Science, Engineering and Technology Skills Audit

Transcription

1 Science, Engineering and Technology Skills Audit Submission to the Department of Education Science and Training June 2005 Contact: Kathryn Hurford Associate Director, Public Policy Engineers Australia, 11 National Circuit, Barton, ACT Tel , Fax

2 Table of Contents Executive Summary 1. Introduction 1 2. The engineering skills shortage Ageing of the engineering workforce Australia's Human Resources in Science and Engineering 3 3. Key factors working to create shortages Primary and Secondary Education 3.2 University 3.3 Employment of Engineers Labour market information Problems with data collection Tackling the problems Education Skilled migration Conclusion 22

3 Box 1: Shortages in electrical power engineering 4 Box 2: The Australian Power Institute 6 Box 3: Industry sponsored engineering courses 9 Box 4: Gender balance in engineering 11 Box 5: Loss of government training and the introduction of CPD 15 Box 6: Shortages of railway engineers 17 Box 7: The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 20 Figure 1: Average age of professional engineers by occupation, Figure 2: Scientists and engineers as a percentage of total employment 3 Figure 3: Annual number of first degrees in engineering per million 5 Figure 4: Comparison of Year 12 students enabling science enrolments 7 Figure 5: Starting salaried by occupation, Table 1: Percentages showing highest qualification held by Year 12 mathematics, science and technology teachers by gender, Table 2: Average annual flows of engineers

4 Executive Summary Skill shortages already exist within the engineering profession. With graduate numbers stagnated, interest in enabling science subjects at primary and secondary school falling, and the ageing of the population, Engineers Australia anticipates that the current skills shortage will only be exacerbated in the future without government intervention. The government must look to improve labour market information and implement policies to support and strengthen Australia s education, training and migration system to mitigate current and projected skill shortages. The Science, Engineering and Technology Skills Audit is a good first step in the right direction. Key findings and recommendations from the engineering profession include: Australia s Human Resources in Science and Engineering Data on the ageing of the engineering workforce suggests that long-term shortages will emerge for a number of engineering disciplines. According to OECD figures, Australia s stock of human resources in Science, Engineering and Technology has improved over the past ten years, rising 17.6 percent. In comparison with other countries, Australia has a low rate of entry into and graduation from engineering. The graduation of approximately 5000 students from engineering degrees each year, for the past 10 years, means that any growth in Australia s science and engineering graduates has come from increased science enrolments alone. International comparisons also indicate that Australia is producing twice as many scientists as engineers. This is at a time when we should be as equally focused on converting ideas into products, as we are on conducting and publishing research. Primary and Secondary Education Current participation rates of students in science, engineering and technology (SET) subjects have stagnated. In acting to reverse this trend, Australia should be aiming to have at least 50 percent of students studying SET subjects in Year 12. Primary and secondary teachers need increased opportunities to study SET subjects as part of their teaching degrees and through continuing professional development and post graduate study. A number of secondary teachers are teaching out of field. As a minimum level, secondary teachers should have at least second year tertiary qualifications in the subject being taught.

5 Greater emphasis will need to be put on deploying teachers according to their specialist expertise and targeting professional development opportunities to strengthen teachers academic and discipline content knowledge, particularly in SET areas. Encouraging student participation SET subjects at primary and secondary school, through into engineering courses at university should be more readily supported by government. While there are a number of successful programs run by Engineers Australia that could be given greater support, there is also value in looking overseas at other primary and secondary programs supported by national governments. University Education Each year 1800 eligible students are turned away from engineering courses due to a lack of Commonwealth funded university places. There is an immediate need for 1800 more places to be funded for engineering students. In 2003, the Federal Government declared teaching and nursing skills as national priorities and excluded them from university fee increases. It is equally in the national interest to pro-actively support the development of an engineering skills base and as a result, there is also a case to exclude engineering from fee increases. Employment of Engineers Increasingly engineers, particularly those who have completed double degrees, are finding employment in large consulting firms and many may never use their technical engineering expertise directly. While the number of engineering graduates produced is static, the pool of potential employers has increased. Engineering consultancies are finding it harder and harder to recruit engineering graduates into technical areas. Labour Market Information The current data and information sources available are not sufficiently comprehensive, robust or forward looking enough to provide a sound basis for national workforce planning and policy. Problems with the current data methodologies for example, the ASCO framework and ASCED framework need to be fully considered and adequately addressed. Skilled Migration Skilled migrants make a valuable contribution to Australia. However, it is essential that skilled migration is not seen as an alternative to educating and training a highly skilled Australian workforce. Skilled migrants who enter under the Employer-Nominated skilled migration stream are the most successful in the Australian labour market. The Government should favour the Employer-Nominated stream over the Independent stream given the greater and immediate returns to the Australian economy.

