National Apprenticeship Week: why more young women should consider a STEM apprenticeship

The UK needs to close its growing skills gap and STEM apprenticeships are a great way to do that.

 

It is well-known that women are under-represented in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) sectors in the UK.

Only 24 percent of women work in core STEM industries and there are concerns that the skills gap is widening.

What can be done to fix these problems?

Recently, the UK government has been increasing its focus on apprenticeships. This is when a full-time job is combined with training in essential skills and recognizable qualifications. In 2017, 114,400 young people started apprenticeships in England, in sectors such as health, engineering, and business.

Today marks the start of National Apprenticeship Week 2018 (5 – 9 March); what better time to raise awareness about the opportunities for young women in STEM apprenticeships?

Getting young women into STEM apprenticeships

According to Anne Milton, the minister for skills and apprenticeships, barriers need to be broken down in order to encourage girls to pursue science-based subjects.

“All young kids love science and finding out how things work. But for some reasons, there has been a drop off in interest for young girls as they go through secondary school. They begin to feel that those sorts of subjects and those sorts of careers are not right for them,” explains Milton.

“But the thing about STEM is it’s not just about building bridges. It’s present in every single sector, whether that’s construction, farming, and agriculture, or the creative industries. These industries rely on STEM subjects.”

As a result, the government is trying to ensure that more young women are made aware of the opportunities available in STEM apprenticeships.

This is why Milton launched the careers strategy last year, an obligatory scheme for schools to invite different providers of education – such as further education (FE) colleges, universities and apprenticeship providers – into classes so young people can learn about the different career choices available to them.

“It’s really important that we have initiatives for young women to think of STEM careers,” says Milton.

What’s it actually like being an apprenticeship?

When it comes to looking for an apprenticeship, or any type of career, the start can be fairly overwhelming. One good place to begin is with Google.

This is how Becky King, from Bermondsey, found her apprenticeship with the National Physical Laboratory. She always had a passion for science from a young age but found learning from a textbook in a classroom stifling.

“I hadn’t considered an apprenticeship before and I certainly wasn’t aware of any in the STEM. I searched ‘careers in science without a degree’ online and the NPL apprenticeship came up,” King explains.

“It sounded like exactly what I was looking for so I applied. A few interviews and a presentation later I was accepted as a junior scientist apprentice.”

King says she loved the sense of community and teamwork at NPL, as well as the many areas of science the laboratory specializes in. She took on a Level 3 apprenticeship (which is equivalent to three A-Levels) as well as completing extra qualifications to prove her technical competence in lab work.

After graduating from her apprenticeship last March, she was offered a full-time role as an assistant research scientist in Quantum Detection.

But that is not all. King is now an undergraduate student at the University of Kent, studying an integrated Masters in physics which is sponsored by the NPL.

“My favorite thing about my apprenticeship was the endless opportunities”, she says. “I got to work with work leading scientists who trusted and encouraged you to work independently and improve your skills in labs and in analytical work.

“So many people at NPL invested their time into ensuring I succeed which is something I will never forget.”

Expanding skillsets with a career change

One of the benefits of an apprenticeship is that it makes it easier to change careers. Due to the fact it entails job training and qualifications and is paid, apprenticeships enable a seamless process for moving from one career to another.

That was the experience for Charmaine Whittingham from Lewisham. She initially worked as a nursery nurse for three years before deciding she wanted a career in the financial sector. She heard about an apprenticeship within Barclays branch network and decided to go for it.

After working in a high street branch of the bank, Whittingham set her sights on moving into a head office role.

“There are a wider amount of opportunities in head office roles and I thought that would be more suited for me. I wanted to go into something specific with a specific skill set and gain a qualification,” she explains.

Whittingham found an apprenticeship in the Data and Strategic Analysis (DSA) team in Barclays’ Canary Wharf office. Despite not having a background in technical data handling, she decided to pursue it.

“I thought, what do I have to lose in applying for it?” she says.

Now Whittingham is undergoing an 18-months-long apprenticeship scheme within the DSA team. At the end of the scheme, she will come out with a Level 4 apprenticeship in data and analytics.

“My favorite thing is that I’m not treated like an apprentice,” she says. “I still have the same opportunities and the same set up as everybody else, we’re all treated equally.”

Since working with the DSA team, Whittingham has won two awards. She is recognized as an ambassador for her team as well as winning a global innovation fintech challenge during Barclaycard’s global innovation week.

