In the news today. This is the pathway to becoming an Engineer for many and considered "equivalent" to having completed a skilled apprenticeship by the educational establishment.
I mostly agree that we are potentially “comparing chalk and cheese” , but a BTEC National (“ONC”) is a level 3 qualification and in the academic framework the same value as A levels https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels. Whether that actually tells us anything very useful is open to debate, but both are accepted for entry to engineering degree courses.
A complaint of many employers in IET surveys, is that graduates of many engineering degrees can’t actually do much useful and productive like “designing a control panel”, or any other task that might reasonably be expected following 3-4 years “training” in university. Those who have controlled and influenced the content, have emphasised the attributes of a theoretical scientist or academic researcher. In that mindset, an engineering degree is still “education”, to which vocational skills can be added in the workplace later. Degrees which emphasised “engineering applications” have been deemed to be “inferior”. What university would want to offer an “inferior” degree at current prices and in a world of league tables? This article refers https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2014/nov/21/university-engineering-departments-overalls-research although for the avoidance of doubt, I’m not a “guardian reader”, although I used to be sometimes, when I was an “Electrician” and before I acquired any degrees (I don’t deny reading the T&A and reactionary tabloids as well)
I agree with the sentiment of the conclusion, but it certainly doesn’t apply to me since being a “master of science” also includes “social science” (like management). ?
For what it’s worth, I have encountered quite a few graduates who have “retrained” as electricians and plumbers. There are also plenty of practical background people who are equally well-educated to graduates, via the “school of life”. By definition every young person of at least average intellectual ability is becoming a university graduate https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-49841620 . Actually, since a lot of “clever” people will still choose a more practical career and this doesn’t include “late developers”, of which there are many, there are plenty of people with less than average intelligence getting degrees. I don’t find that objectionable, if it does them and/or society in general some good, but when I left school probably less than 5% of my peers went on to university, so times have changed.
I mostly agree that we are potentially “comparing chalk and cheese” , but a BTEC National (“ONC”) is a level 3 qualification and in the academic framework the same value as A levels https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels. Whether that actually tells us anything very useful is open to debate, but both are accepted for entry to engineering degree courses.
A complaint of many employers in IET surveys, is that graduates of many engineering degrees can’t actually do much useful and productive like “designing a control panel”, or any other task that might reasonably be expected following 3-4 years “training” in university. Those who have controlled and influenced the content, have emphasised the attributes of a theoretical scientist or academic researcher. In that mindset, an engineering degree is still “education”, to which vocational skills can be added in the workplace later. Degrees which emphasised “engineering applications” have been deemed to be “inferior”. What university would want to offer an “inferior” degree at current prices and in a world of league tables? This article refers https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2014/nov/21/university-engineering-departments-overalls-research although for the avoidance of doubt, I’m not a “guardian reader”, although I used to be sometimes, when I was an “Electrician” and before I acquired any degrees (I don’t deny reading the T&A and reactionary tabloids as well)
I agree with the sentiment of the conclusion, but it certainly doesn’t apply to me since being a “master of science” also includes “social science” (like management). ?
For what it’s worth, I have encountered quite a few graduates who have “retrained” as electricians and plumbers. There are also plenty of practical background people who are equally well-educated to graduates, via the “school of life”. By definition every young person of at least average intellectual ability is becoming a university graduate https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-49841620 . Actually, since a lot of “clever” people will still choose a more practical career and this doesn’t include “late developers”, of which there are many, there are plenty of people with less than average intelligence getting degrees. I don’t find that objectionable, if it does them and/or society in general some good, but when I left school probably less than 5% of my peers went on to university, so times have changed.
