Government urged to tackle £1.5 billion engineering skills shortage through schools

Engineering success begins at school

Image:
Engineering success begins at school

A new report endorsed by over 150 engineering leaders and celebrities is calling on the government to help tackle the UK's engineering skills shortage by embedding engineering into the current curriculum.

The estimated shortfall of 173,000 STEM sector workers in the UK cannot and should not be viewed in isolation from the lack of diversity in these professions. There isn't a neat pattern of cause and effect but it's clear that there is a link between these two, persistent problems. Those seeking STEM skills are unable to find nearly enough of them in the pool of typically male, middle-class graduates that are putting themselves forward. Few would argue that the talent pool doesn't need to be expanded. The harder part is figuring out how.

Whilst Computing has argued and will continue to make the case that private industry needs to try harder to hire and promote a more diverse range of talent, it is also clear that the pipeline of this talent isn't as strong as it should be. The problem begins early in life and whilst schools have placed a greater emphasis on STEM subjects in recent years, there is a perceived disconnect between the academic teaching of science and mathematics and their application to solving real world problems - engineering.

The Institution of Engineering & Technology's (IET) new Engineering Kids' Futures Report includes signatories such as Major Tim Peake, Carol Vorderman MBE, will.i.am, and representatives from Vodafone and the MOD. The research for was carried out online in late November 2022 with 1,020 parents (aged 20+) with children aged 5-18 responding. Some notable findings are as follows:

Gendered attitudes to STEM careers

Something is going wrong in schools - or possibly even earlier. Research published in by the Department for Education in 2019 found attitudes to STEM subjects differed by gender in Key Stage 4 pupils (15 and 16 years.) By this age, almost half the proportion of females than males considered themselves to be best at STEM subject (33% as opposed to 60% respectively.) When the same teenagers were asked what subjects they thought would lead to a job, the results differed significantly by gender. Females were most likely to cite English, and males mathematics. IT was depressingly low for both - only 17% of males and 6% of females thought it was most likely to lead to a job. This does not speak well of the computing curriculum.

The proportions stating that they thought science subjects would lead them to the highest salaries were roughly equal (77% for girls and 80% for boys.) This indicates that girls are turning away from STEM subjects at a relatively tender age in full knowledge of that fact that these are some of the highest earning options available. Schools are not responsible for the multitude of influences that result in girls thinking that well paid careers in engineering or technology aren't for them, but the curriculum as it stands is delivering some distinctly unequal outcomes, which are compounded in higher education as more young women remove themselves from the talent pool.

Could more focus on the purpose and application of STEM subjects be helpful? David Lakin, IET Head of Education, Safeguarding & Education Policy, certainly thinks so. He commented:

"As we know, subjects like science and maths are eagerly taught in schools, but connecting them to engineering - the link between these subjects, their purpose and application to the world in which we live - is not currently being made clear.

"We need to ensure there are clearer learning outcomes for these subjects. Put simply, we need to embed engineering into the mainstream curriculum. One way we can do this is by reviewing the current D&T curriculum, which is a key engineering and technology gateway subject, and give it more importance in the EBacc suite of subjects. Teacher training is also a key factor, and providing an engineering package aligned with the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework is vital to enhance a teacher's understanding and confidence around talking about engineering in the classroom.

"There are many options, and the engineering community is ready to help develop and implement these to support government in implementing these recommendations.

Our aim to significantly increase the number of quality engineers and technicians entering the workforce can only be achieved by letting young people see the opportunities that a career in the engineering sector presents."

The report leads with a series of recommendations to the UK government to embed engineering and technology within primary and secondary learning. These include: