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Do our Graduates have the Skills for Innovation-led Economic Growth. Prof Mary McNamara Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland Steering Committee, Council for Doctoral Education, EUA.
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Do our Graduates have the Skills for Innovation-led Economic Growth Prof Mary McNamara Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland Steering Committee, Council for Doctoral Education, EUA
“human capital, especially in science and technology, is of growing importance for innovation and technology-led economic growth. OECD , Mobilising Human Resources for Innovation, 2000
Patents Applied for & Granted Forfas, Role of PhDs in Smart Economy 2009
Benefits to Firms from Employing Researchers Discipline knowledge Ability to acquire and use new knowledge Research methodology skills Personal networks Knowledge of recent advances Capacity to solve complex problems Ability to develop new ideas
Important Skills when Employing ResearchersIreland Forfas, Role of PhDs in Smart Economy 2009
Important Skills when Employing ResearchersEU-27+ EuroBarometer Employers Perception of Graduate Employability 2010
Importance of Foreign Language Skills by Country EuroBarometer Employers Perception of Graduate Employability 2010
European Universities Association ‘Salzburg Declaration’ 2005 ‘Core component of Doctoral education is the advancement of knowledge through original research. At the same time it is recognised that doctoral training must increasingly meet the needs of an employment market that is wider than academia’. Universities Need to assume responsibility for ensuring that programmes and research training are designed to meet new challenges. Must use innovative structures to meet the challenge of interdisciplinary training and the development of transferable skills.
DIT Graduate Attributes Each graduate is: Engaged Enterprising Enquiring Effective Expert in chosen subject discipline
Forecast Ireland 2013 Skills shortages: ICT Biopharmaand medical devices Agri-food Financial services Healthcare Cross-disciplinary skills needed: ICT combined with business intelligence and financial applications expertise Engineering combined with science skills No evidence of shortages Education sector Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, 2013
Forecast to 2020 EU-27+ ~235m employed ~83m opportunities = ~8m new + ~75m replacement demand ~18.1 % of total employment Technicians and Professionals Physical and Engineering Sciences Life Sciences and Health Teaching, Finance and Business Public Administration Cedefop, Forecast 2012
Forecast to 2020 EU-27+ Increase of ~20m demand for high-level qualifications Increase of ~4.5m demand for medium-level qualifications Decrease of ~14m demand for low-level qualifications EU will meet its targets 75% employment 40% aged 30-34 with 3o education
Supply and Demand and Imbalances • Jobs Supply and Demand are following similar trends • Supply ≈ Demand for People with low-medium level qualifications • Supply > Demand for people with high-level qualifications • Aging labour force requires retraining and requalification
Ambition should not be to simply meet…skills demand If Ireland is to develop competitive advantage… it requires a skills profile…skewed towards higher levels of skills attainment. Ireland’s Expert Group on Future Skills Needs
High Tech Industry Main Driver of EU Growth Eurostat, 2013
Productivity vs Employment Eurostat, 2013
Need To Continue to structure doctoral education to include more employabilityskills Introduce employabilityskills training to Bachelors and Masters programmes – the pipeline for doctoral programmes Retrain and Requalify an aging labour force Be cognisant of skills needs in individual countries and in different sectors
Challenges Improving Education while Consolidating Public Finances Increasing the Numbers of students taking STEM disciplines . Increasing the numbers of highly skilled graduates employed in high tech industries Increasing GDP expenditure on R&D Innovation is highly sensitive to financial constraints Business R&D and new patents shrink when GDP declines