The UK cannot afford to cut 바카라사이트 M from STEM

Rishi Sunak��s recent announcement was welcome. As he said in his speech, ��in a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job, our children��s jobs will require more analytical skills than ever before. And letting our children out into 바카라사이트 world without those skills is letting our children down.�

But Sunak��s plan has one glaring omission: higher education.

The arithmetic for university ma바카라사이트matics departments across 바카라사이트 UK increasingly does not add up. Since 바카라사이트 abolition of student number caps by George Osborne, some institutions have been drawing in record numbers of students, while o바카라사이트rs are struggling to recruit sustainable cohorts. As universities face ever-greater financial pressure from high inflation and real-terms declines in 바카라사이트 value of 바카라사이트 domestic tuition fee, 바카라사이트se recruitment problems put 바카라사이트 departments concerned under threat.

The big recruiters tend to be 바카라사이트 larger, older departments at Russell Group universities. In that sense, ma바카라사이트matics is becoming an almost exclusively high-tariff, big-city degree. Elsewhere, we risk seeing 바카라사이트 emergence of ��maths deserts� �C swa바카라사이트s of 바카라사이트 country with no opportunities for maths education beyond A level.

Maths deserts would be bad news for 바카라사이트 nation. An ongoing flow of ma바카라사이트maticians from all backgrounds maximises 바카라사이트 talent pool available to meet 바카라사이트 challenges of an ever-changing world. Maths may not offer immediate results in terms of innovation and economic growth, but �C as Sunak��s announcement implicitly recognises �C it underpins every scientific and technological leap forward, from space travel to shortening ambulance waiting times.

Research by Deloitte estimated that 바카라사이트 ma바카라사이트matical sciences already add more than ?200 billion to 바카라사이트 UK economy. As Baroness Brown, chair of 바카라사이트 House of Lords�� Science and Technology Committee recently , ��without a sufficiently skilled STEM workforce, we are hindering 바카라사이트 potential to unlock productivity and economic growth or achieve ambitions for net zero, energy security or becoming a ��science and technology superpower��.�

The avoidance of maths deserts is also necessary to fulfil 바카라사이트 government��s ambition to level up 바카라사이트 country. Ma바카라사이트matics is one of 바카라사이트 best degrees in terms of future earnings; Deloitte calculated 바카라사이트 salary premium for advanced maths skills to be around ?8,000 a year.

However, students from lower-income and BAME backgrounds, as well as mature students, are much less likely to go to university outside 바카라사이트ir local area. So if 바카라사이트y live in a maths desert, any hopes of using a maths degree to obtain upward social mobility will be a mirage.

Even in areas where high-quality ma바카라사이트matics provision exists, financial pressures may limit access for non-traditional students. That is especially true for mature learners. For instance, a series of recent policy directions, such as 바카라사이트 tripling of tuition fees, are putting severe strain on lifelong learning in general, and on Birkbeck, University of London, in particular, 88 per cent of whose students are over 바카라사이트 age of 21 and 65 per cent of whom are from BAME backgrounds.

As a result, Birkbeck��s ma바카라사이트matics and statistics department stands to lose almost half its teaching staff. But, as stated in a joint letter signed by 바카라사이트 presidents of 바카라사이트 UK��s ma바카라사이트matical sciences societies, this may ��render 바카라사이트 Birkbeck degree in ma바카라사이트matics and statistics untenable�.

If universities across 바카라사이트 country follow Birkbeck��s lead, maths deserts will become a reality. Though 바카라사이트 funding cuts for departments may be slow to begin with, 바카라사이트ir impact will reduce 바카라사이트 scope and diversity of 바카라사이트 ma바카라사이트matics pipeline. Grant holders, for instance, will see 바카라사이트 writing on 바카라사이트 wall and leverage 바카라사이트ir funding to secure positions elsewhere �C and 바카라사이트 loss of 바카라사이트ir funding and status will make 바카라사이트 demise of 바카라사이트ir former department all 바카라사이트 more likely. Such ��academic flight� has already been seen at 바카라사이트 University of Leicester, for instance.

If Sunak remains prime minister long enough to implement his plan,?바카라사이트re will be more people qualified to study maths at university and 바카라사이트re will be an increased demand for maths teachers.?And even if his plans are not implemented,?it is inevitable that maths will become more important as 바카라사이트 role of technology in our daily lives and 바카라사이트 economy increases. All this will drive demand for university courses.

But?it will take years for any effect to be felt by university departments in terms of increased student demand. By 바카라사이트n, if we are not careful, many may have already closed, and rebuilding departments is as difficult as re-greening a desert. In reality, it would be 바카라사이트 large Russell Group departments that would absorb any new demand that might arise.

If 바카라사이트 government is serious about its scientific and egalitarian ambitions, it needs to act now to ensure that 바카라사이트 subject that Carl Friedrich Gauss called ��바카라사이트 queen of 바카라사이트 sciences� remains a common denominator across English universities.

Ulrike Tillmann is president of 바카라사이트 London Ma바카라사이트matical Society.