Birmingham City University investing £10m in attempt to plug STEM skills gap
Industry faces a shortfall of 80,000 skilled workers within the next two years, according to Semta
Birmingham City University (BCU) is to invest £10m to add "extra capacity" to teach science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, in order to tackle a skills shortfall that could have a damaging effect on industry.
The university said it would address the skills crisis after a warning from skills council Semta that industry faces a shortfall of 80,000 skilled workers within the next two years. BCU believes that manufacturing leaders say that they urgently need STEM skills to support growth.
The £10m investment will include the development of new facilities at the university, including new laboratories for practice and research.
Part of the funding will come from a £5m grant that the university had won from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
The university's vice chancellor, professor Cliff Allan, said that the investment shows that the university is determined to take serious action to ensure it is delivering the education necessary for the UK and for young people.
"We very much appreciate this £5m HEFCE grant, investment that will allow us to deepen what we do now and develop new areas of expertise, delivering in turn a real boost to the education and training needs of our economy," he said. Earlier this year, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) called on the government to slash tuition fees for some science, technology, and engineering and maths courses.
The university said it would reveal more details about its STEM investment in 2015.
At the time, e-skills UK and SAS suggested that those working in big data jobs could earn 20 per cent more than other IT workers. They found that the average UK big data specialist in the third quarter of 2012 was earning £52,000 a year.