Engineering envelops every aspect of our lives, yet here in Britain it is much undervalued by a huge percentage of the population. According to a study by the Robert Bosch Group only 23% of the young think Engineering is of any importance to our economy.
So why aren’t the young, and girls in particular, being attracted into Engineering? Last year only 400 girls completed engineering apprenticeships, whilst 58,600 studied Health and Social Care.
The image of engineers as greasy men in dungarees or hardhats, faced with factory closures has been hard to shrug off. It has prejudiced the views of many parents and teachers in guiding teenagers away from careers in engineering.
A situation not helped by the manner in which many of our engineering businesses present themselves as
data driven organisations underplaying the importance of the people who work within them.
What is needed now is for the engineering community as a whole to radically improve the way it communicates with the general public.
These enlightened young women prove there are many opportunities in Britain’s new engineering sector; they are the fresh face of UK engineering.
Their enthusiasm for the subject and its benefits as a career and to our society are helping to change perceptions.