Graduate Graduate retention in the Delft area: an investigation of of career and location decisions of TUDelft alumni Research proposal for graduation project in Engineering & Policy Analysis (EP (EPA) A) Nicolò Wojewoda, 1334662 Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management Delft University of Technology
[email protected] draft 6th March 2008 choice , job Keywords: Keywords: graduate retention, urban economy, career decision, location choice, mobility mobility SUMMARY SUMMARY Most Most literature focuses on the attraction of talent in regional or urban areas, with the goal of stimulating stimulating local economic growth. Few efforts, however, have been spent on retention rete ntion of such such talent, especially when this kind of human capital is produced in the city itself. itself. The proposed proposed research aims to highlight the importance of graduate retention in the local economy economy and to bring to surface the reasons for TUDelft alumni to stay in or leave leav e the Delft area area after graduation. The focus is on individual decision-making in a determ ined environment environment (housing, work opportunities, social life, etc.). Through a survey and interviews, interviews, data will be gathered and analysed, in order to find meaningful correlations correla tions between contextual elements and graduate retention in the local economy. economy. The results will be also made available in the form of a booklet to the wider audience, to be presented to the relevant stakeholders, in order to foster public debate on the issue.
1 Introduction
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1.1 Context of the proposal
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1.2 Problem area
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1.3 Research objectives
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1.4 Research questions
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2 Methodology
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3 Products
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4 Expected outcomes
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5 Activities
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6 Budget
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7 Communication
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8 Thesis report
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9 References and relevant sources
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9.1 Journal articles
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9.2 Books and other publications
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9.3 World Wide Web
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1 Introduction 1.1 Context of the proposal The current research proposal is conceived within the framework of the graduation project for the Engineering & Policy Analysis master programme. The document constitutes both part of the requirements for fulfilling the course EPA2931 Preparation master thesis and part of the documentation required to formally inquire about the beginning of a thesis project. The final draft of the proposal will be presented in the kick-off meeting of the thesis committee in charge of supervision of the author s work. ʻ
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1.2 Problem area Although the term knowledge economy has been used in the last decades to indicate a variety of concepts related to the importance of knowledge in our current economic processes (Godin, 2006), the underlying importance of the topic is such that countries at all levels of economic development are embarking on economies based on the creation, acquisition, consumption and diffusion of knowledge (World Bank, 1998). Godin (2006) notes that the biggest proponents of the knowledge economy, such as the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), have been evaluating its progress mostly in terms of investments in R&D. Recent literature, though, suggests that the dimensions of innovation (Raspe & van Oort, 2006) and human capital (Mellander & Florida, 2006; Raspe & van Oort, 2006) plays a big role in such development as well. Universities, as a focal production point of knowledge and knowledge workers, play therefore a big role in today s knowledge economy (Conceição & Heitor, 1999; Florida et al., al., 2006). Such influence, however, has mostly been studied with the national or international perspective in mind. Recently, authors have started to focus on the regional/urban perspective of the knowledge economy, economy, driven by the increasing importance of the region as the basic unit of analysis (Cappellin, 2007). The authors cited by Harloe & Perry (2004) posit that “the balance is shifting away from relative autonomy towards a new mode of knowledge production (Gibbons et al., al., 1994; Ruivo, 1994; Nowotny et al., al., 2001) in which the growing engagement of universities with their regions and localities is an important aspect.” Also, universities can be considered as a local source of expertise for existing organizations in the region (van der Meer, 1997). Finally, the importance of the city and its urban economy is also highlighted by a series of non-academic publications of high profile (e.g. Jones et al., al., 2006; Bolz et al., al., 2005). ʼ
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The city of Delft has been lately pursuing the idea of exploiting “the economic potential of Delft as a knowledge city” (van Geenhuizen, 1997, p. 375). In fact, approximately half of all Delft jobs are knowledge-intensive (Delft.com, 2008) and many start-ups are born throughout the year, further contributing to these figures. Although TUDelft and the other research/education organizations in the urban area employ a big percentage of the city s population, preliminary talks with stakeholders suggest that a big part of TUDelft alumni decide to leave the city after graduation and start their own business in another city/region, or simply get employed by big companies located in the major Dutch cities (Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam), as a first step in their career development. ʼ
When it comes to career and location choices, similar research (e.g. Hansen et al., al., 2003; Harren, 1979) stresses the line of inquiry related to patterns of individual decision-making by worker. In the case of an graduate student seeking first employment, the motivations are very varied, as they relate, for instance, with unemployment reasons (Böheim et al., al., 1999) or expected income (Kennan et al., al., 2003) or others.
