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An independent evaluation shows that students who take Q-Step quantitative skills modules during their social science degrees have better earning potential than students on similar courses.

Q-Step is also helping to address the shortage of graduates with the skills to apply quantitative methods in both research and professional settings.

Overview


Q-Step was established in 2013 as a strategic response to the shortage of graduates with the right skills for careers in research and other data-led professions. The programme operates in 17 universities and was developed by the Nuffield Foundation and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation with a total initial investment of £19.5 million.

Q-Step was designed to empower participating universities – through Q-Step Centres – to decide how best to use the funding to develop their quantitative teaching and courses in line with the programme’s aims. In particular, we encouraged the Centres to learn from and adapt their approaches over time, aligned to their wider institutional strategies, and to harness new opportunities, ideas and creativity.

In 2017, we commissioned Technopolis to conduct an independent evaluation of Q-Step, the purpose of which was to: assess the outcomes for the Centres, students and employers involved; explore the degree to which the programme had met its objectives; and provide insights and lessons for the design and implementation of future national initiatives. This report summarises the evaluation conducted between 2017 and 2021.

The findings are very positive. Participation in Q-Step modules is associated with better employment prospects for students compared to similar students on equivalent courses. For example, Q-Step students are more likely to earn over £25k and be in highly skilled employment 15 months after graduation. In addition, students expressed high levels of satisfaction with their experience. The evaluation also found that Q-Step has increased quantitative teaching capacity and had a positive impact across participating institutions, particularly those with less established traditions of quantitative social science teaching. Notably, the programme has prompted a range of further investment and initiatives designed to boost quantitative methods across the participating universities, as well as in other universities and educational organisations.

The evaluation also identified a number of challenges associated with implementing a programme of Q-Step’s scale and ambition. For example, embedding collaboration and the sharing of best practice across Centres requires considerable effort and coordination. There is also a need to ensure that students are recruited from a diverse range of backgrounds in alignment with institutional priorities for access and widening participation, which was not one of the programme’s initial objectives.

Reassuringly, the evaluation found that entres have demonstrated a long-term commitment to – and effective practices in – the sustained development of quantitative methods in the social sciences. They have also increased engagement with external stakeholders, particularly local employers, through their networks of work placement providers. Q-Step funding ended in September 2021, but participating universities are committed to sustaining the Centres for at least a further three years and the evaluation highlights that many have already embedded the good practice developed through the initiative within their business-as-usual activities. This bodes well for Q-Step Centres to play a useful role in local and regional skills strategies.

Key findings


  • Students who take ‘Q-Step’ quantitative skills modules during their social science degrees have better earning potential than students on similar courses.
  • Q-Step is helping to address the shortage of graduates with the skills to apply quantitative methods in both research and professional settings.
  • Q-Step equips students with a deep and secure grasp of the skills needed to make sense of data and a grounding in the ways that data can be used to better understand society.
  • The programme has also increased quantitative teaching capacity at participating universities and has prompted a range of further investment and initiatives designed to boost quantitative methods across these institutions, as well as in other universities and educational organisations.
  • Student satisfaction levels, for Q-Step programmes, are high as a result of good quality teaching and work placements.

Recommendations


Based on the findings of the evaluation, Technopolis make a series of recommendations:

  • The Centres should continue to learn from and adapt their pedagogic approaches, sharing innovation with the wider social science research community.
  • The Centres should work closely with institutions’ access and widening participation teams to help attract students with a diversity of backgrounds.
  • Q-Step should be presented as a case study that encourages other universities to invest in the development of quantitative methods within social science programmes and beyond. The evidence from Q-Steps suggests that investing in quantitative skills training: increases graduate employability, enriches the curricula, increases staff expertise, and encourages the recruitment of additional high-quality lecturers.

We hope that this evaluation will be of value to these institutions and other stakeholders in their consideration of the role they can play to support and develop the good practice and progress made by Q-Step.

Download the evaluation report

This report identifies aspects of the programme that worked well and areas for improvement as well as scope to further develop Q-Step in the future.

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