6 1. Introduction Engineers Australia is the peak body for engineering practitioners in Australia and represents all disciplines and branches of engineering, including information technology. Engineers Australia has over members Australia wide and is the largest and most diverse engineering association in Australia. All members of Engineers Australia are bound by a common commitment to promote engineering and facilitate its practice for the common good. Engineers Australia welcomes the initiative of the Federal government to undertake a national skills audit of science, engineering and technology skills. A skilled workforce is essential if Australia is to maintain the quality and standard of living to which its citizens aspire in an increasingly competitive world. This applies equally to the engineering sector as to other sectors. Australia s infrastructure, utilities, industry, government and education sectors have all undergone major structural change over the last decade. Structural changes have included competition policy, privatisation, and reduction in the size of government. The result is that in some areas of engineering, skills shortages now exist or are predicted to occur. Employment of well-qualified engineers and scientists pays off in terms of a nation s competitiveness. This is especially so in relation to high quality, high technology industries. The use of highly skilled engineers can increase a company s productivity and profitability and through it, the nation s economic performance. Conversely, fewer and less skilled engineers and scientists and the associated diminished innovative activity adversely affects domestic market share for local goods and services, decreases international trade share, and erodes product quality and variety. Skill shortages already exist within the engineering profession. With graduate numbers stagnated, interest in enabling science subjects at primary and secondary school falling, and the ageing of the population, Engineers Australia anticipates that the current skills shortage will only be exacerbated in the future without government intervention. The key factors working to create skill shortages in the engineering profession are discussed below. 2. The engineering skills shortage 2.1 Ageing of the engineering workforce Along with most of the developed world, the Australian workforce is ageing. As the percentage of the population over 55 increases, eventually the number of retired residents will surpass the number of residents who are in the job market. These demographic pressures will develop into the challenge of replacing skilled, older workers from a much smaller pool of younger workers. Industries with older-thanaverage workforces will be particularly affected by these factors. Engineers Australia June

7 An assessment of the number of professional engineers by Engineering Occupation based on the Australian census shows that there are only small numbers of engineers working at the technical level as petroleum, agricultural, biomedical, chemical, and industrial engineers. The average age of a professional engineer is 37.1 years. An engineer employed in the manufacturing sector would be on average 43 years old - the oldest average age in the engineering profession. Engineers employed as software designers are the youngest in the engineering profession with an average age of 33 years. These data suggest that longterm shortages will emerge for a number of engineering disciplines. Figure 1: Average age of professional engineers by occupation, 2001 Average Age Manufacturer Engineering Manager Electrical Engineer Civil Engineer Biomedical Engineer Industrial Engineer Electronics Engineer Mechanical Engineer Mining Engineer Plant Engineer Chemical Engineer Software Designer Source: The Engineering Profession: a statistical overview 2003, Edition 3, Engineers Australia Further information on the ageing of the engineering profession can be found in the Engineers Australia publication: How many professional engineers are there in Australia and other big questions? Engineers Australia June

8 2.2 Australia s Human Resources in Science and Engineering According to OECD figures, Australia s stock of human resources in Science and Technology including engineering has improved over the past ten years, rising from 476,000 in 1996 to 560,000 in 2001, an increase of 17.6% over the five year period. i Australia s scientists and engineers as a percentage of total employment is also greater than the level seen in Sweden, EU, France, Greece, Italy and Australia Figure 2: Scientists and Engineers as a percentage of total employment, 2001 % of total employment Finland United Kingdom AUSTRALIA Sweden EU France Greece Italy Austria Source: DEST, Australian Science and Technology at a Glance, 2004 In relation to Australia s age structure, the number of Australians with a university education and the number entering university are also around the OECD mean. ii However, there is an increasing trend, particularly in government circles, to use the word science as an all-inclusive term for science, engineering and technology. A 2004, Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) publication Australian Science and Technology at a Glance, indicates a healthy growth in the numbers of science and engineering graduates between 1989 and In 2000, 19.7 percent of new graduates in Australia received science and engineering degrees, compared to 21.7 percent of graduates in the OECD, iii when the data are split into science and engineering, the real picture begins to emerge. While around 11.8 percent of new graduates in Australia were awarded science degrees, engineering graduates accounted for only 7.9 percent of total graduations in Australia. iv Engineers Australia June

