International Centre for the Study of the Mixed Economy of Childcare

About ICMEC

The International Centre for the Study of the Mixed Economy of Childcare (ICMEC ) is a multi-disciplinary research centre set up in May 2007 and is based in UEL’s School of Education.ICMEC was officially launched by Stephen Timms MP, Minister of State for Competitiveness at the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform at an international conference  held at UEL's Docklands Campus on 10th September 2007. The centre, which has close links with the UEL Business School, brings together academics and students from across the University and other academic institutions nationally and internationally, as well as childcare business leaders, policy makers and professionals from the public and private childcare sectors.

IMMEC’s aims are threefold:

• To generate greater knowledge about Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) provision in countries which employ mixed economies of welfare and education services;
• To explore the contribution to young children’s well being within mixed economies of childcare; and
• To develop an international and multi-disciplinary approach to exploring mixed economies of childcare.

The Centre’s work programme will therefore focus upon:

1. developing a policy-relevant research agenda concerning comparisons between ECEC privatisation and marketisation processes in a variety of countries;
2. establishment of a virtual network of academics and stakeholders from the public, private for-profit and private not-for-profit (PVI) childcare sectors, in order to create a forum for the discussion of pertinent trends and developments in mixed economies of childcare;
3. organising a programme of events and international seminars to profile  relevant scholarship and support knowledge transfer;
4. presenting icmec2 generated research and other pertinent findings to a wide range of audiences nationally and internationally, including policymakers, academics, childcare professionals and parents.

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The Centre’s Advisory Board is:

Jim Barry, Professor of Gender and Organization Studies, Business School, UEL and Visiting Professor at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden.

Mike Brewer, Director of the Direct Tax and Welfare Research Program at the Institute for Fiscal Studies; previously an Economic Assistant at HM Treasury.

Kazem Chaharbaghi, Professor of Management at UEL Business of School and Director of University of East London’s multi-disciplinary research programmes.

William Laing, economist and Chief Executive of Laing & Buisson, a market research organization specializing in the social care sector, including childcare, which he set up in 1976.

Peter Moss, Professor in Early Childhood Provision at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.

Susan Prentice, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada.

Jennifer Sumsion, Foundation Professor of Early Childhood Education, Charles Sturt University, Australia NSW.

Raymond A Whyte, the Business Support Officer for London Borough of Brent Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership and a member of the Strategic Planning and Information Management Team in the Children’s Services Directorate.

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Contact details

For further details about ICMEC’s programme and to be put on the mailing list, contact the centre’s co-directors:

Dr Helen Penn, Professor of Early Childhood;
E: h.penn@uel.ac.uk .
T: ++44 (0) 208 223
Eva Lloyd, Reader in Early Childhood;
E: e.lloyd@uel.ac.uk.
T: ++44 (0) 208 223 6367.

To register for ICMEC’s launch conference please follow this link.

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© 2007