Engineering news
Nearly half of secondary school children would consider a career in engineering, yet young people lack the support in schools needed to fulfil their career ambitions, says report.
According to new research to mark the start of Tomorrow's Engineers Week, three quarters of parents would recommend a career in engineering to their children and nearly half (47%) of secondary school children would consider a career in engineering, with 29% of them girls. However, only a third (34%) says they know what to do next in order to become an engineer.
In addition, schools may not able to provide information needed to support the engineering ambitions of their students.
More than half (56%) of GCSE science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) teachers surveyed have been asked for advice about engineering careers by their pupils in the last year, yet only a third (36%) felt confident giving such advice.
The findings reveal further disparities between teacher attitudes and pupil ambitions. 42% of teachers believe pay is the most important factor to pupils when making career choices, when in fact only 15% of pupils cite pay as most important. Choosing a career in something that they are interested in is the biggest influence for teens' career choices (42%), and parents agree (24%).
In a separate study of young engineers under the age of 30 by EngineeringUK, a quarter (23%) of those surveyed said they didn't consider engineering as a possible career choice when they were at school or college and 15% were discouraged by a teacher. 42% of those that didn't consider an engineering career would have changed their mind if they had received better careers advice, information or inspiration and 21% if they had known what engineering careers involve.
Paul Jackson, chief executive of EngineeringUK, said: "Engineering makes a significant contribution to UK GDP growth and engineering companies will have over 2.5 million job openings between 2012 and 2022 across a diverse range of disciplines.
We're delighted to see that parents are so supportive of their children's engineering ambitions at a time when their talents are much-needed. However, the findings reveal a worrying lack of school support for young people. We urge schools to use the excellent Tomorrow's Engineers careers resources and website to inspire their students.
"At the same time, we call on engineering employers of every size and sector across the UK not only to give schools access to high-quality careers information and resources but to open their doors to show young people just how exciting a career as a 21st Century engineer can be.”
Meanwhile, global energy company Shell announced a three-year investment in the Tomorrow's Engineers schools outreach programme of over £1 million.
Chairman of Shell UK, Erik Bonino, said: "We want to support and inspire a new generation of world-leading engineers and scientists who will fly the flag for British innovation. The school children of today can create the technical solutions of the future, but only if we show them the vast range of opportunities that Stem subjects and careers can offer. That's why we have pledged over £1 million to help grow the Tomorrow's Engineers initiative and I urge the wider engineering community to lend their support too."
Tomorrow's Engineers Week (#TEWeek14) is a week of national and regional activities by employers, government and education providers around the country to inspire young people, their parents and teachers to learn more about wide-ranging career opportunities in engineering.