All these elements show that the retention of graduates in the urban economy is therefore a priority for the city of Delft to ensure that the precious resources utilized to educate and train tomorrow s knowledge workers are not going to be invested in a different city/region, not allowing the city of Delft to reap the benefits of such opportunity. opportunity. ʼ
Nevertheless, there s a couple of major knowledge gaps on the issue: • there s no knowledge about current levels of graduate retention • there s little understanding about the perception of TUDelft graduates regarding the reasons for their choice to stay in or leave Delft ʼ
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1.3 Research objectives In light of the previous considerations, the objectives of the proposed research are: • to highlight highlight the importa importance nce of retaining retaining knowle knowledge dge workers workers in the urban urban economy economy,, in order to stimulate economic growth • to de determin termine e the reasons reasons for for TUDelft TUDelft alumni alumni to stay stay in or leave leave Delft Delft after after graduation • to foster foster public debate debate about about the the issue issue in the city city of of Delft Delft • to contrib contribute ute to the resear research ch field field of graduate graduate retention retention 1.4 Research questions The proposed research question is: What are the contextual issues in the Delft area that require improvement in order to enhance graduate retention in the city of Delft?
The research might include answering the following sub-questions: • What is the current current status status of of graduate graduate retentio retention n in the urban econo economy my of Delft? Delft? • What are the causes causes for TUDelft TUDelft alumni alumni to stay in in or leave leave Delft Delft after gradua graduation? tion? • How do do these these caus causes es impac impactt gradua graduate te reten retentio tion? n? • What policy policy insights insights can we derive derive from from these these correla correlations tions? ?
2 Methodology The analysis of current employment conditions of TUDelft alumni would have to resort to the university s existing contacts with recent graduates of its educational programmes. The proposed timespan for such sample is the most recent cohort (graduated in the 2006-2007 academic year) and the cohort of 2001-2002, in order to establish, if possible comparisons over time between the two samples and hopefully between the two populations. The source of these contacts would probably be the university s database system with data about past and present students at TUDelft. ʼ
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These alumni would be inquired about their current level of employement, if any, their living and working conditions and their reasons for choosing to stay in or leave Delft after graduation. The tool for inquiry would be an online survey. The questionnaire of the survey would be prepared with input from relevant stakeholders, within the timeframe of the project. This input would also serve to create a first conceptual model of the issue, that would be tested and improved through the results of the survey. The survey would have a sample size that allows statistical analysis, with enough variety to cover the whole set of faculties and educational programmes offered at TUDelft, as well as the different conditions of the population (gender, nationality, etc.). The survey would probably be run
online with the same tools that the university is currently using to assess satisfaction of foreign students at TUDelft. Using causal analysis tools and methods, an analysis of the causes will be made and iteratively confronted with the results of the inquiry. The tool for statistical analysis instead would be SPSS or similar. similar. The theoretical framework for this research would be provided by a review of relevant literature in English, through databases (Scopus, Web of knowledge, Webspirs, Google Scholar) and the Internet (Google). Additional information would be gathered from other stakeholders in the process (TUDelft management, TUDelft researchers, Delft municipality management, other Delft-based groups with interest on the issue). Data sources in this case would include both interviews as well as publications from the relevant stakeholders.
3 Products The products of the research are going to be: • a master master thesis thesis report, report, conformi conforming ng to the the graduation graduation requirements requirements of the Engineering & Policy Analysis master programme • the publica publication tion of of a scientifi scientific c article article in in an acade academic mic journal journal • a booklet booklet illustratin illustrating g the problem problem to the the wider wider audience audience (policy (policy-make -makers, rs, employer employers, s, students, etc.) • a press press conference conference with with the releva relevant nt parties parties (stakeho (stakeholders lders and and media) media) on the the results of the research
4 Expected outcomes outco mes The research is expected to produce the following outcomes: • a descripti description on of the the current current status of graduate graduate retenti retention, on, based based on on the surveye surveyed d sample, that proves that most TUDelft alumni chose not to work or live in Delft after graduation • an overview overview of of the issues issues influencin influencing g the choice choice of TUDelft TUDelft alumni alumni when when deciding deciding on career and location after graduation, related to all areas of life lif e including leisure, career, career, family, economic situation and many others • a statistical statistical analysi analysis s that shows shows significan significantt correlations correlations between between certain certain elemen elements ts of influence and the graduate students decisions on whether to stay in or leave Delft ʼ
5 Activities The following is a tentative list of the proposed activities, together with the corresponding amount of workload required.
