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These recruitment issues are exacerbated by the low salaries offered to entry point lecturers who would have higher incomes if they were to work within the private sector of their field. This is worsened by a lack of career progression and the lack of management training within some institutions.
Employer Engagement & Internal Processes
Every institution undertakes some form of employer engagement, although the format of this engagement varies. The majority of institutions state that whilst this is in an important aspect of their every-day work they would like to increase its prevalence in relation to curriculum development.
Some institutions have dedicated business development teams which are then supported by individual curriculum areas who undertake further engagement in an attempt to identify industry needs.
‘Employer forums are a feature of vocational learning areas and while this is common practice it is a developing agenda with work needed to engage with emerging growth areas particularly where SMEs are the norm – in particular for the college are the energy and engineering sectors. This year, as part of annual planning for 2017/18 all faculties have liaised with companies from the relevant business communities in order to ensure that the offer meets their needs.’
‘We engage with employers at all levels of the organisation. We have an Assistant Principal of Skills who has developed an Employer Engagement Strategy. Curriculum heads have close links with employers in their SSAs, SSC engagement, we have developed a CRM system to capture the information and use LMI and RLSP data.
Employer engagement was reported as a priority unanimously with institutions recognising where improvements need to be made.
‘We engage with employers through Apprenticeships, commercial training and curriculum development. There are a number of employers on our board. There are a number of key partnerships that benefit our learner experience. We would like to have more engagement with employers in relation to curriculum development.’
The effective use of labour market information is integral in the planning processes of every institution. This is supported by extensive stakeholder engagement and driven by priorities detailed by WG and the RLSP in terms of key sectors of demand.
5.2.2 Higher Education Institutions
Learner Engagement
The costs associated to studying a higher education course are a perceived barrier to engagement. This relates to the ‘growing perception that degree qualifications create a substantial amount of debt that provides little certainty of obtaining a graduate level income job.’
Furthermore, a further barrier reported is the high prevalence of courses being offered on a full time basis. This unfortunately creates challenges for those prospective learners that have additional responsibilities such as childcare and work. A provider stated that;
‘This is deeply rigid and inflexible – and makes little sense economically. We need to open learning to all who are able to participate if that means distance learning, or learning flexibly on a part time basis, or in an accelerated way then providers should accommodate this.’
Regional Employment & Skills Plan South West & Mid Wales Learner and Provider Consultation Analysis