Government urged to slash fees for STEM degrees

CBI research shows half of people would encourage their children into an engineering career if subsidies existed

University tuition fees for Stem degree courses should be slashed to encourage more young people to take the subjects, the CBI has said.

The report Engineering Our Future  published today by business lobby group, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), says that the government should fund a tuition fee cut in order to get more people learning "the skills the economy needs".

The CBI's research suggests nearly half of people  would encourage their children to consider a career in engineering if their Stem degrees were subsidised by the government. "Given the longer-term economic pay-off for the state, this would be a decision worth taking for some key courses," the report says.

The lobby group also calls for new one-year "cross-over courses" for school leavers who want to switch back to studying Stem subjects.

"Developing one year intensive cross-over courses, an approach used in the legal profession after graduation, for young people to take for a year at 18 would enable more young people to study for a Stem degree," the group says.

"This would include many young women, who perhaps gave up the sciences at 16."

These courses could be developed by universities working with businesses and government, the CBI said.

Katja Hall, CBI chief policy director, said: "Growth and jobs in the future will depend on the UK having a workforce that can exploit new technologies and discoveries. The growing skills vacuum is threatening the recovery, as demand from firms is outstripping supply.”

Meanwhile, a new survey from recruitment firm NES Global Talent, has shown that the oil and gas industry needs to highlight the benefits of studying Stem subjects, provide mentorship and recognise workers equally in order to attract and retain female workers.

According to the survey, 44% of oil and gas workers have worked in different industries such as building and construction and even law and retail, before moving into oil and gas.

Neil Tregarthen, chief executive of NES Global Talent, said: “The encouraging news is that the vast majority of female employees feel welcome in the sector and say they would recommend a career in oil and gas engineering to others. However, 45% say they do not get the same recognition as men. There may be issues of perception and reality here, but undoubtedly the topic needs to be better managed, if the sector is to become more attractive to women."