9 Box 1: Shortages in electrical power engineering In 2001, Engineers Australia, the Electric Energy Society of Australia (EESA) and the Electricity Supply Association of Australia (ESAA) shared concerns based on anecdotal evidence that there was a looming shortage of electrical power engineers in Australia. Information was gathered from the electrical power industry and academic communities via two separate survey questionnaires, a discussion workshop, and a number of submissions and the results formed the basis for the publication Assessing the Future of Electrical Power Engineering: a report on electrical power engineering manpower requirements in Australia: The major findings of the study include: (1) The number of power engineering academics is decreasing. The average age of all power academics is 50 years. The present university environment and research funding priorities are not attracting a sufficient number of young academics to replace retirements. (2) International students make up 50 percent of those taking power engineering courses. The number and staffing of power schools cannot be supported by local requirements alone. Enrolments of international students will be a major factor in maintaining the development of Australian power schools. The demand for graduates with knowledge in some areas of power expertise is very low, so that class sizes will not be viable at any university within the present funding arrangements with international students. (3) The projected number of local power engineering graduates fall just below the projected needs of industry. Nevertheless there are reasons for concern, as not all power engineering graduates will seek to go into the power industry they have a sufficiently broad education to easily find employment elsewhere. Conversely it is comparatively difficult for other specialties such as computer and telecommunications engineers to move into power engineering. (4) Experienced engineers appear to have insufficient time to mentor recent graduates. Industry seems to expect its power engineers to have more specialised training, but is less willing than formerly to encourage engineers to take part in graduate development programs. (5) There are increasing pressures on undergraduate course structures due to an increase in the range of power technology, for example power electronics, drives and power quality along with a move to provide engineering students with study options in more generalist subjects, for example management. The report outlined a future action plan with a major outcome of the study being the formation of the Australian Electric Power Institute which is discussed in detail in Box 2. Engineers Australia June

10 In comparison with other countries, Australia has a low rate of entry into and graduation from engineering. Internationally, the number of engineering graduates per million lags many other OECD countries including Singapore, Korea, Japan, Finland, Denmark, Taiwan, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and France. v The graduation of approximately 5000 students from engineering degrees each year, for the past 10 years, means that the growth in Australia s science and engineering graduates has come from increased science enrolments alone. Figure 3: Annual number of first degrees in engineering per million per million Singapore Korea Japan Finland Germany Ireland United Kingdom AUSTRALIA Sweden USA Austria Source: The Engineering Profession: a statistical overview, 2003, Edition 3, Engineers Australia These trends in science and engineering graduations are also mirrored in the numbers of science and engineering PhDs being awarded. While the overall number of PhDs awarded has increased since 1989 (with a steadying of the numbers since 1997), the percentage of science and engineering PhDs has dropped from 45.9 percent in 1989 to 37.2 percent in Engineering PhDs number fewer than half the Science PhDs, further compounding the skills shortages in the engineering sector. vi These data all point to the balance between engineering and science being out of alignment at a time when we should be as focused on converting ideas into products, as we are on conducting and publishing research. Engineers Australia June

11 Box 2: The Australian Power Institute The Australian Power Institute (API) is a cooperative initiative of the Australian electricity and power industry designed to address the declining engineering and technical resources available to meet future skills needs. The initiative reflects the concern of industry and a willingness to develop and support a practical solution to current and projected skill shortages. The API has been formed to support and enhance teaching and research in power engineering at Australian universities with initial seed funding provided by: TransGrid, Delta Electricity, EnergyAustralia, Integral Energy, Powerlink Queensland, Energex, NEMMCO, SPIPowernet, Ergon Energy, Country Energy, Transend, Electranet, Wilson Transformers, Western Power, CitiPower and Powercor The change to the market structure of the electricity supply industry worldwide has caused a radical change in all facets of power engineering - graduate recruitments, postgraduate education, research and academics. A period of downsizing meant that less graduates were required and funding for higher education and research was no longer available. In addition, there was a lessening in traditional mentoring capacity within organisations. This has resulted in a negative perception of the industry among younger generations. As the demand for graduates reduced, there has been an inevitable, significant and continuing decline in the ability of Australian university electrical engineering faculties to carry out teaching and research in almost all aspects of electric power engineering. In many cases, the viability of power engineering schools at many universities is in serious doubt. These factors have created an industry wide concern over the future source of expertise and talent in the power engineering area. In particular, it has become evident that there is a widening gap between Australia s educational and research capabilities and the electricity industry needs. In essence, electrical power engineering is at crossroads and the API has been formed to help address the future needs of the sector. The Mission of API as set by the industry CEOs is: Sustainability and excellence in engineering skills for the power industry in Australia And its focus is: To ensure a sustainable supply of engineering skills for the power industry in Australia. A number of programs are being run by the API to enhance academic activities at the undergraduate level and postgraduate level. Other initiatives are focused on working to provide continuous career education. More information on the API and their activities can be found at: Engineers Australia June

