Understanding the EngD Impact –

A Pilot study

Dr. Fumi KitagawaUniversity of Manchester

26 November 2013The AEngD Annual Conference, London

The Study contexts

• A pilot study aiming to understand the nature of the EngD impact and to identify how it can be best evidenced

• March-October 2013 • Sponsored and supported by the Association of the

Engineering Doctorates (AEngD) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

• The final report will be available shortly.

Acknowledgements• The study has been commissioned and supported by

the AEngD and the EPSRC• I would like to acknowledge the support from the

following individuals for comments and inputs – Prof P. Jeffrey, Dr O Kasyutich, Dr D. Stanley, Dr S. Yeomans, Dr C Bachelor and Dr M. Wilson

• I would like to thank the following MBS students who worked on the data collection between June-August 2013 - Syahirah Abdul Rahman, Tzu-Miao Lin, Teimuraz Mamatsashvili, Meng Qiang, Ran Cai

(MBS, M.Bus Global Business Analysis students)

The Study focus

The primary target of the study is to understand the impact of the EngD with specific focus on:

1) impact on industry partners - providing evidence of the value of EngD project to industry

2) career pathways of REs- identifying how the EngD experience shapes the career paths of EngD graduates (EngD Alumni)

The Study - Research Design

• Desk top research• The 2009 IDCs mid-term review (May 2011) – 18 IDCs (the AEngD member centres)• Semi-structured interviews (June-August 2013) - 20 EngD alumni (from IDCs/EngD centre)- 15 Industry partners (10 types/sectors)• HESA Destinations of Leavers of Higher Education

(DLHE) survey 2008/9-2010/2011 125 EngD; 201 Industrial CASE PhD graduates [initial

analysis]

EngD inputs EngD scheme/programmes/

project levels

Individual (RE, EngD alumni);

Organisational (sponsoring company, IDC);

Sector (Industry, HE) levels

Economic impact

Conceptualising the EngD impact

Key factors influencing the EngD impact

• RE’s individual factors (e.g. age, gender, industry experiences);

• characteristics of the EngD projects ; the nature of the technology e.g. ‘technology readiness level’ , areas of scientific disciplines;

• the academic environment and organisational factors e.g. the history and characteristics of the IDC/EngD Centre;

• the nature of the sponsoring firm and the sector e.g. HR policies, R&D and skills needs; industry problems;

• broader social and institutional conditions e.g. labour market conditions, corporate governance structures and R&D investment in the scientific fields.

Understanding the EngD impact

Economic impact

EngD/IDC Economic impact “Key Metrics” (Source: EPERC mid-term review; framework adopted from DTZ/EPSRC, 2011)

EngD/IDC inputs(2009-2013) Outputs/Outcomes

Economic Impact ESRC funding Leverage Resources

Per IDC

£ 4.5 M

Industry Cash £2.5M;

Estimated in-kind contribution£2M;

University cash and in-kind contribution

Industry supervisor timeFacilities, equipment;Academic supervisor timeFacilities, equipment

See Table 8 in the Report

“The total additional average declared contribution per RE is £159K,”

a leverage of an additional £1.77 for every £1 invested by EPSRC

Across IDCs

600 industry partners (over 20 years)

1400 REs trained Across IDCs(2009-2013)

Understanding the EngD impact

RE/EngD alumni career paths

HESA Destinations of Leavers of HE Survey 2008/09-2010/11 (restricted population)

• The data on destinations and career development of the EngD graduates have not been systematically collected and analysed.

• Initial analysis of the HESA Destinations of Leavers of Higher Education (DLHE) Survey data was conducted comparing the

EngD and Industrial CASE students funded by the EPSRC between 2008/09 and 2010/11.

• There are 125 EngD graduates across the three cohorts and 201 Industrial CASE PhD graduates for the same period.

HESA Destinations of Leavers of HE Survey 2008/09-2010/11 (restricted population) – Initial analysis

Age group EngD (%) Industrial Case PhD(%)

25-29 62.4 77.6

30-39 25.6 17.9

40-49 10.4 0.99

50-59 1.6 2.4

60- - 0.99

• Demography of EngD 37.6% of the EngD graduates are over 30 years old, as opposed to 22.2 % of the Industrial CASE PhD

Demography

Gender • Female EngD graduates are

17% compared to 23 % of Industrial CASE PhD.

EU/Overseas• Small number of students

comes from European countries for both EngD (5%) and Industrial CASE PhD (7%) whilst there is no information available in the DLHE for those not sponsored by the EPSRC who come from outside the EU countries.

