Engineering news
The chair of the £1 million Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize) has called on parents of girls to ensure that their offspring consider a career in the profession.
Lord Browne of Madingley made his plea as nominations opened for the 2015 QEPrize. The inaugural prize, awarded in 2013, was given to five individuals who were fundamental to the development of the internet.
Last year only 4,228 girls applied to read engineering at university, compared to 28,020 boys, which a survey by the organisers of the QEPrize indicates could be related to parents’ attitudes towards the discipline.
Parents continue to assume their daughters are most interested in humanities, with 70% claiming that their daughters are interested in art and nearly 60% saying they are more interested in literature. In contrast, only 18% said their daughters are interested in engineering.
Lord Browne said: “Engineering is key to helping the country maintain its competitiveness in the global marketplace. It is absolutely critical that girls and their parents are aware of the opportunities and breadth of experience that a career in engineering can offer.
“We need talented, skilled and enthusiastic people to continue our proud tradition as an engineering nation, whatever their background or gender. I want to see today’s men and women become the world-class engineers of tomorrow.”
The QEPrize is awarded in the UK, in the name of Her Majesty, The Queen, although its objectives and ambitions are global. Through the prize the organisers aim to discover and celebrate stories of engineering success, raise the international public profile of engineering and inspire new generations of engineers to take up the challenges of the future.
The QEPrize is international and open to any nationality. Nominations for the first prize were received from across the world. The only limitations are that self-nomination and posthumous nomination are not permitted.
There is an independent international judging panel, appointed for each QEPrize cycle, details of which are on the website: www.qeprize.org.