Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Technicians in the UK Economy: What mix of skills is required?

1. Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Technicians in the UK Economy: What mix of skills is required? Geoff Mason National Institute of Economic and Social Research, London Gatsby Foundation/SKOPE seminar on ‘Vocational education and the sciences: where are we?’, Oxford, 16 March 2012

2. Policy background • ‘Apprenticeships are at the heart of the system that we will build…. We will not only increase numbers [of Apprenticeships], but we will also improve the programme. As an advanced economy needs advanced skills, we will reshape Apprenticeships so that technician level – Level 3 – becomes the level to which learners and employers aspire. To widen access, there will be clear progression routes from Level 3 Apprenticeships to higher level skills, including Level 4 Apprenticeships or higher education’ (BIS, Skills for Sustainable Growth, 2010: 7, emphasis added). • National Strategic Skills Audit, 2010: Problems in filling associate or ‘para’ professional and skilled technician roles in a number of sectors – partly accentuated by ageing among the current technician workforce.

3. Key research questions • Where are SET technicians employed in the UK economy and what are their main tasks and responsibilities? • How well does the evolving mix of Bachelor degree graduates and holders of vocational qualifications in SET-related employment meet the skill requirements of employers? • What gaps (if any) do employers identify in the skills possessed by SET technicians? • How well do different modes of technician education and training in SET-related areas prepare trainees for subsequent employment?

4. Definitional issues (1) • SET technician occupations have traditionally been defined, not just in terms of what technicians do, but also in terms of where they stand within hierarchies of occupations and/or formal qualifications • Techncians = ‘Draughtsmen and all other persons carrying out functions of a grade intermediate between scientists and technologists on the one hand and skilled craftsmen and operators on the other, whether in research or development, design, production, testing or maintenance’ (EITB, 1983:2)

5. Definitional issues (2) • ‘Technicians are concerned with applying proven techniques and procedures to the solution of practical problems. They carry supervisory or technical responsibility and are competent to exercise creativity and skills within defined fields of science and technology’ (Technician Council, 2010) • ‘The main function of a scientific laboratory technician is to perform the specific scientific procedures that allow scientists to perform the more complex analytical processes of the laboratory’ (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, 2010). • ‘As a civil engineering technician, you would provide technical support to civil engineers on engineering construction projects’ (www.nextstep.direct.gov.uk, 2011)

6. SET technicians in employment – overview (1) • SET technician occupations defined here as Associate Professional and Skilled Trades occupations in which application of scientific, engineering and/or technological skills and knowledge is central to job-holder’s work • Excludes ‘secondary science workers’, mathematics-based occupations which are not explicitly SET-based, and health-related occupations • LFS 2010: estimated 1.53 million SET technicians in employment in UK, of which 30% in associate professional SET occupations, 70% in skilled trades SET occupations

7. SET technicians in employment – overview (2) • 73% of SET technicians are employed in SET production, construction and service sectors with a further 17% in non-SET private sector activities and 10% in the public sector • Largely male-dominated except for laboratory technicians and quality assurance and architectural technicians • SET technician workforce ageing fast: 31% of SET skilled trades workers and 23% of SET associate professionals aged 50 or older in 2010 • In the last 20 years several changes in mix of occupations and qualifications as graduate supply has increased and low-qualified people have departed from workforce: • Ratio of SET professionals to SET technicians has increased over time • Graduate share of technician employment has increased sharply, reaching 27% of SET associate professionals in all SET sectors in 2010 and 15% of SET skilled trades workers in SET service sectors

10. Highest qualifications held by SET technicians in SET sectors, 2010

11. Employer demand for SET technician-level skills (1) • How well is employer demand for SET technician skills being met by rising graduate share of employment and probable decline in apprentice-trained share? • Multivariate analysis shows continuing positive pay premia attached to Bachelor and higher degree qualifications held by SET technicians ==> many graduates have been used to meet rising skill demands in SET technician jobs • Consistent with average returns to graduate education across wider economy ==> continuing incentives for able young people with interests in SET subjects to follow academic route

12. Employer demand for SET technician-level skills (2) • Case study evidence suggests that some SET employers may now be starting to re-evaluate their present mix of graduate- and intermediate-level personnel in SET technician jobs • DIUS (2009): employers in SET and related sectors were finding it hard to recruit staff with ‘technical and practical work experience’ • National Strategic Skills Audit (2010): many employers seeking technicians who possess ‘the ability to apply an in-depth understanding of a particular field in a practical setting’ • Examples of technician skill requirements which are not best met by graduates who have acquired skills and knowledge primarily through classroom study: • Technicians who can run complex equipment in advanced manufacturing firms in fields such as composites and nanotechnology • Electronics technicians who can combine practical skills with knowledge of fields such as printing, materials science and chemistry

13. SET technician recruitment and training: graduate entry versus apprenticeships • In last 10-15 years SET employers have been tempted by graduate route in large part because they are not required to incur the costs of educating graduates in contrast to the substantial costs of financing apprenticeship training • However, this has left many firms and organisations short of practical skills and commercial understanding which are best acquired through employment-based training (Lawton Smith, 2009; Lewis and Gospel, 2011; Mason et al, 2012) • Numbers of academically able young people interested in SET apprenticeships could well increase in future years in response to planned increases in HE tuition fees • Much will depend on willingness of SET employers to incur costs of providing technician apprenticeships • SET shares of current apprentice intakes show solid base for development (but share of Intermediate – NVQ Level 2 – apprenticeships is non-negligible even in SET areas)

15. Progression opportunities for technician apprentice trainees • Current interest in developing opportunities for technicians to progress to higher levels of formal qualifications and professional recognition (for example, through formal registration as technicians with the possibility to progress further to chartered engineering and scientist status) • Current focus of Higher Apprenticeships scheme on acquiring Foundation degrees (or equivalent) while acquiring sought-after practical skills through employment-based training • Also important to recognise able young people’s understandable desire to (eventually) achieve Bachelor or higher degree qualifications • Answer may lie in development of higher apprentice training programmes which combine employment-based training with eventual (but not immediate) opportunities for later study towards Bachelor and higher degrees • Incentive would be promise of employer support with HE tuition fees -- but only after qualifying period of employment as skilled technicians