IMechE calls for ‘step-change’ in schools to bridge skills gap
13 Apr 2016
It is time to "stop talking about the skills gap and start taking action" said the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) this week, as it called for a radical rethink about the role of schools and colleges in promoting engineering careers.
In its new report on the future of engineering in schools, the institution proposes that pupils should be “explicitly taught about engineering and the manufactured world as part of existing lessons from primary level upwards”.
The report also calls for maintaining a broad curriculum for all until the age of 18, and suggests more flexible entry requirements for engineering degree courses are needed.
“We have an engineering skills shortfall at a time where technology looks set to increase its dominance over much of our lives,” said Peter Finegold, IMechE’s head of education and skills and lead author of the report.
“Our schools need to adjust to this reality, both by increasing the number and breadth of young people choosing engineering careers, and by empowering those who do not. We need a step-change in the way we talk about engineering in schools and colleges.”
Engineering is not a job or a set of objects, it is a way of interacting intelligently and creatively with the modern world
Peter Finegold, IMechE’s head of education and skills
This means ensuring that primary school children are taught not just about the natural world, but also about the manufactured world too, he said.
“Maintaining a broad curriculum until the age of 18 would mean pupils wouldn’t have to make decisions to give up subjects before they really knew what they were. The consensus is that early specialisation routes young people into either arts or sciences too soon, and prevents many from considering engineering study or training before they’ve encountered it.”
Finegold said that by considering a broader range of entry requirements for engineering degree courses, it would encourage students with the right aptitude, but who may not fit the traditional archetype.
“We need to stop talking about the skills gap and start taking action to ensure that we give children and students the best chance to make informed choices in our technological society. The best way to do this is to change the stories we tell about engineering and make the subject more visible throughout school,” he said.
“Engineering is not a job or a set of objects, it is a way of interacting intelligently and creatively with the modern world.”
