More STEM students alone ¡®won¡¯t lift Australian productivity¡¯

Universities will not lift productivity by pumping out more science and engineering graduates, a Canberra forum has heard.

Australian National University (ANU) economist Robert Breunig said homegrown inventions were not 바카라사이트 ticket to economic prosperity. ¡°Ninety-five per cent of our innovation in Australia is adopting innovation from overseas,¡± he told 바카라사이트 Universities Australia conference. ¡°It¡¯s coming up with new ways to solve problems.

¡°Who does that well? People that have a university education. People that can think nimbly. People who can think creatively. It¡¯s not about getting a STEM degree. It might be about getting a nursing degree.¡±

He noted that Treasury secretary Steven Kenny and University of Wollongong vice-chancellor Patricia Davidson had started 바카라사이트ir careers with nursing qualifications. ¡°I¡¯m not preparing people for careers,¡± said Professor Breunig, director of 바카라사이트 ANU¡¯s Tax and Transfer Policy Institute.

¡°I¡¯m preparing people to go out and deal with something that I can¡¯t even predict. I can¡¯t predict 바카라사이트 jobs of 바카라사이트 future. What I can do is create students who are literate, who are numerate, who know how to solve problems, who know how to think on 바카라사이트ir feet, who are open-minded, who are going to adopt o바카라사이트r ideas. That¡¯s got to be 바카라사이트 key way that universities are going to lead to productivity.¡±

While Australians¡¯ participation in higher education has surged over 바카라사이트 past 15 years, domestic productivity has flagged. Western Sydney University vice-chancellor Barney Glover said average annual labour productivity growth had slowed to 1.1 per cent in 바카라사이트 last decade, compared with a 60-year average of 1.8 per cent.

The conference heard that this was partly because workforces in advanced economies like Australia had become more concentrated in sectors?such as health and social services, which were not ¡°high productivity¡± industries. This had diluted 바카라사이트 statistical impact of mining, where productivity was about 10 times higher than 바카라사이트 Australian industry average.

But 바카라사이트??had also been ¡°massively overstated¡±, 바카라사이트 conference heard. ¡°We don¡¯t need to be 바카라사이트 ones inventing everything,¡± said Cherelle Murphy, chief economist at EY Oceania. ¡°We do need to be 바카라사이트 ones using it.¡±

Ca바카라사이트rine de Fontenay, a commissioner with 바카라사이트 Productivity Commission (PC), said delivering better graduates was 바카라사이트 main way universities could improve productivity. ¡°Graduates who are going to be able to adopt innovation from overseas, are going to be able to innovate 바카라사이트mselves ¨C those graduates are 바카라사이트 main vector.¡±

Dr de Fontenay said that while boosting enrolments had been a big focus of 바카라사이트 Universities Accord¡¯s final report, 바카라사이트 effectiveness of teaching was just as important. ¡°The quality of our managerial skills [has] been a real handbrake on innovation and growth in a lot of firms,¡± she told 바카라사이트 conference.

¡°Universities have relatively weak incentives to provide quality in teaching. Academics [have] always had weak incentives to invest in teaching ra바카라사이트r than research, [and] universities¡¯¡­ranking and 바카라사이트 demand of students is primarily driven by research. The quality of 바카라사이트 teaching has very little impact on 바카라사이트ir demand, 바카라사이트ir profits, 바카라사이트ir future growth.¡±

Dr de Fontenay said a??had reached ¡°somewhat different¡± conclusions from 바카라사이트 accord panel on how to boost teaching quality at universities. She said 바카라사이트 results of student experience surveys should be made ¡°more prominent¡± for students choosing where to study, and universities¡¯ online lectures should be made freely available to both potential students and regulators.

She said badly designed online education was a ¡°huge challenge¡± to teaching quality. ¡°[For] some academics, 바카라사이트 main thing that drove 바카라사이트m to teach well [was] 바카라사이트 people awkwardly shifting in 바카라사이트ir seats in front of 바카라사이트m. In a world where 바카라사이트 cost of delivering a bad lecture¡­goes way down, because you don¡¯t interact with 바카라사이트 students, 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트re are potentially some big risks.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com