12 3. Key factors working to create shortages 3.1 Primary and Secondary Education Australia has a comprehensive and inclusive education system that performs well in international comparisons. Australia has nearly ten thousand schools, with a quarter of a million teachers who are responsible for the education of three and a quarter million students. Despite this, there is a need to mobilise schools to improve the Science, Engineering and Technology, or the SET, literacy of students. Strategies are needed to ensure that all students gain a broad base in the enabling sciences. This means that SET education must be given a high priority nationally, in all education systems and in every school. In primary school, SET subjects are often not taught or taught on an ad hoc basis. At the secondary level many students lose interest in SET subjects and despite showing potential, turn away from enabling science courses. While the numbers of students who are completing Year 12 increase, the proportion of students interested in studying chemistry, physics and advanced mathematics has stagnated. This is inconsistent with the knowledge needs of an advanced technological society. The percentage of Year 12 students doing no science or mathematics has increased significantly over the last decade. In 1993 it was 31.4 percent, in 1998, it was 40 percent. Currently, 45 percent of current Year 12 students are not enrolled in any science or mathematics subjects. vii Put another way, while the Year 12 school population has doubled, those studying the enabling sciences have increased by 13 percent. This downward trend in Maths and Science is significant and alarming. Unlike many other fields of study at the tertiary level, senior school study of science is a prerequisite for study in many post-school SET fields, and essential for studying engineering. Figure 4: Comparison of Year 12 students enabling science enrolments, 1980 & Number of students T o t a l Y e a r 1 2 B io lo g y C h e m is t r y P h y s ic s G e o lo g y Source: DETYA, The Status and Quality of Teaching and Learning of Science in Australian Schools, August 2000 Engineers Australia June

13 There is a strong nexus between those specialising in science in the final year of secondary school and those going on to study SET-related fields in university. In 1998, 86 percent of students studying both chemistry and physics continued onto university, as did 77 percent of those students studying any two science subjects. Both groups were much more likely to continue to study at university than those who did not study any science subjects. Data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) also show that 70 percent of science specialists and 79 percent of science specialists in physics and chemistry from Year 12 enter university and study SET subjects. The participation rates of schools students in the enabling sciences have a broad and far reaching effect. While participation rates are a key indicator of the potential number of undergraduates entering SET courses, ultimately it is a guide to how well prepared Australia is to meet the needs of the knowledge economy. Engineers Australia believes that current participation rates in the enabling sciences need to be dramatically increased if Australia is serious about increasing its innovative capacity and international competitiveness in the knowledge economy. Australia should be aiming to have at least 50 percent of students studying SET subjects in Year 12. Another significant problem is that while there are existing opportunities for prospective primary teachers to study SET as part of their education degree; few are doing so, with the majority of students choosing non-scientific discipline areas. A review of undergraduate primary education by Lawrence and Palmer viii found that only a quarter of programs had compulsory science foundation subjects specially designed for primary students, and no technology subject options existed. Some university courses gave students the option to study SET subjects but these were offered by science, mathematics and engineering faculties and were not tailored for education students. Primary teacher education programs need to offer students clear opportunities to specialise in SET teaching and students should be encouraged by universities and education authorities to pursue those opportunities. Also of concern is the increasing number of high school teachers teaching out of field. In 1998, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which reports on the learning outcomes of students at ages nine, thirteen and in their final year of secondary school, found that 80 percent of Year 12 science teachers had at least third year university study, an honours degree, or a higher qualification in the areas they were teaching. In mathematics in Year 12, 70 percent of teachers had undertaken mathematics to third year university level or held an honours, masters or doctoral degree. A further 10 percent of teachers in these science and mathematics subjects areas had two year qualifications in their specialist subject discipline. In science and mathematics, percent of teachers taking Year 12 subjects were not trained to second year university level: Engineers Australia June

