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Workshop A
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Workshop A |
Workshop B |
Workshop C |
Workshop D
Workshop A - Session 3
David Compston is a businessman and the Chairman of Manchester Training and Enterprise Council, which has long been one of the most successful Training and Enterprise Councils in the United Kingdom. It has been a concern of mine for some time that universities are too remote from the world of work which their students face immediately after graduation. In recent years, we have seen unemployment in the age bracket of up to 25 years reach totally unacceptable levels. Even having a university degree has not been a guarantee that a young person can find a job. Many graduates who have found work, have found work which is really not satisfying in relation to the qualifications that they have achieved at university. A recent first destination survey in the UK demonstrated that 45% of graduates were employed in jobs which did not really require graduate skills. As a large part of the population is now already going to university and an even larger proportion in the future will go there, there have to be some very significant changes in the way in which the universities conduct business - and, yes, higher education is a business. I would suggest that the main aspect of the business is to prepare people for the world of work. We all know the world of work is changing very fast; are the universities changing fast? They may think so, but, compared with business, I do not think they are. Consider the fact that more and more people are employed in small and medium-sized businesses as we have just heard. In my own area here in Manchester, 65% of the workforce are employed in small and medium-sized businesses, that is, companies employing fewer than 200 people. Nationally I believe the figure is as high as 70%. The rate of economic growth in small and medium-sized businesses is vital, and large companies of course are outsourcing more and more of their functions. Management People in work are going to need higher and higher skill levels to cope with the rate of technological change and the accelerated rate of product development. There will therefore be a demand for the most skilful management and for people who can change their contribution to the world of work throughout their lives. I have seen in the professions how the financial pressures are many orders of magnitude greater in the last year than they were five years ago. In the public sector, 'value for money' are the buzz words. In defence, the ability to organise contractor support just behind the front line forces requires a considerable understanding of business. The world of work requires graduates who understand the principles of business. Do universities see it as part of their task to ensure that graduates understand that as a key skill? I doubt it. Dramatic Change Small and medium-sized businesses can only employ graduates who add value to their business very shortly after they become employed on the staff. The challenge of business is to keep ahead of the pack; the techniques of business management, the challenges that business face in the future, will require people in the world of work to go on learning throughout life. We all accept that; that is why we are here today. I suggest that higher education will have to change dramatically to respond to this requirement in the market. The facilities in the higher education in universities are grossly under-used. We have got to see something is done about that. I put it to those of you who are in higher education that you really have to appreciate the changes you are going to have to make. I ask you to convince those of us in business that you are grasping that task with more emphasis on courses which give graduates the skills they need to secure challenging employment immediately after graduation, and then courses that can be easily accessed throughout life by those in work, many of whom will be in small or medium-sized businesses and who will be moving from one business to another and from one sector to another.
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