16.11.17
DfT pledges ‘a million inspiring experiences’ during 2018 Year of Engineering
The DfT has pledged to work alongside industry partners and MPs to offer young people “a million direct and inspiring experiences of engineering” in an effort to tackle the skills gap.
Coming as part of the 2018 Year of Engineering, the campaign will see large-scale outreach programmes, a children’s book about engineering and behind-the-scenes tours for families.
It will highlight the important role that individuals can have in inspiring children, from parents helping them with maths homework or enrolling them in a coding club, to engineers sharing their experience and advice in schools or via social media.
Hundreds of industry partners – including the likes of Crossrail and Siemens, but also stretching to everything from healthcare and food to energy and culture – will work with the government to try to combat the shortfall of 20,000 engineering graduates faced by the UK each year.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling explained the importance of attracting fresh talent to the profession: “Engineering is one of the most productive sectors in our economy, but a lack of young people entering the profession is damaging growth.
“With major investment being made in infrastructure and new technologies that aim to improve the way we travel, work and live, it’s crucial to the nation’s success that more people join the profession.
“This Year of Engineering is our commitment to transforming perceptions of engineering among young people, their parents and their teachers. We need people from all backgrounds to see the creativity, opportunity and value of engineering careers.”
This skills shortage will cost the economy an estimated £1.1bn a year by 2024.
It is hoped that by bringing young people face-to-face with engineering role models, the pool of young people who consider the profession will widen, diversifying a workforce that is 91% male and 94% white.
In March 2017, Network Rail set a target of increasing female representation in its 37,000-strong workforce from 16% to 20% by 2020.
Anne Milton, education minister, said: “As minister for skills, I want to see young people from all backgrounds have the opportunity to pursue rewarding careers and jobs in engineering whether they choose an academic or technical route.
“Through the Year of Engineering, we will work with businesses to inspire the next generation of world-class engineers. For our country to thrive and prosper with the highly-skilled individuals that businesses need we must work with employers to tackle the skills gap.
“The Year of Engineering will help to address the shortages of engineers that have long held us back as an economy.”
Top image: South Agency
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