Business urged to engage with higher education by CBI

WITH the UK’s higher education system facing tough choices posed by recession and competition from abroad, business must do even more than it does to work with universities and the Government to help maintain the UK’s international competitiveness, a major new report says today.
 
The report, the culmination of a year’s work by the CBI Higher Education Task Force – comprising both business and universities – also says that the rapid rise in student numbers, coupled with a severe strain on public finances, makes current public funding levels unsustainable.
 
The Task Force’s report, ‘Stronger together – businesses and universities in turbulent times’, highlights the vital contribution that excellence in higher education makes to business competitiveness and argues that: “new thinking is required on the financing, structure and mission of our universities if they are to sustain and strengthen their position in a rapidly changing environment”.

“This means that government, universities and students, as well as business, will have to do more if they are to maintain the strength and the quality of HE in the UK.
 
The UK’s HE sector is one of the most successful in the world, and the report acknowledges that universities are a “vital public good”. Business needs excellent universities to produce the graduates, postgraduates, research and innovation that are required to drive economic growth and prosperity.
 
The UK compares quite favourably with similar countries on how many young people go to university, and undergraduate numbers have risen by 35 per cent since 1997. However, the proportion of UK graduates taking science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) degrees has declined by 20 per cent since 1999-2000, and the CBI wants to see more young people to continue with these subjects after the age of 16.
 
Sam Laidlaw, chairman of the CBI HE Task Force and chief executive of Centrica, said: “The UK has a world-class higher education sector. But it faces some urgent challenges including the changing needs of business, intensifying international competition, and constrained public sector funding. Universities and government cannot deliver a world class service alone.
 
“Effective collaboration between the higher education sector, business and government will be critical to the UK’s economic recovery and sustainable international competitiveness. Business must also make a sustained effort in supporting higher education. To this end, I am pleased that as a Task Force we have made a strong commitment to provide the support needed to help students build the employability and technical skills that are so important.”
 
The report proposes that more businesses should work with universities to:
•         Sponsor students studying subjects relevant to business, such as science and technology.
•         Provide financial support to new graduates, through bonuses when they sign on with the firm.
•         Offer more opportunities for internships, placements, work experience or projects.
•         View working with universities as part of core innovation activity.
 
Andrew Palmer, CBI regional director for Yorkshire & the Humber,  said: “Maintaining a world-class higher education system is vital to the UK’s future competitiveness, and we should sustain current levels of investment in teaching and research, which are low by international standards. Strong leadership is also needed to minimise the risk of long-term decline.
 
“Business should engage more with universities, both financially and intellectually. More firms should help design and pay for courses for the benefit of the current and future workforce, and more firms should offer students practical work experience.”