Changes to costs of university degrees a ‘recipe for inequality’

Slashing the cost of engineering degrees is a first step in reviving manufacturing capability, but the move has received criticism.

Bronwyn Evans, CEO of Engineers Australia. Picture: Britta Campion

Slashing the cost of engineering degrees is only the first step in reviving Australia’s manufacturing capability and combating a significant talent drain as the majority of its ageing baby-boomer workforce retires during the next decade, say industry experts.

From next year newly enrolled engineering students will pay 20 per cent less for their degrees as the Morrison government moves to give students incentives to make “more job-relevant decisions” about their education.

But the initiative, which also will increase the price of law and economics degrees by 28 per cent and more than double the cost of some arts courses, has attracted criticism. Engineers Australia chief executive Bronwyn Evans said that while lowering the cost of engineering degrees might entice students to study its various fields, she warned that increasing the cost of other courses was “a recipe for ­inequality”.

“There may be unintended consequences that require careful management to ensure it does not lead to increased inequality and a harmful reduction in the diversity of skills necessary for a modern workforce,” Dr Evans said. “Successfully meeting societal challenges of sustainability, economic growth and improved quality of life through innovation requires engineers to work in cross-disciplinary teams of human behaviouralists, economists, lawyers, communication specialists and more. The future of engineering requires a diversity of students that have a breadth of knowledge that extends beyond the technical. This new policy will make education more expensive for the many engineering students who choose to do a double degree.”

James Magee, chief executive of software company Operations Feedback Systems, which uses its technology to lift the performance and efficiency of manufacturers, said the biggest hurdle in attracting mechanical engineers to manufacturing was overcoming stereotypes of typical factory floors. “We do a shocking job of selling it. People think of shop floors as a dingy, dark and dirty place where nobody wants to go and I think that’s at the heart of the problem — we don’t do a good enough job in saying that’s an exciting and sustainable career choice,” Mr Magee said.

“It’s how we make it a really ­attractive option to say ‘working on a production line is lots of different machines, and very exciting machines spitting out widgets that we all need every day to thrive and survive’ so why wouldn’t it be the Aussie manufacturer that would excite someone with that education to apply their skills?

Mr Magee said the COVID-19 crisis had highlighted the importance of local manufacturing amid shortages of essential items including, ventilators, hand-sanitiser, toilet paper and medicines.

“We have all suddenly realised how important local manufacturing is to the supply chain. Yet despite this, there is a looming crisis facing Australian manufacturing in the next 10 years and it’s a brain drain likely to have significant implications for this critical sector of the economy,” he said. “Australian manufacturing has an ageing workforce, with the most experienced and brightest expected to retire over the next decade.”

Mr Magee said blue collar workers needed to be treated in a similar way to white collar workers to make their sector more ­appealing: “If skilled workers can plug directly into a company-wide approach on performance monitoring, career expectations and growth, then they evolve from being blue collar workers disconnected on the shop floor to white collar workers acting as the highly valued intermediary between managing data-driven production metrics and the strategy being driven by senior management. The best manufacturers are prioritising their strategy for ­attracting and retaining the best possible operational employees.

“They are talking to universities and colleges about what’s required to excite students about the future opportunities in manufacturing and meanwhile, senior management is genuinely listening and caring for the future of workers looking after production lines across the country.”