14 Table 1: Percentages showing highest qualification held by Year 12 mathematics, science and technology teachers by gender, 1999 Males Females Highest Qualification Maths Science IT Tech Maths Science IT Tech > 3 rd Year University > 2 nd Year University Other Post School School or none Number Source: J Ainley and C Underwood, Australia s Teachers: Australia s Future, Vol. 3, Background data and analysis, Review of Teaching and Teacher Education, DEST, Canberra, Engineers Australia supports the view of the Australian Science Teachers Association that as a minimum level, secondary science teachers should have at least second year tertiary qualifications in the subject being taught. No teachers should be teaching out of field in the Australian education system if the Australian government is serious about being a leader in the knowledge economy. Greater emphasis will need to be put on deploying teachers according to their specialist expertise and targeting professional development opportunities to strengthen teachers academic and discipline content knowledge, particularly in SET outcomes. A full assessment of Engineers Australia s research on the primary and secondary schools environment and encouraging student participation in the enabling sciences, engineering and technology can be found at: Box 3: Industry sponsored engineering courses In 2004, Ford and Holden reported vacancies for more than 50 automotive engineers. In response to this skill shortage a Bachelor of Automotive Engineering degree began this year at the University of Adelaide. The course aims to give students the skills and qualities needed for a career in the automotive industry the biggest employer in South Australia. Both the local automotive industry and the SA government have made substantial contributions to the new course. The initiative to establish the automotive engineering degree was prompted by the recognition that the automotive industry is beginning to experience significant skill shortages that cannot be adequately met through skilled migration. The university s industry partners are sponsoring an additional lecturer position who will help with the more specialised courses in the degree. The partners are also committed to provide experts to be guest lecturers and will provide ongoing advice to the university to ensure the degree remains relevant and timely. Further information can be obtained from the following link: Engineers Australia June

15 3.2 University Accreditation of engineering courses The quality, relevance and accessibility of university education have always been core interests of Engineers Australia. Engineers Australia has undertaken an accreditation program for university programs and courses since Accreditation involves an evaluation of undergraduate engineering award programs offered by universities and other educational providers. The decision to have its engineering programs accredited by Engineers Australia rests with each educational institution. It is not obligatory but no Australian university has opted out. An accredited engineering education program is judged as providing satisfactory preparation for graduates to enter the profession at the appropriate career category and to gain admission to Engineers Australia in the grade of graduate Professional Engineer, Graduate Engineering Technologist or Graduate Engineering Associate as appropriate. By providing a standard for judgement of undergraduate engineering education programs, internationally benchmarked through the Washington Accord, the accreditation process assures the competence of graduates from all accredited degrees in Australia and provides a guarantee of standing independently from the educational provider. This benchmarked reference is particularly important to employers. Engineers Australia uses its accreditation role to help ensure that Graduates from engineering courses throughout Australia are meeting employers needs. Engineering drop out rates Commencing student numbers in engineering have not changed dramatically for almost 10 years. The completion rates for engineering students are also low when compared with the rates for all higher education students. On the assumption that full-time students will take between 4 and 5 years to complete their degree, completion rates from 1993 to 2000 range from only 56 percent to 60 percent of the commencing engineering student cohort. A number of factors are contributing to high drop out rates in engineering courses. One significant factor is increasing financial pressure placed on university students. In 1984, about 50 percent of all full-time undergraduate students were employed during the semester, working about five hours per week. In 2000, 72.5 percent of all full-time students were employed during the semester, working about 14.5 hours per week. Not only are more full-time undergraduates in paid employment, but they are working nearly three times the number of hours worked per week compared with full-time undergraduates students in In terms of engineering education, the average engineering student has 20 formal contact hours at university per week involving attendance at lectures, tutorials and laboratories. Beyond actual contact hours, students will then need to complete another 30 hours independent study per week in order to pass their courses. This equates to 50 hours of study per week which, when combined with an average of 15 hours of part-time work per week leaves students with little time for involvement in other aspects of university life for Engineers Australia June

