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Professor emeritus of social inclusion, Dan Finn, awarded an honorary fellowship

22 June 2020

6 min read

A University of Portsmouth professor has been awarded an honorary fellowship for his leading international research on the design and delivery of employment services and social welfare benefits. 

Professor Emeritus of Social Inclusion, Dan Finn, was awarded the fellowship by the Institute of Employability Professionals (IEP). 

He said: “I am delighted to be made an honorary fellow of the IEP and look forward to supporting its activities.

“I remember when the IEP was simply a good idea, shared by some first movers, and I want to commend the efforts of all those involved in so quickly and effectively helping to develop the professionalisation of those working in the employability sector.”

I am delighted to be made an honorary fellow of the IEP and look forward to supporting its activities.

Dan Finn, Professor emeritus of social inclusion

Over the past 30 years, Professor Finn’s research has explored the ways in which successful policy implementation relies on the expertise of frontline employment advisers.

He said: “My own career has evolved alongside the ‘boom and bust’ business and unemployment cycle that has punctuated the careers of too many of those working in the sector. In my early career, I was best known for my role in the analysis and assessment of youth unemployment, school to work transitions and youth training schemes, which I studied in Birmingham and Manchester.

“During a lengthy period of unemployment in the early 1980s, I worked with local trade unionists, including Jobcentre staff, helping to establish a trade union centre for the unemployed in Coventry. I have since always valued working with, and gained valuable insights from, local providers, advisers and voluntary organisations with whom I have worked wherever I have lived in the UK.”

Professor Finn joined the University of Portsmouth in 1996 where he has designed, delivered, supervised and managed a wide range of national and comparative research projects.

Most recently he has worked on research projects and evidence reviews on the following:

  • the design and impact of partnership working between national Public Employment Services and for-profit and non-profit providers
  • devolution and decentralisation of employment and social welfare systems
  • employment services for the long-term unemployed
  • the creation of ‘one stop’ employment services
  • the frontline implementation of employment assistance

Professor Finn said: “These reviews draw out evidence of what works and best practice lessons - often with a focus on how such policies and practices might be adapted to the different circumstances of other countries.”

A frequent specialist adviser to the Work and Pensions Select Committee and other British bodies, such as the DWP and the earlier ‘New Deal Advisory Group’, Professor Finn has also undertaken research and policy development work with many countries and international agencies including the European Commission, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and OECD.
 
He added: “The growing activity and influence of the IEP comes at a critical moment and I hope to work with it to help better shape the design and delivery of the new employment services that will be emerging in response to the labour market challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.”