Higher Education and the Workplace

1
Higher Education and the Workplace The Challenges
for HE
David Melville Chair, Lifelong Learning UK and
Universities Vocational Awards Council
2
HE and the Workplace

• Leitch and higher education
• Workplace learning and accreditation
• Sector Skills Councils

3
Leitch recommended world class ambition and
targets

• UK should commit to becoming a world leader in
  skills by 2020, benchmarked against the upper
  quartile of the OECD recommended targets to
  deliver this ambition
• 95 of adults to achieve functional literacy and
  numeracy
• Over 90 of adults qualified to at least Level 2
• Shift balance of intermediate skills from Level 2
  to Level 3
• Over 40 of adults qualified to Level 4 and
  above, up from 29 in 2005. Total 5.5 million
  attainments to 2020. HE targets broadened to
  cover whole workforce

4
Implications for HE

• 40 of adults qualified to level 4 or above (up
  from 29)
• Much of this in the workplace
• Individuals and employers to bear the bulk of
  the additional cost
• Delivery through a demand-led funding route like
  Train to Gain
• Sector Skills Councils engaging more strongly
  with HE
• a rebalancing of the priorities of HEIs to make
  available relevant, flexible and responsive
  provision that meets the high skills needs of
  employers and their staff

5
The Challenges for work based learning

• Employer perception
• HE inflexibility
• Validation and accreditation

6
HE-employer engagement

• Day release and work placement
• Selling or adapting existing HE modules
• Designing new HE modules to provide tailored
  courses
• HE accreditation of courses businesses already
  run internally
• Enabling businesses to manage the whole process
  by validating or accrediting their workforce
  development process

7
Accreditation of graduate training in GSK UK
Chemistry functionsA case study in
postgraduatework-based learning
Lyn Brennan Academic Consultant
Harry Kelly GSK Chemistry
8
Objectives of the accreditation of graduate
training in GSK UK Chemistry functions

• To have in-house
• scientific training program validated, accredited
  and, if desired by the graduate, for the training
  to be used towards a higher education
  qualification.
• business-driven research/development projects
  credited towards the award of a higher education
  qualification, probably an M.Phil.

9
GSK want a mechanism for advancing key graduate
talent

• tough environment large numbers of graduates
  recruited across GSK UK Chemistry each year
• Extensive training in-
• Synthetic chemistry
• Medicinal chemistry
• Informatics
• Professional interpersonal skills
• Well regarded across the industry
• But not externally benchmarked or independently
  assessed for cost-effectiveness or quality
• Not maximised as competitive advantage
• (recruitment, retention, staff development)

10
Provided an opportunity to review the GSK
chemistry training programmes systematically

• Training programme(s) would need to be enhanced
• Assessment
• Theorising
• Reflection
• Written examination was not the default solution
• Reports
• Presentation to peers/management team
• Review vs. national standards

11
Overview of the programme

• Accreditation of Continuing Education Chemistry
  Programme Pathway A
• Synthetic Chemistry Module 1 (10 credits)
• Synthetic Chemistry Module 2 (15 credits)
• Synthetic Chemistry Module 3 (15 credits)
• Drug Discovery (10 credits)
• Techniques for Purification Analysis (5
  credits)
• IT Tools for Chemists (5 credits)
• Specialist IT Tools for Chemists (5 credits)

12
Validation of Postgraduate Certificate Programme

50 credits of Accredited Chemistry Continuing
Education Programme
10 credits of Assessed PDP Review

13
Validation of MPhil by Work Based Learning(under
development)
Postgraduate Certificate Award
MPhil by work- based research and Thesis
14
association with
15
What is HE_at_Work?

• A new business consultancy company formed by a
  partnership between UVAC and the Edge Foundation
• Its aims
• to increase the recognition of workplace learning
• to facilitate the award of workplace learning
  qualifications at undergraduate and postgraduate
  levels
• Specialises in working with large companies
• Targets senior professional or technical
  personnel
• HE_at_Work is designed to find positive answers to
  employer needs and help them engage with HEIs

16
Employer perspective on learning

• Learning is key to many aspects of business
• Complying with legislation
• Raising quality of services
• Adopting new techniques
• Creating new products
• Increasing efficiency
• Faster implementation of change
• Foreseeing problems
• - but does this mean they want academic
  partnerships?

17
The employee dimension

• EmployeeEmployer CPD synergy of interest
• Attractive to new recruits
• Encourages retention
• Provides a quality endorsement
• Some qualifications are valued by employees
• Vocational licence to operate
• Graduate status glass ceiling
• MBA brand
• Specialist qualifications linked to leading edge
  research

18
Different learning management approaches
Typical HEI
Typical Workplace
Strong emphasis on formalised course based
learning and formal examination with fine grading
Accreditation usually neglected assessment
limited Lack of structured reflection and
embedding learning
Assessment and accreditation
Work Appraisal
Teaching Mentoring
Training Management
Experiential aspects often neglected and usually
artificial and outdated and generally
unmeasurable, that is do not count towards a grade
Emphasis on career paths which develop capability
through real life experience achievement
Case studies
Achievement in a real life situation
19
HE_at_Work support for employers

• Health check - diagnostic advice based on HE
  benchmarks
• Advice to enhance in-company programmes
• Credit Recognition - establish the general credit
  value of a programme
• Accreditation enable credit award to
  individuals successfully completing the programme
• Validation - enable learners to achieve an HE
  qualification
• Programme Management assist in the interface
  with HE
• Access to Qualifications facilitate
  partnerships with HE

20
About Lifelong Learning UK

• Sector Skills Council for the lifelong learning
  sectors, including higher education, further
  education, work based learning, community
  learning and development, libraries, archives and
  information services, youth work
• An employer-led body with strategic
  responsibilities for
• - labour market intelligence
• - workforce planning
• - workforce standards and qualifications
  structures
• - workforce training and development
• - investment in skills, recruitment and retention

21
The Sector Skills Agreement

• Compact to ensure the sector gets the skills it
  needs
• Five phases
• Assessment of current and future skills needs
• Understanding current supply of skills provision
• Analysis of gaps in provision and market testing
• Assessment of collaborative action by employers
• Development of an action plan
• And for LLUK an additional phase Assessing the
  impact of other sectors agreements on our sector

22
Developing skills solutions for the lifelong
learning sector

• In the following broad areas
• Developing capacity and capability
• Focus on developing partnerships across the
  lifelong learning sector with partners and other
  sector employers
• Addressing recruitment and retention issues
• Developing a UK wide leadership and management
  strategy
• Developing a strategy or similar to support the
  use of technology, particularly relating to
  information learning technology (ILT)

23
The role of HEIs in skills development what
will drive this?

• Impact of the UK Commission for Employment and
  Skills
• Demand for increasing employer responsiveness and
  relevance reflected also through the other
  sector skills councils plans and agreements
• New roles and responsibilities within the HE
  sector
• Collaboration with the FE, schools, and the
  voluntary and community sectors to deliver
  coherent skills development programmes which
  offer progression from a learner/employees
  perspective
• The impact of an increasingly global economy

24
Higher Education and the Workplace The Challenges
for HE
David Melville Chair, Lifelong Learning UK and
Universities Vocational Awards Council