Dr Ian Hancox, Co-lead on the TALENT Programme and Director of Research Technology and Technical Strategy, University of Warwick, reflects on the transformational impact the TALENT Programme has had for UK technicians and what’s next for the technical community in higher education and research.
Within weeks of launching the Research England funded TALENT Programme in March 2020, campuses fell silent during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
Whilst this wasn’t how anyone anticipated the TALENT Programme would start; the unprecedented circumstances shined a light on the critical value of technical contributions in academia and research at an extraordinary time.
Many technical staff ensured the continuity of essential operations; maintaining laboratories, managing research equipment, 3D printing ventilator parts and visors, carried out compliance checks and supported the rapid pivot to remote learning.
It highlighted, not only their critical contributions, but the often-overlooked significance of their roles within the sector. Off the back of this, TALENT’s first research report was published COVID-19: The Impact on Technicians in UK Higher Education & Research.
This was the first of six research reports, with 48 practical recommendations published over five years which provided invaluable strategic insights into the UK’s technical workforce.
The data in these reports has bridged a critical knowledge gap of the technical workforce in higher education and research, influencing changes in national funding policies and elevating the status of technical professionals.
New technical workforce insights
One of the programme’s most significant publications, the TALENT Commission (published in February 2022) set out a blueprint for the future of UK technical skills in higher education and research.
Featuring new data on technical roles in teaching and research, demographics, workforce trends, career pathways and progression, perceptions, future skills requirements with 16 targeted recommendations, it remains the most comprehensive evidence base of technical professionals ever published.
The strategic insights have helped inform decision making within institutions locally – improving working practices and career opportunities for technicians – as well as shaping changes in funding policy at a national level.
There is a growing trend of technicians being named as authors on research papers, reflecting their integral involvement in research. And the University of Liverpool, the University of Warwick and Loughborough University have implemented new technical career pathways that have allowed technical staff to progress, akin to academic professionals.
Notably, the 2029 Research Excellence Framework (REF) People Culture and Environment assessment criteria has evolved to ensure fairer attribution and recognition of technical staff too.
Piloting impactful innovations
TALENT piloted new ideas and initiatives to tackle one of the biggest workforce inequality challenges.
The Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership was developed to tackle the lack of women in technical management and leadership roles. This six-month programme was the very first programme of its kind dedicated to people who identify as women in technical roles within higher education and research.
It created a vibrant network of women technical leaders across the UK, and we know individuals have been promoted directly as a result of the Herschel Programme. The Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership, now has an alumnus of almost 1,000 empowered technical leaders, and growing.
Another successful initiative has created solutions for efficiency savings, whilst empowering technicians and raising visibility of their expertise in the academic community.
The technician-led equipment sharing scheme was piloted across the eight Midlands Innovation universities, which put technical expertise at the forefront of the equipment sharing agenda. Research depends on cutting-edge equipment and infrastructure, which is maintained and used by skilled technical experts, and this scheme put technical professionals front and centre.
A dedicated fund was made available to remove financial barriers to equipment sharing during the five-year period. By providing access to both facilities and knowledge, technical expertise and skills gained greater recognition and research facilities were better resourced.
The technician-led equipment sharing pilot has evolved into a UK-wide showcase of almost 200 technician-led equipment and facilities, further unlocking research collaboration opportunities and providing much-needed efficiency savings at a time when purse strings are under scrutiny.
These are just two bottom-up initiatives from the TALENT Programme that have create real change and impact for technicians that are being scaled out nationally through the UK Institute for Technical Skills & Strategy (UK ITSS), which was established in August 2023 to build on the legacy of TALENT.
The UK ITSS, also funded by Research England, continues to champion and advocate for technical professionals.
Successful learning and development programmes and knowledge exchange placements from the TALENT Programme are available to more technical professionals through UK ITSS.
What’s next
Despite the tangible and positive changes, more progress can be made to ensure visibility and clarity in technical career pathways, improving progression routes with accurate and standardised job descriptions.
Our Technical Careers Pathways Lab is developing new solutions and ideas to address this. A working group of technical professionals and HR or Learning & Development leads from 24 organisations are spearheading change in this area.
Disparities exist across institutions too, with Russell Group universities advancing their technical community, compared to post-1992 institutions. Variations are also evident across disciplines, with the sciences making more strides than the arts and humanities. There is a pressing need to attract young talent, especially in emerging fields such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and engineering biology.
The Institute, alongside the Technician Commitment continues to work toward a culture that fully integrates and values technical professionals.
This includes equitable opportunities for career advancement, widespread recognition of contributions in research outputs, and a diverse workforce that reflects the breadth of talent.
By addressing these challenges and building on the success of TALENT, the UK can ensure a skilled technical workforce to meet future demands for growth in emerging sectors.
An edited version of this article has been published by Research Professional News