Real impact of apprenticeship levy will be the recruitment and upskilling of middle and senior management
Professor Lynette Ryals
| Cranfield University
Growing UK talent through Masterships™ is an essential way to secure long-term future of technology and engineering industries post Brexit says Professor Ryals, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education) of Cranfield University.
Apprenticeships have a long tradition as an entry route to skilled occupations, raising the status of vocational education and work-based learning. But the real impact of the apprenticeships levy for the UK will come from the recruitment and upskilling of middle and senior managers as ‘apprentices’ at Master’s degree level (level 7, at the top of the apprenticeship scale).
UK plc needs skills at the highest levels. Our experience of working with some of the major businesses driving innovation in sectors like aerospace, transport systems and manufacturing, has shown us why. Most obviously there’s the well-documented shortage of people with skills in areas like engineering and in the digital and technology fields. The problem is exacerbated by the way in which employers are having to ‘go fishing in the same pool’ for their talent - a systems engineer can work as readily in the manufacturing or aerospace sector as in transport, so the competition for suitably-qualified, skilled and experienced people is fierce. The pace of change in technology also requires these people to be able to develop and enhance their skills throughout their working lives.
The main issue, then, is about creating flexible, highly-skilled people who have both technical knowledge and the skills to apply that knowledge. Industries are moving far beyond gaining efficiencies through digitisation to the kinds of fundamental transformation made possible by autonomous systems and the smart use of sensors, big data and the Internet of Things. Master’s level apprenticeships are going to be a critical mechanism for the UK to lead the evolution of industry into these kinds of 4.0 models - adaptable, smarter, more networked - and deliver the expertise needed to make it happen. The nature of the apprenticeship, employer-led but with a backbone of academic rigour and quality assurance from Higher Education, is ideal for moving experienced generalists into specialists addressing specific business challenges.
A related challenge for technology-based industries is leadership. Understandably, high-performing individuals get promoted on the basis of their technical ability and can find themselves in roles without the management skills to operate effectively - and most importantly, be able to lead periods of change and innovation. The Chartered Management Institute claims that 150,000 UK managers take on roles they’re not prepared for each year. Effective managers are in demand in general: Government data has shown that a further one million will be needed by 2020. The advanced and post-experience learning for senior-level staff provided by level 7 apprenticeships will be an opportunity to fill gaps in management capabilities, linking up technical advances with the practical implications of delivery and commercialisation within specific organisational and market context.
Linking apprenticeships to postgraduate study brings a sudden change in status, and has the potential to bring the UK more in line with Germany, which has benefited from its greater appreciation of the value of high-level and specialist vocational education. In Germany, the technical / vocational route is at least as prestigious as the traditional route through university to employment. The complication is around branding and the way in which ‘apprenticeships’ have been, and still are, being perceived by employers and the public. Are there senior managers who won’t raise an eyebrow at the idea of becoming an ‘apprentice’? Providers in HE need to work with Government on overcoming this barrier. At Cranfield we are using the concept of ‘Masterships™’ as an alternative, and arguably more fitting, branding to position the new level 7 offering. We’ve also made a commitment to making the level 7 apprenticeship experience the same as that for any other postgraduate participating in executive-style education, the same admissions process and equivalent requirements in terms of qualifications and experience. Definitely not a soft option!
For the large employers paying the apprenticeship levy from this April the wisdom of engaging with the apprenticeships initiative will be clear in financial terms, as the only way of re-couping their levy payments. But we also need to make sure they embrace the much wider potential for organisational development for the long-term. Offering Masterships™ will be important for retention, for providing talent with longer-term development pathways and upskilling / reskilling them, for giving UK employees the chance to study alongside international postgraduate students, and, as has been spelt out, for creating tomorrow’s technology leaders who can help transform our economy to meet the needs of the 21st century.
Whatever the precise terms on which we Brexit, leaving the EU is likely to create further challenges for industry when it comes to recruiting for specific and high level technical skills. Upskilling and growing our own talent through Masterships™ matters even more in this environment, as well as for securing the long-term future of the UK’s distinctive technology and engineering industries.
On 10th March, Cranfield University will be hosting a free event for businesses to learn more about developing their workforce through the Apprenticeship Levy. To register your place please visit this page.
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