16 example participation in university sporting teams or other university cultural or recreational activities. Another issue affecting engineering education is the need for some students to retain year-long part-time work. This limits the ability of students to undertake full-time industry internships related to their degree during the end of year summer vacation period, or at other times during their course. Professional practice exposure of this nature is a crucial element in the engineering education process and an expectation of potential employers of engineering graduates. Without a history of vacation or other work placement in a relevant engineering industry, graduates are at a disadvantage when seeking employment. Box 4: Gender balance in engineering Only small numbers of females currently enrol in engineering and there is an immediate need to encourage more women to make it their career choice. Improving on the ratio of women to men is a critical issue for the future of both the engineering profession and the communities it serves. Because engineering has such an important influence on Australia s public health, safety, security, prosperity and the environment it is essential that the profession reflect the needs and aspirations of the entire Australian community. However, for the engineering profession to attract and retain female engineers, it must address current workplace equity and diversity issues, which continue to remain elusive goals despite several decades of equal employment opportunity and industrial democracy policies. The proportion of female engineers is not increasing as rapidly as in other traditionally male dominated professions. There also appears to be a pattern of young women leaving the profession and utilising their skills elsewhere. Worldwide, but particularly so in Australia, the proportion of women selecting an engineering career is low. In Britain, the proportion of women applicants accepted to engineering and technology degree courses remained static at 15 percent in the last decade. The proportion varied by engineering discipline, women comprising 23 percent of chemical engineers and 7 percent of mechanical engineers. In Australia, engineering has the lowest female share of any broad field of study in Australian universities, and the rate of increase of female enrolments in engineering courses remains at around 0.3 precent per annum, according to a national study by Engineers Australia s National Women in Engineering Committee in While, there are larger proportions of women engineers involved in environmental engineering, there no reason why women should not comprise a greater proportion in all engineering disciplines. A refocus on gender issue in the engineering profession may be needed to address growing skill shortages in some disciplines. Engineers Australia June

17 Course closures While Adelaide University is expanding its engineering faculty to help ameliorate the skills shortages in the automotive industry (Box 3), the University of Canberra has closed its engineering faculty. University of Canberra (UC) Vice-Chancellor Professor Roger Dean announced on August that there would be no new entries to engineering courses at UC in 2005, and that the University Council would formally close the engineering program by The decision was an economic one with Vice-Chancellor Dean citing that even though engineering was academically strong, the course could not be sustained at appropriate levels with current restricted government funding and small student numbers. The university stressed that the closure of the school had nothing to do with the quality of the course, the quality of the graduates, or the employability of the graduates. Factors resulting in the closure included falling student numbers and reduced government funding, combined with a strong engineering faculty at the Australian National University. Most capital cities have three or more independent engineering schools. Engineers Australia has previously recommended to the government that the viability of these arrangements needs to be questioned. There is a case to move toward fewer and larger metropolitan engineering schools with engineering schools embarking on a priority setting exercise to facilitate the amalgamation and specialisation of course offerings and research. This recommendation is born from a realisation that the resources for engineering education are currently spread too thinly and rationalisation should occur to facilitate the use of resources more effectively. However, Engineers Australia only supports course amalgamation when the total number of engineering students Australia wide is not reduced. A full assessment of Engineers Australia s position on the specialisation and amalgamation of university offerings in engineering are outlined in a submission to the 2002 DEST Review of Higher Education, which can be downloaded from: Employment of Engineers Employment in consulting firms Increasingly, employers regard an engineering degree as a good general degree. Engineering qualifications have become highly regarded by employers because of their emphasis on risk management, ethical practice and sustainable outcomes. In this way, graduates from engineering courses have become a new source of managers and leaders for many organisations and professions. Engineers Australia June

18 Many engineers, particularly those who have completed double degrees, adding accounting, law or economics to their portfolios, are finding employment in large consulting firms and many may never use their technical engineering expertise directly. While the number of engineering graduates produced is static, the pool of potential employers has increased. Engineering consultancies are finding it harder and harder to recruit engineering graduates into technical areas. In addition, many engineers who begin their employment in technical fields- and this may be as great as between 20 percent and 50 percent, based on feedback from Engineers Australia member surveys - move into management roles and out of direct practice in their field or discipline. The sleeper issue is the expertise drain from engineering practice to management and leadership. The Defence Science and Technology Organisation identified this issue and worked to implement a new career structure in their Certified Agreement. A new career structure has been implemented that allows all technical staff, including engineers, to reach a Senior Executive Service equivalent level (ie 1 and 2 star level) while still working in technical fields. People with technical expertise are now no longer forced into management roles in order to further their careers. Salaries Median starting salaries for engineering graduates rank relatively well against other professions. However, this benefit is eroded over time. As a 2004 BRW article pointed out engineers might not like to think about it, but any self-respecting partner of a leading law firm would not get out of bed for the rates engineers command ix While starting salaries are reasonable, the curve quickly flattens so that engineers with 20 years experience earn approximately $ which is about the same as a law graduate might expect after three years with a big firm. At the highest level, an engineer may command a median base salary of $ The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA) has calculated that 10 years after completing their university degree fewer than 50 percent of graduates are employed as engineers. This is a real issue for the profession, while only 60 percent of engineering students complete their degree, only 50 percent of graduates are staying in the profession beyond 10 years. It is possible that in some areas skill shortages exists due to disillusionment among qualified engineers. Engineers Australia June

