Making Research Work

Employment rates for individuals from ethnic minority communities throughout Britain are substantially lower than for the white population. The Ethnic Minority Outreach pilot (EMO) has been part of the policy response to this gap. Part of the New Deal Next Phase, EMO started in April 2002. It aimed to support jobless people from ethnic minority groups, particularly the ‘hardest to reach’, who need help in making a transition into employment. A range of organisations and agencies, voluntary and private sector, were invited to design and submit bids to work with Jobcentre Plus offices and address different aspects or combinations of three delivery approaches: outreach based provision, employer focused provision and positive action training. They were also required to specify the ethnic minority communities that they proposed working with. Projects (EMO providers) were funded in five urban areas of England. The inclusion of BME voluntary sector community organisations amongst successful bids reflected increased recognition of their work in local areas and potential contribution in addressing the employment gap.

The Policy Studies Institute was commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to evaluate the first two years of the pilot. A steering group consisting of DWP staff periodically met with the research team to provide guidance and support for the evaluation. The broad aims of the research were to analyse all aspects of the programme’s implementation, identifying weaknesses and examples of what worked well, examine clients’ outcomes and develop an understanding of the overall impact of the programme upon participants.

Research design and methods
Twenty EMO projects were sampled to provide a range of types of provision across the five areas in which the pilot was run. The projects worked with a variety of client groups often reflecting the composition of the communities in which they were based. Target groups included Chinese men and women, African-Caribbeans, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women, Turks, Kurds, Iraqis and Somalis.
The PSI evaluation adopted a layered case study approach and was essentially a large-scale qualitative evaluation. Alongside quantitative analysis of Management Information data exploring outcome measures, qualitative depth interviews were undertaken with a range of stakeholders which facilitated exploration of relationships between them. Recognising the roles of a variety of people and organisations, interviews were undertaken with project workers delivering the programme; participants registered with EMO providers; Jobcentre Plus front-line staff providing access to mainstream job search support and services and, potentially, access to New Deal programmes; and a range of other organisations, including referral agencies and employers. A layered case study methodology allowed breadth of interview coverage by type of stakeholder across the urban areas. It also facilitated depth of coverage by exploration of interaction, co-operation and dissonance between stakeholders within those areas.

To address the evaluation aims it was important to explore stakeholder experiences over the life of the pilot, by incorporating a longitudinal dimension into the research. Analysis of change is central to longitudinal research. The method provides a valuable tool for exploring the impact of policy interventions on the lives of the intended beneficiaries. It improved understanding of how outcomes take place and the factors influencing forward and backward movements and non-movement. Developing several waves of longitudinal interviews was a methodological challenge, as was the need to undertake a large number of interviews in a variety of languages. Project workers operating at a community level were pivotal in facilitating the research, beginning with familiarisation visits made to a range of EMO providers before the provider sample was drawn. These visits covered organisation background, project approach and specific outreach needs, local circumstances, staffing issues, and issues raised by the early stages of EMO implementation. The visits played an important role in informing providers about the evaluation and establishing trust and good working relationships with the research team. Project workers were vital in effecting later stages of the research, making time to be re-interviewed and facilitating contact with other stakeholders and the in-depth exploration of relationships.

EMO was about finding new ways to make a difference to the labour market prospects of BME communities. Interviewing participants was a central feature of the research design. Ethnic minority participants were sampled for interview via projects using an opt-in procedure. Participants were contacted in languages other than English where providers indicated that this was appropriate. The research team worked closely with outreach workers, who were often from the same ethnic background and communities as the people they were trying to engage. The team also drew on a network of freelance interviewers from the ethnic minority backgrounds of interviewees to ensure that language and interpreting support was available at interview and in the process of interview set-up. Cohorts of participants were interviewed two or three times over a twelve to fifteen month period to provide a more dynamic picture of people’s experiences and development. Qualitative longitudinal data potentially reveals the stages of the process of changes and the factors that impact on those social processes. Each freelancer interviewer had a small number of longitudinal interviewees. Via the continuity of interviewee that this facilitated they were able to develop an in-depth knowledge of their interviewees, building rapport and trust, maintain a high quality of interview and minimise the attrition that can occur in longitudinal studies.

Findings
EMO had a major impact in increasing ethnic minorities’ awareness and take-up of employment and training opportunities, especially among Indian and Pakistani women, and people from smaller ethnic groups such as the Somali and Turkish communities. The language and outreach skills of EMO workers were crucial in reaching these groups. Also aided by innovative use of media and technology, such as Asian TV networks, radio, the Internet and mobile phones, the workers reached groups who would not otherwise have made use of Jobcentre Plus services.

The initiative helped people move closer to the labour market, but some of those with multiple problems remained at a considerable disadvantage even after accessing training and support. EMO also helped people into paid work, though the pressure on providers to obtain rapid employment outcomes detracted from the ‘hard to reach’ focus. Working with the hard to reach often requires building long-term relationships of trust and provision of on-going, multi-dimensional, support. As the scheme focused on placing clients in employment within thirteen weeks it tended to be those who had been out of work for the shortest periods who generated employment outcomes.

Many EMO providers were voluntary sector community organisations, who were working with Jobcentre Plus for the first time. This had value in attracting new client groups including those widely recognised as under-using Jobcentre Plus services. However, it also implied a degree of inexperience, and need for additional support. Provider forums and events were a valued form of support. However, some providers argued that those new to working with Jobcentre Plus were at a disadvantage, and that having more experienced providers serve on a steering group or similar structure could help build capacity.

There were a range of issues common to almost all EMO providers. They included implementation problems, issues related to the administration and management of the pilot as well as capacity issues. Many of these have now been addressed, but some affected delivery for most of the initial two years.

Ethnic Minority Outreach: An Evaluation by Helen Barnes, Maria Hudson, Jane Parry, Melahat Sahin-Dikmen, Rebecca Taylor and David Wilkinson (2005). Published by the Department for Work and Pensions. Both the report and findings can be downloaded free from www.dwp.gov.uk

Dr. Maria Hudson is a Senior Research Fellow based in the Employment Group at the Policy Studies Institute.

Contact: m.hudson@psi.org.uktop