Sir Ian Dixon Scholarship 2018

Anna Koukoullis was presented with her Sir Ian Dixon Scholarship at the WCC Livery and Awards Dinner in 2018.   The Sir Ian Dixon Scholarship (SIDS) is generously funded by Lady Dixson and the CIOB.  After considerable research Anna presented her final report to the Company and the CIOB in October 2019 following her presentation at the Building Centre in May 2019.

The abstract of her report, which is titled “The UK’s Forgotten Youth” reads:

“The Construction Industry is facing an ever-widening skills gap. It has an increasing ageing workforce and is struggling to attract young people into careers within it. Over the years the Industry has researched ways it can attract the brightest and smartest people into professional’s roles, but what about the UK’s forgotten youth – the circa one million young people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training?

In 2018, the UK reported that nearly 1 million young people were not in education, employment of training. Evidence suggests these young people face greater difficulties securing meaningful training and employment opportunities resulting in a likelihood of downward social-economic mobility and an increased risk of social inequality.

This research examines reasons these young people are not securing meaningful training and employment opportunities in the construction industry and challenges the industry to address these issues.

The findings demonstrate that there is an urgent need for the industry to create and communicate quality career pathways and provide opportunities for meaningful progression and upward social mobility. It also demonstrates that young people offer viable talent to enhance Industry skills.

A strategic approach must be taken now to provide young people with the opportunity to develop fulfilling and prosperous careers at all levels within our industry, regardless of their background or academic level.”

Her full report can be downloaded as a pdf file here.