UK science and engineering is the envy of many nations around the world. 14 Engineered in Britain: Manufacturing a Successful Economy?
EDUCATION AND SKILLS UK science and engineering is the envy of many nations around the world. We produce, proportionally, more patents than any other country, with the exception of the United States. Political, public and media support for UK science and engineering is generally positive. However, regardless of all this, predictions are that by 2022 the UK will experience a shortage of nearly 500,000 qualified engineers and technicians. This shortage is due mainly (but not exclusively) to the ‘baby-boomer’ generation retiring from work at the same time as manufacturing sectors, such as energy, automotive, aerospace and food & drink, are growing in size. This predicted shortage is not a recent discovery, but one that was noted as far back as 1980. The attempts by successive Governments and the engineering profession to address the looming skills shortage have had little impact at best. The ‘reintroduction’ of apprenticeships has certainly helped, by providing people with an alternative way to enter the profession rather than going to university. However, despite all these efforts, there seems to have been little change in the numbers of school leavers who are being inspired to consider science and engineering as a possible career option – a point examined in detail in the Institution’s 2014 report Five Tribes: Personalising Engineering Education. Careers Advice and the Next Generation Careers advice in schools has a reputation for offering students inaccurate and poor-quality guidance, especially when it comes to science and engineering. The downgrading of the careers advice provision during the Coalition years has exacerbated the issue, and is reflected in both public (57%) and manufacturers (72%) groups believing that Government is not doing enough to promote science, engineering and manufacturing to future generations (Q7). The Institution, through its Teacher Industrial Partners’ Scheme, is attempting to address this ongoing concern by providing teachers (a primary source of careers advice to many students) with two-week industrial placements, allowing them a better understanding of the application of science and engineering in the real world. Given the well-known science and engineering shortages, both the public (81%) and manufacturer (83%) groups showed strong support for STEM-based courses to be subsidised by Government over other subjects (Q8), thereby making them more financially attractive to students. However, after the November 2015 Comprehensive Spending Review, it is unlikely that this will be a future or viable option for Government, with many of the available grants being converted to student loans, and substantial cuts to the Further Education budget. The only noticeable opportunity to increase engineering numbers is by the recent removal of university caps on student numbers, allowing possible expansion of campuses. Although a positive sign, it has to be noted that science and engineering faculties are expensive to build and operate. Therefore, while many universities may take this opportunity to expand, some may find the costs too expensive and limit, or close, their engineering faculties, unable to be competitive with their rivals. Company Recruitment The second part of this section was exclusively focused on gauging views from the manufacturer survey group. Of the 1,000 engineers polled, over two thirds indicated that their company was currently recruiting engineers (Q9), with the type of engineer being recruited (Q10) fairly evenly spread (Chartered 51%, Incorporated 46%, Engineering Technician 43% and Engineering Apprentice 48%). However, the results looking at finding engineers with the right skills and abilities (Q11) were of concern, as they found that only 47% of respondents felt that applicants met their needs. When asked specifically about skill deficiencies in the recruitment of engineering apprentices and graduates (Q13), it was found that management skills (75%), and leadership (64%) ranked poorly. However, the lack of practical skills was identified by 68% of respondents, which is of particular concern as engineering is about taking theory and applying it in a practical way. This is not unique to the Engineered in Britain survey, however, it is a result that is appearing to get worse over the last few years, potentially due to the imminent retirement of the baby boomers. imeche.org/engineeredinbritain 15