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<pre>Technical specialists and scientific researchers:
quality and quantity
Summary of advisory report 11
The availability of sufficient, excellently-trained technical specialists and researchers is of vital
importance to the Dutch economy. They play a key role in the country's economic development
which is becoming increasingly more dependent on knowledge-intensive activities. Various
studies are indicating that the private sector, and industry in particular, is facing a structural
shortage of technical specialists and scientific researchers. The Minister of Economic Affairs,
also on behalf of the Minister of Education and Science, has asked the Council to advise him on
this problem.
The Council takes the view that besides the quantitative demand for a certain number of
technical specialists and researchers, their quality is of crucial relevance. The Netherlands not
only needs more of them, it also needs tech- nical specialists and researchers who are better
prepared for the changes in their profession. To be able to train and keep talent in the
Netherlands, we have no choice in that training other than to opt for superior quality of an
international calibre. The Council focuses in this report on technical specialists and researchers
with an advanced training. Analyses are largely based on interviews with representatives of
forty technically-oriented businesses and institutions.
The picture that emerges broadly reveals a need for three types of technical specialists and
researchers: the engineer who is capable of constructing technical systems or sub-systems on
the basis of existing knowledge; the designer who is capable of designing and constructing new
technical systems and can develop new products and processes; the researcher who is able to
investigate and explain phenomena in technical systems.
The engineer will usually have been to a higher technical college. Industry on the whole is very
satisfied with the standard of the engineers these colleges produce and their practical skills in
particular are appreciated. For research posts virtually only those with a doctorate from a
general or technical university have been appointed in recent years. People are satisfied with
the standard. For posts acquiring specific design skills, people mainly turn to the university-
trained engineers (ir.). Generally speaking, industry is not very satisfied with the capacity of this
group of engineers to integrate and synthesize existing insights and communicate with people
from different disciplines and back- grounds. It would appear that the present batch of
university-trained engineers is no longer qualified to cope with the growing complexity of
technical systems and business organisations.
The Council concludes from this that the training of engineers has to change. The training has
to be better and different to the current and the past system. The training required is impossible
within a four-year curriculum. The Council advocates a four plus two-year model which involves
an initial period of four years, no more no less, for a solid grounding in the basic technical
subjects after which those graduating would be awarded the title of 'doctorandus' in the
technical sciences. After this the majority of students would go on to a two-year further training
to become designers specialising in system-oriented designing. The title awarded upon
successful completion of this part of the training would be ir.
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<pre>The Council regretfully observes the blurring of the distinctions between the technical
universities and the higher technical colleges. It is seeing a tendency among the higher
technical colleges to make their teaching more academic. The emphasis on teaching scientific
theory at higher technical college detracts from the distinctive features and strength of this
training: a sound technical grounding coupled with practical experience (in industry). On the
other hand, at the technical universities, management subjects are being included in the
curriculum at the expense of training in the basic technical and scientific subjects both in depth
and in breadth. It is thus that the courses end up being neither one thing nor the other, so that
students and industry are both worse off than they were. The Council advocates that a clear
distinction be made in the training of the different types of engineer.
In the Council's view the technical universities should primarily concentrate on training students
to become design- ers. The technical colleges should largely provide in the quantitative demand
of industry for engineers. This system can only work well with a process which selects students
for courses which fit their capacities. Periodic assessment of the quality of courses will be a
necessity.
The basic financing of the training is a responsibility of the government in the Council's view.
For the second part of the university engineers' training, a contribution from industry is
indispensable. This may take the form of offering traineeships, guidance and equipment.
Industry is willing on this front, as the Council has found. The overall financial consequences of
the proposed restructuring of the university engineers' training are difficult to specify. However
the Council sees no immediate reason for assuming that its recommendations will inevitably
result in structurally higher costs for the Minister of Education and Science.
For many years now students' interest in the natural sciences has been diminishing, as it has of
late in the technical sciences as well. Practically everyone agrees that this fall in interest, which
is in danger of continuing, must be halted. According to the Council this can only be achieved
through closer cooperation between educational establishments and companies. The Council
recommends that the KIvI and the NIRIA, the respective professional organisations of
engineers from the universities and the higher technical colleges, should implement their plans
to strengthen the ties between technical universities, the higher technical colleges and
companies.
The subject of technology is currently being introduced in primary and secondary schools.
Useful though this is, pupils have to be given a broader base. A sound grounding in the exact
subjects at secondary school is crucial to an interest in the natural sciences and technology,
perhaps resulting in the latter being chosen as a course of study or as a career. The Council is
far from happy on this point. There are many signs which point to falling standards in general
secondary schools, especially in the exact subjects. It recommends that a national commission
be set up to assess present standards in pre-university education and to make
recommendations on improvements. The commission should comprise representatives of
government, business and industry and education.
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