Once Whittingham finishes her apprenticeship, she’s hoping to go on to the next level and study for a degree in data and analytics. And one of the best things about her apprenticeship has been the ability to earn whilst studying.

“For me, that was very rewarding because if I went to university or college, I would have got a weekend or evening job but it wouldn’t be the same as a full-time job. An apprenticeship means I wasn’t limited in terms of what I could do and where I could go.”

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Business leaders give damning indictment of failing Apprenticeship Levy

A survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD) with more than 640 responses found that fewer that one in seven thinks the levy is fit for purpose and fewer than one in five will use it to take on more apprentices than otherwise.

The survey found:

• Just 14% of employers who pay the Apprenticeship Levy think it is fit for purpose.
• Only around a third understand the system perfectly, and even fewer will reclaim their full Levy entitlement.
• 14% view the Levy simply as a tax.
• A quarter of those who don’t employ apprentices says they can’t because of regulatory or administrative burdens.

The news comes just days after a Transport Network exclusive revealed that just £108m of the roughly £2bn raised between May 2017 and February 2018 has been paid from employers’ levy accounts.

In addition, the number of apprenticeships has actually fallen since the introduction of the levy.

In the first quarter after the levy was introduced, the number of people signing up for the vocational training suffered a 60% year-on-year collapse to 69,800.

Data seen by the Daily Telegraph reveals that as recently as October, of the 19,150 companies paying into the levy, only 11,900 had registered to claim to fund back from it – suggesting around 38% of companies had effectively written off the cash as a cost.

Seamus Nevin, head of policy research at the IoD, said: ‘Across the country, employers in almost every sector are reporting skills shortages, and apprenticeships are a very important part of the solution.

‘As this survey shows, however, the Apprenticeship Levy is not working as intended. The new system was supposed to be employer-driven but the narrow and centrally-controlled design mean this is not happening. It is not helping firms to invest in skills and train in a way that best suits the needs of our economy. Many employers are unable to make the complex and restrictive rules fit their specific training requirements.

‘This has been reflected in official statistics, which reveal a decline in apprenticeship starts since the levy was introduced. While the intention behind the policy is right, employers need to see a change in how it is implemented urgently. We strongly advise that the levy and co-funding system are reviewed in order to give employers the flexibility to develop the skills they need to be competitive, and to avoid any further drop in apprenticeship recruitment and training volumes.’

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Apprenticeship Levy Failing its First Test

Business leaders have demanded urgent reforms to how vocational training is funded after official figures revealed a 25 percent decline in the take-up of apprenticeships.

 

 

Since the introduction of the “apprenticeship levy”, which was intended to improve Britain’s skills base, the number of people starting training schemes has fallen markedly.

Preliminary figures from the Department for Education show that 194,100 apprenticeship starts were reported in England for the first two quarters of the 2017-18 academic year, compared with 258,800 a year earlier.

The decline was revealed as the first anniversary of the levy approaches. The policy, which became operational last April, requires businesses with an annual wage bill of £3 million or more to pay 0.5 percent of their payroll costs into an apprenticeship fund that they can access to pay for training. The fund is topped up with public money.

The government promised that the levy would lead to a “huge reform” of vocational training and provide more skilled workers for industry, but employers have complained that it is too inflexible and difficult to navigate.

Tim Thomas, director of employment and skills at EEF, the manufacturers’ organization, said that the figures should be “the final signal to the government that now is the time for a review and change”. He said: “Whilst manufacturers are doing their best to push through the complexities of delivering apprenticeships, greater employer flexibility in using levy funds is needed so they can expand provision.”

The CBI has called for businesses to be allowed to pool more of their levy with others nearby, or in the same sector, and to combine with local colleges to create centers for excellence for apprenticeships. The Federation of Small Businesses wants large companies to be able to share their levy allocations with suppliers more easily.

The Department of Education said that the data should be treated with caution because some training providers were yet to provide figures for this year. “Comparisons that are more accurate can be made once finalized data are published in November 2018,” it said.

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CBI calls for urgent reform to the Apprenticeship Levy

Fix broken Apprenticeship Levy to deliver high-quality training.

Speaking at the FE Week Annual Apprenticeships Conference in Birmingham, CBI Deputy Director-General, Josh Hardie, called for the government to urgently reform the Apprenticeship Levy if it is going to deliver great training and jobs.

In his speech, Josh recognized the welcome steps the government has taken to build an effective English skills system – including the introduction of T-levels and the National Retraining Partnership.

