Higher Education and the current skills agenda Alan Gilbert Commissioner, UKCES President and...

Higher Education and the current skills agenda

Alan Gilbert

Commissioner, UKCES

President and Vice-Chancellor

The University of Manchester

A framework for skills and jobs

Match

Mismatch

Positive Economic and Social Outcomes

Supply of Skills Employment Demand

Negative Economic and Social Outcomes

DemandJobsSupply

A framework for skills and jobs

Match

Mismatch

Positive Economic and Social Outcomes

Supply of Skills Employment Demand

Negative Economic and Social Outcomes

Economic Performance

Employment

Reduced Inequality

Productivity

Demand

JobsSupply

•Shortages and skills gaps

•Unemployment and Inactivity

•‘Over-skilled’ / ‘Under-employed

•Migration

Robert Reich (1992), The Work of Nations

• 40% of a post-industrial workforce would be made up of “knowledge workers” (symbolic analysts)

• Access to high quality knowledge workers would be the primary determinant of success for corporations and nations in the 21st Century

• Relying on poaching other people’s knowledge workers would be a grossly irresponsible, high risk national policy

UK Skills Formation in Context

UK Commission on Employment and Skills,

Working Futures 2007-17

(January 2009)

UK Workforce Change 2007-2017:Major growth in high level skills

-500 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000

Whole workforce

Elementary Occupations

Machine & Transport Operatives

Sales & Customer Service

Personal Service

Skilled Trades

Admin, Clerical & Secretarial

Assoc Professional & Technical

Professionals

Managers & Senior Officials

(Thousands)Expansion demand Overall demand

13,451

Source: UKCES, Working Futures 2007-17, January 2009

Over 100% of all

expansion demand

The UK Qualifications Profile 1997-2007:Good progress over last decade!

UK Qualification

Achievement

1997 2007 1997-2007 Change

1997 – 2007 % Nos (‘000s)

% Nos (‘000s)

% Nos (‘000s)

Level 5 3 1087 7 2274 110 +1187

Level 4 18 6101 24 8060 32 +1959

Level 3 18 5999 20 6738 12 +739

Level 2 21 6865 20 6912 1 +47

Below Level 2 21 7074 17 6019 -15 -1055

No Qualifications

18 5920 12 4351 -26 -1569

+40%

-26%

Source: Labour Force Survey, 2008 – Note: Working age population 19 – 59/64

Productivity and employment in OECD:Where are we now?

High employment/ high

productivity

High employment/ low

productivity

Low employment/ low productivity

Low employment/ high productivity

Productivity: GDP per hour worked (US$ at current prices), 2007

Em

plo

ym

en

t:

Em

plo

yme

nt

po

pu

latio

ns

ratio

20

07

, a

ll p

ers

on

s 1

5-6

4

Source: UKCES, Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs for the UK, 2009, pp 21-22

Productivity:UK 11th place

Population with tertiary education, 2006

0%

20%

40%

60%

Canad

a

Japa

n

Korea

New Z

eala

nd

Norway

Irela

nd

Belgi

um

Denm

ark

Franc

e

Spain

United S

tate

s

Austra

lia

Sweden

Finla

nd

United K

ingdo

m

Nethe

rlands

Luxem

bourg

Icela

nd

Switzer

land

Poland

Greec

e

Germ

any

Hungar

y

Portuga

l

Austria

Mex

ico

Slova

k Rep

ublic Ita

ly

Czech

Rep

ublic

Turke

y

25-34 year olds 45-54 year olds

The competition is global:Improvements are too slow at tertiary level

Source: OECD, Education at a Glance 2007. Table A1.3a

UK Position:• 12th in OECD for ‘older workers’• 15th in OECD for ‘younger workers’

Overall Commission Assessment1. Good progress over ten years to 2006-07

• Solid employment and productivity positions – but not yet top 8 OECD• High level skills improved by more than third• ‘No qualifications’ cohort reduced by more than a quarter• Literacy improvements are excellent• Performance changes and plans since 2006 offer cause for optimism

2. BUT … progress by many international competitors to 2006 has been better

• UK productivity slowly improving, employment good but slightly declining• Skills improvements by many nations exceeding rate of UK change• International challenge will increase as all governments prioritise skills

3. Foundations of policy recommendations already in place or on the way

• Integrated policy/strategy for business development, employment and skills• More strategic, agile, demand-led employment and skills supply side• Maximising individual aspiration and opportunity for skills• Increasing employer ambition, engagement and investment in skills• Support for community level action to maximise skills and employment to close

gaps

Higher Education Skills Formation

• At worst seen as precious, arrogant and supply side (“Don’t worry, we already cover all those skills.” )

• Graduates (ambivalently) seen as “world class” and regarded by many employers as being deficient in key employability skills.

• Many examples of emerging good practice.

The “baby and bathwater” problem

• There IS a proper tension between an authentic university and employers, politicians and policy makers

• Destroy it any you’ve lost something precious


A University PRESERVES and TRANSMITS knowledge;

It CRITIQUES and CHALLENGES conventional paradigms;

It INVENTS new ideas and technologies and ADVANCES knowledge;

It TRANSFORMS current ideas of best practice; and

It FRUSTRATES and (sometimes) ENRAGES those with day-to-day economic responsibilities.