HESA Destinations of Leavers of HE Survey 2008/09-2010/11 (restricted population) – Initial analysis

• How they found employment

24% of the EngD graduates found a job as they “already worked” there (e.g. the sponsoring firm), whilst 10% of the Industrial CASE PhD graduates got a job where they worked already.

• After the completion of the programmes

91 % of EngD graduates are in full time paid work as opposed to 80% of Industrial CASE PhD graduates.

HESA Destinations of Leavers of HE Survey 2008/09-2010/11 (restricted population) – Initial analysis

EngD destinations

Manufacturing sector 32%Professional, scientific and technical activities 27%Education 15%Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 5%Construction 5% Public administration and defence; compulsory social security 2%Information and Communication 2%

CASE Industrial PhD destinations

Education 34%Professional, scientific and technical activities 19%

Manufacturing 14%Information and Communication 7% Public administration and defence; compulsory social security 3%

85% of the EngD graduates work in non-academic sector

66% of Industrial CASE PhD graduates work in non-academic sector

HESA Destinations of Leavers of HE Survey 2008/09-2010/11 (restricted population) – Initial analysis

For those who are in full-time employment, 33% of the EngD graduates earn more than £35K per year, as opposed to 12.6% of the CASE PhD graduates

HESA Destinations of Leavers of HE Survey 2008/09-2010/11 (restricted population) – Initial analysis

The initial analysis of the data seems to indicate that -

•The EngD students - more experienced older students than the Industrial CASE PhD;

•The EngD graduates have higher rate of full time paid work than Industrial CASE PhD graduates;

•Majority of the EngD graduates - likely to work in industry than in academia

•About One in four REs seems to get a job at the sponsoring firm after the completion of the programme;

•The EngD graduates tend to earn relatively higher than the Industrial CASE PhD graduates when they are in employment.

Previous economic impact study by PA Consulting Group/SQW Consulting (2007) shows

• EngD graduates, relative to other PhD graduates in similar disciplines, enjoyed significantly higher salaries (between £100,000 and £300,000 over their careers) as a result of their training.

• The aggregate salary benefit as £80 million, if all achieve the highest salary benefit, for an EPSRC investment of around £12 million. (p.43)

Understanding the EngD impact Industry partners- Sector im

pact

Highlights from the Industry interviews

The EngD programme is seen as a unique scheme and supported by the industry partners because of:

1) the “portfolio of the projects” compared to the specialised nature of the PhD;

2) the time REs spend within the industry, which is much longer than the PhD and

3) the direct contacts and control industry partners have over the nature of the project.

Highlights from the Industry interviews

From an industry perspective it is important to have a “balanced portfolio of R&D activities and skills.”

It is argued that different centre types – CDTs and IDCs - complement the R&D activities across the industry sectors covering different scopes of technology and different types of skills needed for the future leadership and technical research in industry.

Highlights from the Industry interviews

Monitoring and rewarding• Some industry partners have

more regular and rigorous approaches of monitoring the progress of the EngD projects, including short-term impacts

• Embedding the REs as part of their organisational mechanisms; for example, through reward and recognition mechanisms[e.g. energy, water management].

Rolling out impact• According to one industry

partner [Retail], the environmental technology developed through an EngD project has led to £5 million cost saving.

Highlights from the Industry interviews

Wider skills development• EngD programmes as

continuing professional development (CPD).

• The EngD projects have also had impact on the organisational capability through improved skills and knowledge.

Sector-based approaches• Sponsoring companies

sometimes work together to solve the sector-wide problems by identifying common issues and co-sponsoring EngD projects.

Highlights from the EngD alumni interviews

• Career Typology of the EngD alumni

- Prior / Post EngD

• Expanding from purely technical/R&D backgrounds to more managerial roles

• a business/management related qualification seems to advantage their professional status

•Link to the Chartered Engineering status

Key recommendations from the industry interview findings :

• The nature and diversity of industry sponsors – existing and potential ones - has to be better understood e.g. their motivations, R&D and skills needs and perceived barriers for collaboration.

• A strategic monitoring and support to the RE by the sponsoring firm would help better capture and roll-out the outcomes of the EngD during the programme.

• A broader impact of the EngD programme through supply chain relationships needs further investigation.

Key recommendations from the EngD alumni findings :

• Diverse career development and pathways of the former REs - more data sets and comparative analysis needed.

• Former REs - vital agents who can communicate the value and impacts of the EngD

• Closer alignment could be made between IDCs and the AEngD, and professional bodies for alumni and professional relationship building.

Thank you for listening-

• This is a ‘snapshot’ of the findings.

• Please see the report for the details when available.