Memorandum 5
Submission from the Royal Academy of Engineering
1. This submission is based on first-hand
experience gained by The Royal Academy of Engineering (Note 1)
in the London region: through its London Engineering Project and
through its support for the launch of the 14-19 Diploma in Engineering
in the London Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth. This work is
the basis for the National Engineering Project (NEP). (Note 2).
2. This submission limits its evidence to
one of the five topics sought by the Committee: the respective
roles of the further education and higher education sectors in
delivering a region-based agenda for Leitch and their coordination
with one another.
3. This submission focuses on two principles
set out in the Leitch report: that employers and individuals should
contribute most where they derive the greatest private returns;
and that there should be a focus on economically valuable skills.
4. Engineering is an economically valuable
sector for people seeking employment. According to Universities
UK (Note 3) the graduate premium on an engineering degree is the
second highest amongst all subjects (medicine being the highest).
5. There is a shortage of engineering skills
in London, particularly in sectors relating to infrastructure
(water, sanitation, power distribution, transport, construction)
where relative scarcity of engineers and technicians is coupled
with a large number of major construction and renovation projects
in the capital.
6. Against this background, The Royal Academy
of Engineering is involved in direct approaches to increasing
the provision of people with engineering skills in the capital
following the principles laid out in the Leitch report. These
approaches find new ways of employers engaging with Further Education
(FE) and Higher Education (HE) in London. Two will be highlighted
here.
7. The first approach is to support employers
in finding ways to contribute directly to teaching and learning
in the engineering departments in London Universities such as
London South Bank University and University College London. Traditionally,
employer engagement in university engineering departments has
been limited to supporting research, technology transfer partnerships,
offering sponsorship or placements to undergraduates and to the
recruitment of graduates. Through the London Engineering Project,
this is being extended to include:
— Placing engineers in departments
as engineering ambassadors and role models with the aim of increasing
the retention rates of graduates within the engineering profession.
— Making engineers available to university
departments to contribute to the planning and development of new
courses and curricula: including but not limited to Foundation
Degrees.
— Offering team based learning opportunities
to whole cohorts of undergraduates. For instance a second-year
group project can be made common across all engineering courses
in a faculty, and the multidisciplinarity brought about by this
can mimic the workings of a real-world engineering project. With
an employer contributing to the definition of such a project,
the learning outcomes for the students are considerably improved.
8. All of these approaches require resources
to be applied by employers. However, because all are likely to
aid in the recruitment of well-trained engineering graduates in
a sector where there are real skills shortages, The Royal Academy
of Engineering has learnt to expect employers to apply such resources
willingly out of their recruitment budgets.
9. The second approach is to support both
employers and Universities in finding ways of deepening their
involvement in teaching and learning in London schools and FE
colleges. The main difficulty of one of limited time available:
if an employer or a university were to get involved in supporting
a number of schools and FE colleges the resource implications
would be considerable. This is where the 14-19 Diploma in Engineering
has proved valuable. Because this curriculum is typically delivered
by a consortium of schools and FE colleges, an employer or university
can lend support to a single consortium whilst gaining links with
many institutions. This means one set of agreements, one set of
meetings, one set of liabilities and costs whilst making connections
to several institutions. The Royal Academy of Engineering has
found this to be a powerful value proposition for employers and
universities alike.
NOTES
1. The Royal Academy of Engineering [RAEng]
brings together over 1200 distinguished engineers, drawn from
all the engineering disciplines. Its aim is to promote excellence
in engineering for the benefit of the people of the United Kingdom.
(www.raeng.org.uk)
2. The NEP started with the London Engineering
Project pilot in Southwark in late 2005. This will work with five
universities and 50 schools over 4.5 years. The pattern will be
repeated, modified and enhanced, as appropriate, in six regions
in England over the ten years. The NEP supports schools with their
raised profile for SET by providing students with access to hands-on
SET activities in class, residential and other SET learning events
out of school and a system for mentoring of students with a capacity
for higher education and ability in SET. This attention paid on
schools and groups so-far unengaged in engineering is seen as
key to strengthening the engineering profession in the long-term.
The NEP is led by the Royal Academy of Engineering with the generous
support of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
3. "The economic advantages of a
degree", Universities UK Research report, February 2007
April 2008
| 
