Government and industry unite to attract young people into engineering careers

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), major engineering employers and institutions, and many of the country’s leading young engineers are joining forces to persuade more young people to pursue careers in engineering.

Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (#TEWeek13) takes place from 4-8th November 2013 and aims to change perceptions of engineering among young people, their parents and teachers. The campaign will challenge outdated negative perceptions about engineering careers, particularly amongst women, and demonstrate the relevance of engineering to young people’s everyday lives.

The Week will include:

• Work with young engineering ambassadors who will demonstrate the breadth, depth and variety of job opportunities in engineering, including careers in fashion, music, sport, mobile technology, computer gaming; TV and film;

• Polling amongst secondary school children exploring attitudes to jobs in engineering and the impact of engineering on society in the future;

• A nationwide search to find England’s Engineering Wonders, judged by the shining stars of contemporary engineering;

• Social media activity and high profile competitions for young people offering engineering-related money-can’t-buy prizes;

• Engineering industry announcements, events, round tables and discussions looking at future skills needs in the engineering industry and how more young people can be encouraged into engineering jobs

According to EngineeringUK, engineering companies will have 2.74 million job openings between 2010 and 2020 across a diverse range of disciplines [1]. However far too few school children, particularly girls, are choosing the GCSEs, A Levels, Apprenticeships, degrees or other vocational pathways that will lead to engineering careers.

For further information about Tomorrow’s Engineers Week and to find out how to get involved visit www.tomorrowsengineers.org.uk