Geoff Mason
National Institute of Economic and Social Research,
London
HECSU Futuretrack Conference,
Manchester,
7 November 2012

Arguments in favour of employer support for PT study in HE
• Potentially important means of developing high-level skills….
• and increasing supply of highly-educated people with
‘employability skills’
• Benefits from individuals’ willingness to invest own time and effort in study, minimising time off work
• Employer support for PT college study widespread in US
• So why are there not more UK employers providing support for PT study?

Part-time HE students aiming for First degree, Foundation degree or Higher
National qualifications
Manufacturing
Construction
Other production industries (b)
Wholesale and retail
Hotels and restaurants
Part-time students as % of total employment
0.4
0.7
0.2
0.3
0.5
Transport, storage and communications
Financial services
Business services
Other private services (c)
Public administration
0.4
0.4
0.8
0.4
1.1
Education
Health and social work
Total
1.0
1.3
0.7
Source: Labour Force Survey 2008 (Four-quarter average)
% of part-time students
7
9
1
7
3
4
3
14
4
12
13
25
100

HECSU/BIS surveys of employers of part-time HE students
• PT Student survey, 2008
• 3288 PT students in employment, of whom:
• 908 supplied contact details for employers
• Employer survey, 2009
• 294 completed and usable interviews
• 180 refused participation
• 85% of employers in sample aware of at least one employee studying part-time in HE
• Follow-up employer survey, 2011
• 145 completed and usable interviews

A. Employment size-group:
1-9
10-24
25 – 49
50 – 99
100 – 199
200 – 499
500-999
1000+
Don't know
Total
% of employers B. Sector:
10
16
Manufacturing, utilities, construction
Professional, scientific and technical services
14
11
Public administration
Education
9
12
8
19
1
100
(n=294)
Health
Social work
Other services
Sector not known
Total
% of employers
14
7
16
33
5
14
9
2
100

• 80% of employers provided full or partial support with course fees for part-time student employees
• Very supportive group of employers – not representative of employers in the wider economy
• Majority of organisations report improvements in staff skills, knowledge and performance from part-time HE study, especially:
– Job-related skills, practical skills communication skills
– Plus increased confidence, better prepared for next role in organisation, more proactive

• In many cases employers respond to individual initiative for study, showing willingness to support staff development
• Large majority of employers able to impose strict conditions on fee support
– Courses typically must be work-related
– Employees obliged to pay back fees if leave organisation within certain time
• Employers value combination of job-specific experience and high-level skills gained through employees undertaking PT study in HE

So why don’t more UK employers support part-time HE study?
• Not all employers have high-level skill requirements or recognise the need for this level of skills
• Employers have many other options for meeting highlevel skill needs, eg, internal training provision, private sector training providers – some prefer to use HE providers only for short training courses
• Many employers still prefer to recruit Bachelor degree graduates educated at state and individual expense
• Disappointing given willingness of so many individuals to self-invest in PT study in HE

Follow-up survey, 2011:
Effects of recession on employer support with course fees
First degrees
Foundation degrees
Higher Nationals
Never existed before or
Decrease Increase
25
21
24
0
2
2
No change after recession Total n =
% of employers
70
72
70
5
6
4
100
100
100
86
54
51

Follow-up survey, 2011:
Likely impact on employer support of higher tuition fees in HE
First degrees (n=93)
Less likely
More likely
No change
Never have provided fee support
Total
Foundation degrees (n=62)
Less likely
More likely
No change
Never have provided fee support
Total
Higher Nationals (n=63)
Less likely
More likely
No change
Never have provided fee support
Total
Provide full support with
Provide partial support with fees fees
% of employers
43
1
38
18
100
47
2
39
13
100
43
5
38
14
100
20
18
42
19
100
27
19
40
13
100
22
22
40
16
100

Follow-up survey, 2011
• ‘We’re already starting to [support fewer people]…. It’s already gone down substantially from where it was before, so you know there will probably still be… 10 or 12 [next year]….. but a year ago it would have been 20 or more, but it’s already going down, it’s more to do with the economic situation here than to do with funding or fees’
[Manufacturing, Utilities, Construction, 250 – 499 employees]
• ‘I think we’re inevitably going to have to look at [fee support] because I mean the money’s just not available and, you know, if we’re not recruiting qualified people, then we’re not going to be sending so many unqualified people to college’
[Professional, scientific and technical services, 100-199 employees]

Employers’ willingness to take on schoolleavers to study part-time for HE qualifications while receiving work-based training
Positive factors:
• Ability to develop staff with better job- and firm-specific skills and knowledge
• Improved staff retention
• Prepare for future without currently ageing employees
• Support for young people in general
Negative factors:
• HE courses not sufficiently relevant or cost-effective
• Prefer to train existing staff
• Limited resources to supervise trainees
• Few vacancies in prospect

• Many positive reasons for employers to support employees to study part-time in HE
• But only minority of employers across whole economy provide this kind of support
• Not all employers have high-level skill requirements or recognise the need for this level of skills
• Employers have many other options for meeting highlevel skill needs, eg, internal training provision, private sector training providers
• Many employers still prefer to recruit Bachelor degree graduates educated at state and individual expense
• Even previously supportive employers showing signs of being deterred by increases in HE tuition fees and weak economic growth prospects