We must preserve those profoundly creative, transformational functions of higher education; BUT

We must show precisely the same rigour in CRITIQUING ourselves;

Instead, universities can be arrestingly complacent and conservative; and

At present, the best evidence is that UK higher education is performing sub-optimally in relation skills formation.

The Manchester ResponseAIMS:• Superb U/G and P/G degree qualifications

combining authentic education (hyper-competencies) with superb skills formation (higher competencies), conducted in professional contexts if possible; AND

• Superb executive education and CPD:- demand-driven- bespoke- flexible delivery

The Manchester Response

U/G Degree Programmes:

Piloting the Higher Education Achievement Record (HEAR)

Transforming U/G curricula in ways that are explicitly purposeful in relation to skills formation.

The Manchester ResponseWe have adopted a curriculum design template:

THE PURPOSES OF A MANCHESTER UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

The “Manchester Matrix”

Every unit and every programme must set out explicitly in advance what educational purposes are being served, what particular skills are being developed and how these purposes and skills are going to be assessed.

THE PURPOSES OF A MANCHESTER UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

Purpose Graduate Attributes/Skills Assessment Criteria

1. To develop critical thinking and higher order conceptual reasoning and analytical skills

Manchester graduates will have been encouraged to develop intellectual curiosity, will have learned how to learn, will have a clear grasp of the fundamental differences between fact and opinion, truth and falsity, validity and invalidity, and will have acquired the basic intellectual tools of logical analysis and critical inquiry.

Logical reasoning

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

THE PURPOSES OF A MANCHESTER UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION Purpose Graduate Attributes/Skills Assessment Criteria



Logical reasoning

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

2. To promote mastery of a discipline

Manchester graduates will have mastered the epistemological, methodological and essential knowledge base of at least one discipline or taught in the University, acquiring a basic understanding of the processes of inquiry and research through which existing paradigms are evaluated and new knowledge created in that discipline or disciplines.

Knowledge

Epistemology

Methodology

Comprehension

Application

THE PURPOSES OF A MANCHESTER UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION Purpose Graduate Attributes/Skills Assessment Criteria



Logical reasoning

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

2. To promote mastery of a discipline

Manchester graduates will have mastered the epistemological, methodological and essential knowledge base of at least one discipline or taught in the University, acquiring a basic understanding of the processes of inquiry and research through which existing paradigms are evaluated and new knowledge created in that discipline or disciplines.

Knowledge

Epistemology

Methodology

Comprehension

Application

3. To broaden intellectual and cultural interests

Manchester graduates will be encouraged to value knowledge for its own sake, and to appreciate virtuosity and creativity, whether in art, music, literature or any other medium through which human discourse and human culture are advanced and enriched.

Intellectual curiosity

Cultural awareness

Understanding of the historical development and cultural context of particular traditions, disciplines or bodies of knowledge


4. To prepare graduates for professional and vocational work

Manchester graduates in professional disciplines will have the knowledge and advanced technical skills demanded in an increasingly sophisticated and rapidly changing professional workplace, and will have been provided with opportunities to develop accompanying skills of initiative, teamwork and professional communication.

Professional Knowledge

Professional Skills

Professional Qualities

Communication and Team Work




Professional Knowledge

Professional Skills


Communication and Team Work

5. To challenge and equip students to confront personal values and make ethical judgements

Manchester graduates will have been encouraged and enabled to confront their own civic values and responsibilities as local, regional and global citizens.

Ethical awareness

Grasp of ethical principles

Awareness of relevant professional ethics




Professional knowledge

Professional Skills


Communication and Team work



Ethical awareness



6. To prepare graduates for citizenship and leadership in diverse, global environments


Awareness of social, political and environmental issues

Sense of social responsibility

Leadership skills




Professional knowledge

Professional Skills


Communication and Team work



Ethical awareness







Leadership skills

7. To develop advanced skills of written and verbal communication

Manchester graduates will be equipped with advanced skills of written and verbal communication, and will be able to present complex material, orally and/or in written reports and formal presentations, in ways that are professional, engaging and persuasive.

Ability to express ideas and arguments accurately and cogently.

Excellence in written communication

Experience in making formal presentations




Ethical awareness







Leadership skills

7. To develop advanced skills of written and verbal communication

Manchester graduates will be equipped with advanced skills of written and verbal communication, and will be able to present complex material, orally and/or in written reports and formal presentations, in ways that are professional, engaging and persuasive

Ability to express ideas and arguments accurately and cogently

Excellence in written communication

Experience in making formal presentations

8. To promote equality and diversity

Manchester graduates will have been educated in an environment that embraces and values cultural diversity, and that is fundamentally committed to equality of opportunity regardless of gender, race, disability, religious or other beliefs, sexual orientation or age.

Human rights – theory, policy and legislation

The cultural reality of discrimination

The economics of inequality

Higher Education and the current skills agenda Alan Gilbert Commissioner, UKCES President and...

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