However, when it came to the Apprenticeship Levy, firms were concerned that the Levy’s current structure is a missed opportunity to increase investment in training, with lots of firms unable to access the right provisions to upskills their employees and grow their business. In addition, the narrow design of the system prevents them from using the Levy to build the quality training system they need for the long term.

With businesses wanting a system that delivers for people and our economy in the long term, Josh set out three immediate steps to improve the Levy – and unlock the business commitment to skills.

First, more flexibility in how the levy can be spent on apprenticeships, so firms can work together to share far more of their funds to support quality training in their area or sector. Next, the government should push ahead with the Apprenticeship Reform Programme to drive better progression for apprentices to higher-paying jobs. Finally, the Institute for Apprenticeships needs proper teeth as an independent skills regulator to ensure an increase in quality training in the market.

The speech received good coverage in the national media. Going forward, the CBI will continue to push for adapting the apprenticeship system, making the case for it to evolve into a more flexible ‘skills and training levy’ which delivers for everyone, tackles skills shortages and improves standards across the board.

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Apprenticeships popular again as workers turn to trades

Hundreds of area youth are learning job skills and earning income without spending thousands on a college education.

Apprenticeships are alive and well, and poised to expand from traditional fields into high-tech areas. Local unions run free apprenticeships in a wide range of trades, including electricians, sprinkler fitters, painters, elevator constructors, bricklayers and boilermakers.

And now the Workforce Development Board of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties is offering grants to help area employers meet the demand for skilled workers by offering apprenticeships. So far most of the takers have been advanced manufacturing firms, said Nate Crossett, program director of the board’s American Apprenticeship Initiative.

“The major issue is that people, especially in manufacturing, are retiring at a rate that these local companies just can’t keep up with,” he said. “Apprenticeships were a big deal in the ’70s and ’80s.”

But then came the push to send students to college and the apprenticeship programs declined, leaving no one with the needed skill sets to replace aging workers, Crossett said.

“It’s putting manufacturing in danger of not really being able to compete locally, nationally or even internationally,” he said. “That was the main premise of why this grant was created.”

And that’s why Stephen Copperwheat, president of Environmental Composites Inc., in Utica, decided to apply for grants to start two apprenticeship programs. The founding workforce is getting older, he said.

“We’re a relatively new manufacturer,” he said. “We’ve been in business now for about 10 years, but we have a need for skilled maintenance people in the manufacturing setting. We have to have a mechanic basically, a skilled millwright.”

So a maintenance technician apprentice started several months ago and the company now is looking for an apprentice electrician, he said.

The Workforce Development Board received a $2.9 million federal grant to run the American Apprenticeship Initiative in 19 Central New York counties from 2015 to 2020. The grants give companies up to $3,000 per apprentice to cover the cost of education beyond on-the-job training, Crossett said. They’re also available for apprenticeships in cybersecurity and information technology; nanotechnology; and drones, but nanotechnology hasn’t appeared locally yet and the drone industry isn’t really hiring yet, he said.

But apprenticeships have started through the Air Force Research Lab and the Griffiss Institute in Rome, Crossett said.

“We’re starting to branch out and do apprenticeships in information technology because that’s the future as well,” he said.

Apprenticeships are a great way for young people to train for a skilled job with good pay and benefits without going into debt paying for college, said Patrick Costello, president of the Central New York Labor Council and assistant business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 43. Apprenticeships are free and apprentices get paid a portion of a journeyman’s salary while they learn with the amount going up as their skills increase, he said.

“It’s like going to college and getting paid all the time you’re going, getting a degree in a trade without having any student debt,” Costello said. “So, it’s a pretty good deal.”

And journeymen in the building trades aren’t left stranded and unemployed by the plant closures that have afflicted this area, he pointed out.

Costello, too, sees the model working for a wider variety of industries, including health care, for example. The limitation is economics, he said.

“It’s expensive to have a bona fide, realistic apprenticeship program,” he said. “I think the only way you can do it is to have the employers buy in.”

Unions pay for the programs in the skilled trades and now the apprenticeship initiative grants are helping other industries.

“It’s the industry investing in the future of the industry,” Costello said. “It’s a good model.”

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Surge in numbers of young people taking apprenticeships

Almost 13,000 young people opted for ‘earn and learn’ options last year.

The number of young people opting to pursue apprenticeships climbed by almost 25 percent last year, new figures show.

The sharp growth comes as policymakers seek to expand the Irish apprenticeship and traineeship system following a dramatic collapse during the economic downturn.