Activity
Workload (hours)
Preparation: • lite litera ratu ture re rese resear arch ch • probl roblem em ana naly lysi sis s • lear learni ning ng soft softwa ware re an and d research methods • conc concep eptu tual al mo mode deli ling ng
100
Data gathering: • get c co ontacts • crea create te que quest stio ionn nnai aire re • prep prepar are e inte interv rvie iews ws • cond conduc uctt inte interv rvie iews ws • arra rrange sur surv vey
100
Data analysis: • data ata proc proces essi sin ng • cau ausa sall an anal aly ysis sis • stat statis isti tica call an anal alys ysis is
130
Writing thesis report
200
Preparing final presentation
32
Preparing booklet with research outcomes
20
Write journal article
40
Meetings, documentation and reporting to the thesis committee
50
SUBTOTAL
672 (24 ECTS)
buffer time TOTAL
28 700
6 Budget The following are the expected costs incurred in the proposed research activities. Item
Cost (EUR)
Journal articles or other publications
50
Transportation to interview locations
50
Item
Cost (EUR)
Interview equipment
50
Survey setup costs
50
Survey incentives
100
Printing
50
TOTAL
350
7 Communication The progress of the research will be periodically monitored by the thesis committee through meetings and progress reports by email. The day-to-day supervisory efforts will be taken care of by the 1 st supervisor dr. Ronald Dekker and by the 2 nd supervisor XXX. A blog will be created to share the progress of the research and also to develop further insights not related to this project. Time for this will be taken aside from the project time, hence not being included on the table in Chapter 5. 5.
8 Thesis report This is a preliminary outline of the final master thesis report: Cover page blank Title page blank to.../Acknowledgements Preface Table of contents List of figures List of tables Summary (2) 1 Introduction (5) 1.1 Problem context 1.2 Research objectives 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Structure of this report 2 Methodology (5) 2.1 Scientific methods 2.2 Tools 2.3 Resources 3 The urban knowledge economy 3 Graduate migrants perspectives (30) 3.1 Causes for migration 3.2 Development of solutions 4 Conclusions (5) 5 Recommendations (2) References Appendices ʼ
9 References References and relevant sources 9.1 Journal articles Cappellin R. (2007), The Territorial Dimension of the Knowledge Economy: Collective Learning, Spatial Changes and Regional and Urban Policies , American Behavioral Scientist , vol. 50, n. 7, pp. 897-921 Conceição P., Heitor M. V (1999), On the role of the university in the knowledge economy , Science and Public Policy , vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 37-51 Godin B. (2006), The Knowledge-Based Economy: Conceptual Framework or Buzzword? , Journal on Technology Transfer , vol. 31, pp. 17-30 Hansen S. B., Ban C., Huggins L. (2003), Explaining the “Brain Drain” from Older Industrial Cities: The Pittsburgh Region , Economic Development Quarterly , vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 132-147 Harloe M., Perry B. (2004), Universities, Localities and Regional Development: The Emergence of the Mode 2 University? , International Journal of Urban and Regional Research , vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 212-23 Harren V. A. (1979), A Model of Career Decision Making for College Students , Journal of Vocational Behavior , vol. 14, pp. 119-133 Raspe O., van Oort F. (2006), The Knowledge Economy and Urban Economic Growth , European Planning Studies , vol. 14, no. 9, pp. 1209-1234 van der Meer E. (1997), The University as a local source of expertise , GeoJournal , vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 359-367 van Geenhuizen Geenhui zen M., Nijkamp P., P., Rijckenberg Rijckenb erg H. (1997), Universities and knowledgebased economic growth: the case of Delft (NL) , GeoJournal , vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 369-377 ʻ
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9.2 Books and other publications Böheim R., Taylor M. (1999), Residential mobility, mobility, housing tenure and the labour market in Britain , Institute for Social and Economic Research and Institute for Labour Research , University of Essex Florida R., Gates G., Knudsen B., Stolarick K. (2006), The University and the Creative Economy Kennan J., Walker J. R. (2003), The effect of expected income on individual migration decisions , National Bureau of Economic Research Jones A., Williams L., Lee N., Coats D., Cowling M. (2006), Ideopolis: Knowledge City-Regions , The Work Foundation Mellander C., Florida R. (2006), The Creative Class or Human Capital? Explaining regional development in Sweden , The Martin Prosperity Institute Bolz U., Ford A., Gourley M., Magee C., Castilla Porquet M., Rakel J., Radovanovic D., Sieverdink A., Sivertsen T., Sturesson J., Teunisse P., Toussing J. (2005) , Cities of the future - global competition, local leadership* , PricewaterhouseCoopers World Bank (1998), World Development Report 1998 , Knowledge for Development ʻ
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9.3 World Wide Web Delft.com (2008), Delft Knowledge City , http://www.delft.nl/webEN/content.jsp? objectid=33776 (retrieved on the 18 th February 2008) ʻ
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