?
