Engineering graduate shortfall hits 20,000 per year
20 Feb 2017
A report by EngineeringUK suggests the demand for graduates far outstrips supply, meaning there is an annual deficit of 20,000 new engineers per year.
The report also suggests that campaigns to attract girls into engineering are “falling short”, with women only representing one engineer out of every eight.
A joint letter from Malcolm Brinded, chairman of EngineeringUK and Ann Dowling, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, accompanied the report.
They said: “There continue to be real concerns and efforts should be redoubled to improve STEM education, to attract young people into engineering, and to retain, motivate and improve the skills of those already in the industry.”
They added that boys are three times more likely to study A level physics than girls, and five times more likely to gain an engineering and technology degree.
To address these concerns, Brinded and Dowling have set out a number of recommendations, including increasing diversity through the education system, into and throughout employment, and developing an industrial strategy that reinforces and sustains engineering’s contributions to the UK.
Despite the concerns, though, the report does reveal some positive signs.
For example, engineering and technology degrees have increased by 9%, while England has seen the highest number of engineering related apprenticeship starts for 10 years.
