Have Your Say

Gearing Up for STEM in Thames Valley Berkshire

STEM Skills Strategy and Action Plan (2017-2019)

Consent form: If you are happy to take part, please sign the online consent form (Word, PDF) and email it to deirdre dot hughes at warwick dot ac dot uk.

The ‘IER Information leaflet’ accompanying these key questions provides an overview of the focus and purpose of this research. If you have any specific questions, we will be pleased to respond. Email deirdre dot hughes at warwick dot ac dot uk for more information.

Thank you for kindly agreeing to contribute as part of a series of key stakeholder consultations. We appreciate you feeding in your views and experiences to help inform the above-mentioned STEM Skills Strategy and Action Plan. This will contribute to important research commissioned by Adviza, Bracknell, in association with the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (TVBLEP) and the Skills Funding Agency. We hope that you will share your thoughts on as many aspects of STEM skills issues are you think are appropriate and most important to you. Only those fields marked with an asterisk (*) are compulsory.

Full name

Job title

Name of organisation

Address

Contact email

Other contact details (if appropriate)

We are seeking your views on four broad thematic areas: 1. Identifying gaps in STEM education and training and finding ways to support providers to develop provision that reduces STEM skills shortages, particularly in SMEs 2. Best policy and practice mechanisms to improve the pipeline of learners in STEM related areas from schools through to apprenticeships, further education (FE), community learning and higher education (HE) 3. Better alignment of STEM provision to strengthen and create capacity in key areas of economic growth e.g. digital technologies, science, engineering, mathematics and/or research, in particular with SMEs 4. Signposting to recommendations from national, regional and/or local STEM strategies and relevant research reports that can potentially extend good and interesting policies and practices.

Identifying gaps in STEM education and training and finding ways to support providers to develop provision that reduces STEM skills shortages, particularly in SMEs

Q1. Are there gaps in STEM education and training provision that need greater attention in Thames Valley Berkshire and if so, what are they?

Q2a. How could STEM skills shortages or skills gaps be most effectively addressed locally and in the wider Thames Valley Berkshire area?

Q2b. In the Thames Valley Berkshire area, what is needed to deliver higher-level technical education, that could be addressed by an Institute of Technology?

Q3. Are there any specific examples of good/interesting STEM policies or practices that work well and could potentially be replicated in other parts of Thames Valley Berkshire?

Best policy and practice mechanisms to improve the pipeline of learners in STEM related areas from schools through to apprenticeships, further education (FE), community learning and higher education (HE)

Q4. What do you think would help improve the pipeline of STEM learners locally and in the wider Thames Valley Berkshire area? Can you suggest any key actions that should be included in the STEM Strategy Action Plan (2017-2019)?

Q5. What more needs to be done by (a) schools; (b) further education colleges; and (c) higher education institutions to stimulate and motivate young people, parents, employers/employees and governing bodies to raise the profile of STEM subjects?

Q6. Can you suggest 3 key strategic actions that must be taken over the next two years to improve STEM provision locally and in the wider Thames Valley Berkshire area?

Better alignment of STEM provision to strengthen and create capacity in key areas of economic growth, e.g. digital technologies, science, engineering, mathematics and/or research, in particular with SMEs

Q7. What are your general observations about STEM developments in your own organisation and in the broader Thames Valley Berkshire area?

Q8. From your perspective, what are the major STEM challenges and innovative opportunities in this area and/or the broader Thames Valley Berkshire area?

Q9. What practical steps could be taken to better align STEM activities to strengthen and create increased capacity in organisations, particularly SMEs?

Signposting to recommendations from national, regional and/or local STEM strategies and relevant research reports that can potentially extend good and interesting policies and practices

Q10. What key recommendations and/or actions would you like to see within the ‘Gearing Up for STEM: STEM Skills Strategy and Action Plan?

Q11. Any other questions, additional comments and/or points for clarification?

Q12. Finally, are you willing for your organisation to be formally acknowledged in the STEM Skills Strategy and Action Plan as a contributor to the research?

Privacy notice

Any personal or contact details will be securely stored in a password-protected folder at Institute for Employment Research in accordance with the University of Warwicks data protection policy, and then destroyed securely after the end of the project.

The University of Warwick is the Data Controller of any information you have entered on this form and is committed to protecting the rights of individuals in line with Data Protection Legislation. The University's Data Protection webpages provide further information on your rights and how the University processes personal data. If you wish to submit a data subjects rights request, make a complaint or report a suspected personal data breach, please contact the University’s Data Protection Officer by email at infocompliance@warwick.ac.uk.

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Thank you for making the time in your busy schedule to talk with me and to feed in your invaluable ideas and suggestions to the STEM Skills Strategy and Action Plan for the Thames Valley Berkshire area. This is greatly appreciated!

Please note: The final draft STEM Skills Strategy and Action Plan will be presented by IER to Adviza at the end of February, followed by a final version presented to the Skills Funding Agency in early March. All contributors to the research will receive a copy of the STEM Strategy and Action Plan from Carly Grimster (Adviza – Project Manager) and Jinny Christiansen (Adviza, Head of Marketing) once this has been formally approved by Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (TVBLEP) and the Skills Funding Agency, Coventry.

Project Team

Deirdre Hughes - Principal Investigator

Daria Luchinskaya

Clare Lyonette

Olga Siemers

Partners:

June Wiseman - BMG Research

Project Duration:

January 2017 - December 2019

Funder:

Further links:

Adviza 'Gearing Up for STEM'

Green Paper ‘Building our Industrial Strategy' (BEIS, 2017)

Thames Valley Berkshire LEP

Skills Funding Agency

Warwick Institute for Employment Research