We are supporting the Science Council to develop and pilot a registration scheme that will ensure there is appropriate professional recognition for science technicians.

In the past, much of the emphasis around STEM skills has been on increasing the supply and quality of science graduates, but more recently attention has turned to science technicians.  However, there is no single science technician role.  Science technicians undertake a wide range of jobs at different levels, commanding different salaries and assuming varying levels of supervisory and managerial responsibility.  The pathways into technician grade posts are also varied, ranging from traditional academic, through vocational to work-based learning routes, including apprenticeships.  Furthermore, while for some a technician role is an aspiration, for others, it represents a rung on the career ladder to becoming a scientist.

This complexity causes problems in promoting technician roles to young people, lowering the numbers entering the profession.  In addition, without studying the detail of the vast qualifications system, employers seeking to fill technician vacancies are unclear about the knowledge and skills of their potential recruits.  Similarly, technicians wanting to switch to new sectors in response to changing economic circumstances struggle to show they have developed the required transferable skills.  Gatsby is supporting the Science Council to develop a registration scheme for technicians that will seek to address all these issues.

The Science Council commissioned two pieces of research to ensure the scheme will meet the needs of employers and individuals.  One explored labour market information to better understand the make-up of the science workforce, including its demographics, level of education and the sectors where it is employed.  This piece of work found that 5.8 million people are now employed in science-based roles and that 34% of the science workforce is non-graduate.

The other piece of research explored the views of employers and technicians towards professional development needs and the proposed new register.  The research found “general agreement that it is desirable to consolidate and improve the professional identity and self-image of science technicians” and that “the majority of technicians are receptive to the idea of a new professional register while remaining cautious about commitment before seeing its details.  They value the range of potential features…most notably the development of a register that takes account of existing qualifications and/or prior experiential learning and is recognised by employers across all sectors of science.  This view is shared by employers”.

Following consultation with the professional bodies that make up the Science Council, it was agreed that there needs to be a further register between that proposed for technicians and the one that already exists for chartered scientists.  This will lead to a framework of registration that starts at level 3 with registered science technician and continues with registered scientist at level 5 before chartered scientist at level 7.

Standards for the two new registers have been agreed and seven professional bodies, including the Society of Biology, will embark on a pilot registration scheme in 2012.  As the life sciences have been identified as a key driver for future growth in the UK, Gatsby was particularly keen for the Society of Biology to be involved in the pilot, and is helping it meet the start-up costs of registration.

It is clear that if the UK is to remain competitive in the future we will need to improve the supply and quality of science technicians; science technician registration has the potential to make a key contribution.