Engineering Kids Future

The Engineering Kids Future Report

It is well known within the industry that there is an urgent need to close the skills gap and encourage a greater number of students to consider futures and careers in the STEM sector. It’s estimated that 48% of engineering businesses are experiencing difficulties in the skills available to them when trying to recruit (according to the 2021 IET Skills Survey).

The Engineering Kids Future Report, developed by the IET in 2021 called for the Government to look at their current curriculum and realign the outputs to address the upcoming skills gap. Since then, there have been many roundtables with various experts both in industry and education / Government, and yet no further change has been made.

In line with the views of the IET, it is believed that the Government’s biggest obstacle is the misunderstanding and interpretation of all parties as to a clear path of progression to Engineering Roles. In simplicity, children at school aren’t introduced to the prospect of an Engineer as a career, and in reality, the general public have little understanding as to what an engineer’s role in the community truly is. The UK is one of the only countries in the World that allows anyone to call themselves an engineer, even without a professional qualification or endorsement from one of the Institutes.

The IET`s Recommendations and a Proposed Way Forward

Having carried out their investigation, the IET recommends that in order to raise engineering’s profile and engagement / uptake, 5 areas need to be addressed: the National Curriculum, the Design Technology Curriculum, the English Baccalaureate, Engineering training for teachers and Bursaries and scholarships. These are not easy adjustments to make, and certainly won’t happen overnight. It is my understanding that children are influenced by their future career choices as early as age 6 primary school and this choice is often made based upon the people they see in front of them. Therefore, I’d propose that the most appropriate way forward, to begin the transition would be to work with Primary Schools to develop individual plans of action, which look to engage with a single class from Reception, every term, until they reach leavers age. This engagement would be primarily organised with the teacher, using their lesson plan and adapting it to show how an Engineer’s work fits into their activities. For example, in Year 1, many lesson plans involve the identification of a variety of everyday materials, and their physical properties. These can be related to several well-known structures around the World to show how and why materials are selected for their infrastructure purpose. This suggestion had the added benefit of introducing children to an Engineer a person who looks seemingly like their parent’s, parent’s friends, the neighbour they say hello to etc. and encourages the children to further develop educational relationships with this person, introducing the idea of an unknown progression / career path into the Engineering Industry.