A dynamic and flexible labour market has the ability to quickly adapt. More, not less graduates, is the key to this successful economic strategy.
The government’s ambition to get 50 per cent of young people into higher education has come under fire from graduate employers. The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), a body representing graduate employers, has called for the target to be scrapped, arguing that it has “driven down standards and devalued the currency of a degree and damaged the quality of the university experience”.
Its chief executive Carl Gilleard declares it should be part of a process to “reaffirm the value of a degree”. Though he is right in pushing for a renewed focus to improve higher education standards and educational quality, he is wrong in identifying the 50 per cent participation goal as an inhibiting factor.
Firstly, having a larger graduate pool benefits the British economy. In the past few decades we have gone through some major national and geo-political changes, which have redefined the nature of our economy.
Our future is a high-skilled and knowledge based economy, which is a world leader in intellectual and technology-based industries. This requires more, not less graduates, particularly with rising economic powers China and India producing graduates annually en masse.
Higher numbers of skilled graduates make the British economy more competitive. With record numbers attending University and applying for jobs, our labour market is one of the strongest in the world. The talent on offer is high. This helps attract foreign investment and inward trade, boosting our economic growth.
Additionally our strong labour market has helped businesses enjoy higher levels of productivity and standards in the calibre of employees. This in turn benefits UK PLC as graduates have higher earnings and income potential than non-graduates, raising GDP.
AGR’s report runs counter to our push for social mobility. Allowing and encouraging more people to acquire some form of higher education is a basic necessity in improving life chances for those from poorer and more disadvantaged backgrounds. With the advent of a knowledge-based economy, tertiary education and qualifications are of paramount importance in securing professional success, and should not be curtailed.
The long-term prospects for the British economy are more secure with a bigger graduate workforce, as powerful global forces can quickly re-define the nature of markets and economic relations. A dynamic and flexible labour market has the ability to quickly adapt. More, not less graduates, is the key to this successful economic strategy.
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10 Responses to “50% student target key to a successful economic strategy”
Anonymous
So, having used one sentence to bat away the AGR’s argument in its entirety, you simply restate your own broad-brushed case with the barest facade of supporting evidence.
OK, suppose the target is 100%; everyone has a degree – what sort of degree? who cares. The increased-expected-earnings statistics do exist, but are not shown here. Either the general level of skill and training in the workforce will have increased dramatically – which is completely, not to mention historically implausible – or the general worth of a degree must have fallen.
Just as now, while many degrees will carry a lot of weight with employers, other degrees will carry virtually none, and employers will simply choose other ways of determining aptitude. So the net result of pressing for quantity of graduates over quality may be to fool some students into making a potentially very expensive mistake.
Susan Nash
RT @leftfootfwd: 50% student target key to a successful economic strategy: http://cli.gs/bbU8U
John Peart
RT @susan_nash: RT @leftfootfwd: 50% student target key to a successful economic strategy: http://cli.gs/bbU8U
Mellie Agon
It is a complete joke that New Labour claims it cannot afford free education, while spending billions on murdering people around the world. It is all about priorities.
Restore free education!
Adam Bell
This is a rather stupid article. Graduates per se will not necessarily contribute to the knowledge economy; having 50% of our population being experts in studying the media will not lead to economic growth. What Rayhan should’ve done is mention the various different models out there for determining what proportion of graduates qualify in particular subjects.
For example, the German government* determines the ratio of different types of degrees available to applicants for university places in any given year by consultation with business groups. The reason for this is the greater levels of information available to business groups about likely future employment activities compared to the nation’s 18-year-olds. Currently in the UK, the number of degree places available in a particular subject is to a large degree determined by demand from applicants. In both systems, the market determines what degrees are available, but under the German system the market participants have greater access to information, producing a more effective outcome.
*This is something I faintly recall, so may be wrong about the Germans, but sounds like a fairly sensible proposal.