About 60 percent of school-leavers in the State currently progress to higher education, one of the highest rates in the EU.

By contrast, just 2 or 3 percent of school-leavers is pursuing apprenticeships as a route to work compared with countries such as Germany where the figures are closer to 60 percent.

Last year also saw the introduction of a number of new apprenticeships in areas such as accounting, financial services, and hospitality

New figures compiled by Solas, the umbrella body for the education and training sector, show apprenticeships jumped from 10,445 in 2016 to 12,849 last year, a 24 percent increase.

Gender gap

While the growth in numbers is encouraging, there remains a major gender gap.

Last year just over 1 percent of those in apprenticeships were female. Nonetheless, this almost represented a doubling from 0.6 percent the previous year.

Traditional craft apprenticeships continue to account for the majority of apprenticeships.

Of these, electrical apprenticeships were most popular (5,458), followed by construction (2,837), engineering (1,888), plumbing (1,272) and carpentry (1,136).

Last year also saw the introduction of a number of new apprenticeships in areas such as accounting, financial services, and hospitality. Numbers in these apprenticeships grew from 70 in 2016 to 391 last year.

Major growth is expected in this sector as dozens of new apprenticeships come on-stream in new areas such as cybersecurity, animation, systems engineering, horticulture and sports turf management.

They will range in skill level from level five (certificate) to level 10 (doctorate) and vary in duration from two to four years.

Structured

Apprenticeships are programmes of structured education and training which combine learning in the workplace with learning in an education and training institution. They prepare participants for a specific occupation and lead to a qualification. Students are also entitled to payment while they complete their apprenticeships.

The Government has pledged to more than double these “earn and learn” enrolments to 14,000 by 2020.

In all, a total of 26 new programmes are due to be announced on Friday which will be developed over the next 12-15 months.

Latest figures show that about one in three workers in the State are at least one educational level above the international norm for the jobs they are in.

Minister for Education Richard Bruton has said these new programmes provide opportunities and choice for school-leavers and other learners and allow employers shape the programmes that best suit their workforce needs.

He has allocated some €122 million in 2018 to help deliver this goal.

Mr. Bruton’s action plan for education contains a commitment to enroll 31,000 people on apprenticeship programmes in the period 2016-2020, a near doubling on current activity.

Overqualified

Parents’ “obsession” with ensuring their children progress to third-level education has been cited by some observers as a key reason Irish workers are among the most overqualified in Europe for the jobs in which they are working.

Latest figures show that about one in three workers in the State are at least one educational level above the international norm for the jobs they are in.

This is the highest rate in the EU and almost twice the level of countries such as France, Sweden, and Finland.

Michael Moriarty, general secretary of Education and Training Boards Ireland, which runs much of the Irish further education sector, told The Irish Times last year that too many students were attending the third level.

“Many are going too early to the third level or shouldn’t be there at all in the first place. That’s clear in the attrition rates in some college courses,” he said.

Mr. Moriarty said there was a “misplaced snobbery” among many parents who were “obsessed” with sending their children to higher education regardless of their talents.

However, Dr. Graham Love, chief executive of the Higher Education Authority, has said it is a great achievement that so many Irish school-leavers are going to third-level.

Dr. Love has also said many graduates may be “overeducated” for their jobs in the short-term, but their qualifications may become more relevant later in their careers.

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Rachel Maclean praises National Apprenticeship Week

AS part of National Apprenticeship Week (held last week) Rachel Maclean, MP for Redditch, celebrated the vital contribution of apprentices in Redditch.

Since 2010 there have been 7,110 apprenticeship starts in Redditch, and more than 1.2 million new apprenticeship starts nationally since 2015.

Take-up of higher-level apprenticeships in 2016-17 was up by nearly 35 percent compared to 2015-16.

As part of the week, the MP visited companies in Redditch to see apprenticeships in action.

First, she went to MSP in Enfield, a leading manufacturer of springs and stampings then Bee lighting, which makes high-quality lighting solutions for the motor industry.

Mrs. Maclean said: “Apprenticeships are at the heart of the Conservative Government’s strategy to expand opportunity and develop the skilled workforce the country needs. This includes working with industry to deliver an ambitious target of three million new apprenticeship starts by 2020.

“But we know there is still more to do, which is why we recently launched an education and funding review that will help people make more effective choices between the different options available to them, promoting parity of esteem between technical and academic pathways – something I am passionate about.”

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