19 70000 Figure 5: Starting Salaries by Occupation, Median salary Dentistry Optometry Medicine ENGINEERING Education Law Earth Sciences Computer Science Physical Science Veterinary Science Accounting Economics Humanities Architecture Art Source: The Engineering Profession: a statistical overview 2003, Edition 3, Engineers Australia 4. Labour market information Monitoring labour markets to produce timely and accurate information is important, as individuals and organisations make important decisions, often with significant cost consequences, based on perceptions about employment trends, job vacancies, pay rates and related factors. If they are effective, labour market information can provide the information needed to link government polices, in areas such as taxation, employment, insurance and immigration to actual conditions in the labour market. Education and training institutions also need accurate labour market information to help guide their decisions about enrolments, curriculum development, faculty recruitment and investment in critical infrastructure. Precise information also allows employers to adopt a more strategic approach to recruitment, retention, training and other human resource management challenges. It is also essential for individuals, students and workers who must take a pro-active approach to learning and career development. Engineers Australia June

20 Box 5: Loss of government training and the introduction of CPD In the past, a significant percentage of engineers were trained in the public sector. As government agencies and utilities have been privatised or have been outsourced, there has been a fundamental shift in the employment of engineers. Cadetships are virtually nonexistent and engineers are now, on the whole, private sector employees and the major responsibility for training engineering graduates has been transferred with them. Continuing education and post-graduation training are particularly important for engineering graduates. Engineers are not fully formed and are not competent to practice independently until they have gained several years of mentored engineering experience. Additionally, it is recognised that in view of today s rapid pace of change in technology, and the increasingly accountable and litigious environment in which engineers operate, it is essential that engineers adopt a program of lifelong learning through Professional Development. In this new environment, graduate and experienced engineers, industry, private training companies and universities have recognised the need to work together to support these changes in the employment, education and training environment of engineers. Engineers Australia has responded to this challenge through its Professional Development (PDP) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs. These programs help to maintain the currency of an engineer s qualifications and support an engineering training and up skilling in new areas of engineering expertise. The Professional Development Program (PDP), which focuses on the professional development needs of recent engineering graduates, is a formally recognised agreement between Engineers Australia, the enterprise/employer and the individual/graduate engineer. The PDP is a structured program delivered in the workplace with external assessment and support from Engineers Australia. Participation in a PDP is open to engineering practitioners employed in all fields, types and sizes of enterprise. Currently there are over two thousand graduates in 120 organisations involved in the program. These organisations include defence, mining, utilities, consulting, aerospace, information technology, telecommunications, processing, manufacturing, construction and public authorities. They include all three employment categories; Professional Engineer, Engineering Technologist and Engineering Associate. Under the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program, professional engineers, on an individual level, undertake activities in order to maintain and extend their knowledge, skills and judgment. For an activity to qualify as CPD it must be related to the engineer s professional career. For many engineers CPD activities will include both technical and non-technical topics. Non-technical topics include management, accounting, law, economics, and foreign languages. Engineers must undertake CPD to maintain Chartered Status with Engineers Australia and are subject to random audit. Further information can be found at: Engineers Australia June

