Getting engineers on board

New Zealand’s polytechnic colleges are well placed to help meet the call for more graduates The government is flexing its muscles on the question of supply of engineering graduates and is challenging New Zealand’s top university with getting a different balance between humanities and other subjects on the one hand and engineering on the other. The universities argument against simply replacing some provision by an increased engineering provision is based on two arguments. The first is that there is the long-standing view of universities in New Zealand that any changes to better meet the needs of the economy and the demand for skills have to be met through increased funding from the government. The other argument is that there is a seemingly reasonable point that engineering is an expensive subject and cuts in other courses would have to far exceed the gains in engineering. One of the problems is that when the general community says “engineering” they automatically assume that this means only an increase in the numbers of degree-qualified engineers. But that is not the case. In 2010, the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) published a report addressing the supply of graduates needed to both maintain and grow the sector to a point where it can effectively contribute to the growth of the country. The report’s conclusions are interesting: “The key findings in the report are that there are shortages of engineering and technology graduates across all levels of study. The greatest shortage is at the diploma level particularly in the civil field which concurs with anecdotal information from civil industries. “The manufacturing, process and resourcing field has shortages at the bachelors/honours level; in the automotive, mechanical and industrial field, shortages have occurred at Level 4 and at the diploma level; the civil field also has shortages at the bachelors/honours level; the electrical and electronic fields have shortages at the diploma and bachelors/honours levels; and the maritime field has shortages at Level 4.” (IPENZ, 2010)1 The shortages are across the spectrum of qualifications – diploma, applied degrees and engineering degrees – and the real crisis of supply is weighted towards the first two of these. The growth required in each of the qualification levels is interesting: Level 6 diploma – 85% to 178%, Level 7 applied degrees (e.g. BEngTech) 120% to 33% and Level 8 degrees (e.g. BE) 5% to 33%. So the demand that the universities double their provision seems on the face of this a little extravagant when about half of the growth sought can be met in the polytechnic sector through diploma and BEngTech programs. In this as in so many arguments we are trapped by the view that had developed that degrees are the critically important qualifications to the growth of the economy and to meeting skill needs. They certainly are important but have never been nor will ever be in themselves sufficient. Australia, New Zealand and other similarly placed countries have not paid sufficient attention to the need for the technical skills of mid-level qualifications. It is an irony that the now replaced NZ Certificate in Engineering is looked back on with nostalgia by the profession. Unlike Australia, New Zealand has not been obsessed in its national targets to only promote degree level qualifications but it is a clear trend throughout the Anglophone education systems that seem simultaneously unable to stem the flow out of the system of failing and disengaging young people. The issues of youth unemployment in these countries are as much issues of unemployable youth as they are issues of a shortage of jobs. It is sobering to think that Korea produces five times the percentage of engineering graduates that either Australia or New Zealand do. Have they got it wrong? How can they achieve this? It is clear that working towards outcomes from tertiary education institutions that reflect the ideal proportions of qualifications within the labour force is a complex matter. It requires not only the various industry sectors to have an accurate picture of demand but also a realistic view of levels of qualifications that are required. The NZ engineering profession in its report has set out information that is useful. Rather than simply call for “more graduates in engineering” they have looked at the anatomy of the profession and have qualified the different levels of qualification that are required. And it is clear that it will require institutions other than the universities to respond, especially if the universities find it hard to respond. That is where sound articulation agreements can be developed between polytechnics and universities where pathways would lead from the Level 6 and Level 7 qualifications in engineering into the universities Level 8+ qualifications. It all seems capable of solution but first the compulsory arm wrestle will have to be endured. Stuart Middleton is director external relations at Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand. The IPENZ report can be found at www.ipenz.org.nz