Skilling Marginalised or Skills Eco-System, Precarious Workers and Higher Education – A Case Study of Roma in Liverpool, UK

This qualitative case study explores the Human Resource Development (HRD) interventions utilised in respect of local eco-skills with one marginalised group, the Roma, in the City of Liverpool, UK, and responds to HRD research calls into the cause of cycles of inequality. The case study illustrates the challenges experienced by precarious workers in accessing education and training. Further, it shares the interventions taken to address inequalities that a Higher Education (HE) UK University and a local Non-Government Organisation (NGO) took between 2016 and 2019. Roma is among the UK and Europe's most disadvantaged and marginalised groups. Working in partnership, utilising Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), we developed three HRD interventions: Stakeholder groups (adult and young Roma), Motivational Interviewing and Employability/Education Events. The findings unpack an understudied experience and context: the inadequate attention paid to developing skills at a local level for marginalised precarious workers. We found that aspiration grew through focused community support and a partnership approach, and educational opportunities emerged, albeit at a relatively slow pace. This paper ends with a call for action for more Human Resource Development educators to work with those at the margins of society.