21 4.1 Problems with data collection Engineers Australia believes that the current data and information sources available are not sufficiently comprehensive, robust or forward looking enough to provide a sound basis for national workforce planning and policy. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that government agencies often change definitions or the way data is aggregated. The bulk of Australia s labour market survey activity is based on the Australian Standard Classification of Occupation System (ASCO), which provides a common framework and definitions used to gather occupational data consistently across the country and over time. Engineers Australia uses the ASCO classifications of engineering professionals extensively to assess employer sponsored migration requests, prepare letters of recognition for migration purposes and advise students of engineering career options. From regular exposure to the system, Engineers Australia believes that the ASCO codes are too slow in capturing and describing new occupations as well as encapsulating the skill changes in occupational titles that remain constant over time. In some cases it is impossible to identify specialisations within the engineering profession. The major deficiency with the ASCO data is the focus on skill sets rather than occupational title. There are many different skills linked to employability, for example, management skills, problem solving, effective communication and ability to work as a member of a team. As a result, information collected needs to be geared toward capturing information on both qualitative and quantitative skills shortages. DEST publishes data on course completions by field of study. In 2001, DEST replaced the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission (CTEC) classification with a new Australian Classification of Education (ASCED) published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The new ACED classification resulted in a considerable broadening of the scope of the field of education for engineering, from Engineering and Surveying to Engineering and Related Technologies. As a result it is no longer possible to undertake historical comparisons of new data with the statistics previously provided by DEST, limiting the usefulness of this data to analyse trends in the engineering profession. Another problem is that enrolments in engineering are being over inflated as the Related Technologies definition has become a gab bag for any field of study that cannot be called Science. The Related Technologies field is also capturing fields of study at the para-professional and trade level making it much more difficult (without requesting and paying for specific data runs from DEST) to identify how many engineers are graduating from Australian universities each year. Engineers Australia June

22 Longer term projections of population growth and demographic change alone do not provide sufficient information to estimate the future supply and demand for the engineering profession. Supply and demand for individual occupations are influenced by a complex array of non-demographic factors including technological change, government policy/regulation and consumer expectations. It is therefore necessary to undertake more in depth analysis of the factors driving demand and supply for the engineering profession. In summary, while some of the existing data resources and research will provide invaluable input into the Science, Engineering and Technology Skills Audit, to accurately assess longer term needs and fully understand the complexity of the issues creating skill shortages more comprehensive workforce data and continued long-term research is urgently required. Box 6: Shortages of railway engineers A shortage of railway engineers is occurring in several specialisations, is growing and unless addressed, will directly affect completion dates and the profitability of future Australian rail projects. The government may even find itself unable to deliver on key infrastructure objectives through AusLink. Reasons why these shortages have developed include the ageing of the workforce; a reduction in new graduate employment and training; a lack of opportunities for rail engineers to gain the necessary skills required to work with the new, rapidly changing rail technology; and continual overseas demand for Australian railway engineers due to a world-wide shortage and the large number of rail construction projects in Asia. The median age of rail engineers is increasing three times faster than that of the rest of the workforce. Around 62% of railway engineers expect to leave the rail industry in the next ten years. Despite the shortages being recognised by rail sector organisations, very few are taking substantial action to address it. A full assessment of the challenges facing the rail sector can be found in Engineering for Rail Sector Growth: A Report on Engineering Rail Skills Shortages in Australia: Engineers Australia June

23 5. Tackling the problems Public policy infrastructures include a full range of government policies in a number of areas for example taxation, competition, migration, education, health and welfare. These polices interact to affect economic and social development, wealth creation and overall quality of life of citizens. There will always be shortages and surpluses in the labour market. Presently this is due to large market changes during the 1990s, ageing of the workforce and imperfect labour market information. In this interlinked environment, governments do have a role to play in intervening in the market to make it perform more effectively. Governments primary role should be to provide and respond to labour market information by putting in place policies to counteract long-term known shortages. Adequate data collection is central to the ability of government to adequately work towards counteracting skills shortages. Given the long lead times and complexities of matching supply with demand, there is a pressing need to accelerate remedial action. Particularly when it takes longer than 15 years from the time a child becomes interested in engineering to the time he or she becomes one. 5.1 Education Regardless of cyclical nature of the labour market, increased funding for engineering education is urgently needed. Engineers Australia believes that the number of Commonwealth funded undergraduate places should be large enough to provide access to all Australians with the capacity to participate in higher education. In particular, each year 1800 eligible students are turned away from engineering courses due to a lack of Commonwealth funded university places. There is an immediate need for 1800 more places to be funded for engineering students. In 2003, the Federal Government declared teaching and nursing skills as national priorities and excluded them from university fee increases. It is equally in the national interest to pro-actively support the development of an engineering skills base and as a result, there is also a case to exclude engineering from fee increases. Funding to maintain and upgrade facilities and lower class sizes is also urgently needed. A full assessment of engineering facilities at universities and issues related to quality and the financing of higher education are outlined in two submissions by Engineers Australia to the 2002 DEST Review of Higher Education, which can be downloaded from: Engineers Australia June