Bristol is one of fifteen UK universities selected to receive a share of £19.5 million in an ambitious project to address the critical shortage of social scientists with the quantitative skills needed to evaluate evidence and analyse complex data.
The ‘Q-Step’ programme, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), will comprise a network of ‘Q-Step Centres’ that will deliver new undergraduate programmes specialising in quantitative social science over five-years from October 2013. The programme is a strategic response to the shortage of quantitatively trained social scientists in the UK, the evidence for which was summarised in the British Academy position statement Society Counts.
Although targeted at undergraduates, the Q-Step programme aims to promote quantitative skills training across the course of the education system, from recruitment of school students to specialist training for those going on to postgraduate work. Expertise and resources will be shared across the higher education sector through an accompanying support programme, which will also forge links with schools and employers. The centres will also produce new content for existing courses, experiment with new ways of teaching, as well as work placements and pathways to postgraduate study.
Bristol’s Faculty of Social Sciences and Law has been awarded £1,307,000 to host one of the centres led by Dr Richard Harris in the School of Geographical Sciences.
Professor Wendy Larner, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, said: “We are delighted to have been selected for the Q-step award. The funding will be used to equip our students with the advanced quantitative methods skills that will not only provide them with the means to evaluate and analyse complex data once they graduate but also increase their employability as the next generation of quantitatively trained social scientists.”
Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said:“Evaluating and analysing data is an essential part of science education and we need more people with these important skills. Q-Step will deliver an exciting programme, increasing the number of skilled graduates in quantitative social science. By sharing expertise and resources across the education sector, this programme is a step in the right direction to give students the skills they need and help employers build long lasting relationships with universities.”
Sharon Witherspoon, Director of the Nuffield Foundation said: “The number and high standard of applications for Q-Step funding demonstrates a shared recognition that the weakness of quantitative skills training in much social science matters – and shows there is a shared commitment to do something about it. With a network of fifteen universities across the UK, as well as an emphasis on building links with schools and employers, we now hope to build the critical mass necessary to promote a real step-change in skills over the long term.”