Education, Children and Young People Committee
Skills Development Scotland Follow up information from meeting in December
Skills Development Scotland Follow up information from meeting re Skills alignment with business needs
Dear Convener,
Thank you for the opportunity to give evidence to the Committee on 15 December. We agreed to provide further information on the ongoing programme of work supporting neurodivergent individuals to enter the tech sector.
Cyber Security Neurodiversity Skills Development Programme Pilot
In 2020, Skills Development Scotland (SDS) launched the Cyber Security Neurodiversity Skills Development Programme Pilot (CSNSDP) with the aim of creating more integrated and sustainable pathways for neurodivergent individuals to enter cyber security education and employment. The CSNSDP was informed by a report on Neurodiversity in Digital Technology published by SDS. Learning providers were asked to build the capacity of their organisation, their staff, and their partners to make sure they have the knowledge and expertise to support neurodivergent people through their learning journey, and to ensure that processes, systems, and ways of working could become and remain inclusive.
Five providers were awarded funding and delivered the pilot programme between September 2020 and January 2021; these were Perth Autism Support/Perth College, West Lothian College, Inverness College UHI, Fife College and Edinburgh Napier University.
The pilots were supported by an expert advisory group who provided projects with information, training, and support on areas and adjustments as they arose during planning and delivery.
Key outputs and resources from the pilot included:
• Capacity and knowledge significantly increased in each delivery organisation
• Neurodivergent learners felt supported and had a positive experience
• Learning likely to positively impact on future delivery to neurodivergent and neurotypical learners
• Development of modules and resources which could form the basis of helpful materials to share with other institutions; these include but are not limited to;
• 1-1 training plans for staff (All Institutions)
• Course delivery methodologies (All Institutions)
• Induction booklet for neurodivergent new starts (Perth Autism Support/Perth College)
• Online e-learning module on Neurodiversity for staff (Fife College)
• Resource hub & Mentoring Programme (Napier University)
This highly successful partnership approach resulted in increased awareness, confidence, and capacity of staff/institutions to teach and support neurodivergent learners. The pilot also increased confidence and motivation of participants to pursue technology courses and careers.
Neurodiversity toolkit for FE/HE
Following on from the highly successful Cyber Skills Neurodiversity Programme, SDS and its partners in the Neurodiversity in Tech workstream are currently assessing the potential for a toolkit to support Further and Higher Education institutions to become more inclusive of neurodivergent learners on technology courses.
Why Neurodiversity is good for your tech business
SDS and partners in the Neurodiversity in Tech workstream have delivered a pilot campaign to increase awareness of the value of neurodiversity amongst tech employers and to support employers to access information and resources which can help them to become more inclusive, particularly within their recruitment processes and practices to enable more neurodivergent individuals to access technology opportunities.
SDS anticipates taking forward other similar actions within the scope of this work to support and encourage neurodivergent individuals to enter technology jobs.
I hope this information is helpful