Articles
It has been well documented that a severe lack of engineering skills and an ineffective education system will stifle the UK’s industrial growth plans, and the situation is likely to worsen still with our departure from the European Union.
Government and industry are becoming increasingly critical of the lack of progress being made by secondary and higher education in producing the engineering talent required.
Companies that rely on a European workforce to overcome the UK skills shortage will soon have only a limited pool of engineers from which to choose, with little hope of the education system producing the vast quantities of next-generation engineers they need any time soon. It’s perhaps not surprising then that Dyson has begun offering talented students the chance to get what has been popularly termed a ‘Dyson Degree’, working as they learn at one of the most innovative companies in the UK.
Although significant improvements have been made in encouraging students to take engineering courses at university, there is still plenty of work to be done in embedding ‘engineering habits of mind’ in younger children, and nurturing them to understand the importance of engineering for the wealth of the economy. This could include making engineering compulsory within the national curriculum, at least for key stage 2/3 students and above, and increasing the resources available to children to spark their interest in the subject.
But deeper than this is the issue of a lack of diversity in the industry. Our students need role models. There are the same number of women working in the rail industry today as there were when the curtain fell on the Second World War. What’s more, women are disproportionately represented in customer service and frontline roles, rather than in technical jobs and rail engineering.
Graduates from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds too are still facing substantial barriers to employment, even if their academic qualifications exceed those of their white counterparts. This not only highlights the serious inequalities that exist in the industry but halts the growth of the workforce which is so desperately needed.
Social mobility, another topic high on the agenda, is an area the industry has worked hard to embrace, presenting many opportunities for talented people despite their background or social class. But we can always do more.
And the only way we’ll achieve this is by arming young people with the knowledge they need to make informed career decisions and highlighting some of the exciting jobs that a degree in engineering can help with. As an example, take a look at Arcadia Spectacular, the 50-tonne fire-breathing spider which has some serious engineering heavyweights behind it and is a regular centrepiece at the Glastonbury festival!
London South Bank University is looking at new ways of widening the pool of engineering talent available to businesses. We’re doing this by addressing some of these issues, including offering more degree places to females, BME students and those from low-income families.
We’ve also collaborated with the Association for BME Engineers on employability programmes to celebrate diversity in engineering by organising events to improve professional skills, increase confidence and enhance students’ social capital.
We’re adamant that the students who will be our engineers of tomorrow need to be free-thinking and enterprising. The engineering courses our universities offer need to appeal to the imagination of prospective students, and to evolve to ensure they are geared to meeting the challenges of tomorrow.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.