Overview and general conclusions
49. We were greatly impressed by the high quality
and wide-ranging work to give young people experience of engineering.
We are supportive of all efforts to make young people aware of
the rewarding and challenging nature of a career in engineering.
While we would not advocate that geo-engineering be championed
as a research field above any other, we believe that it might
have the 'X-factor' when it comes to alerting young people to
global engineering challenges and we welcome its inclusion in
engineering events. We are concerned, however, that engineering
is not always promoted as a worthwhile, challenging and exciting
career option, and advocate that it feature more prominently in
the provision of careers advice at schools. (Paragraph 323)
Provision of engineering, and wider Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), careers advice is a central
part of the Government's STEM programme. Accordingly, the Government
fully supports this recommendation, and will continue to work
towards its full implementation with the support of delivery partners
including the Royal Academy of Engineering and STEMNET.
The Academy has developed The Shape the Future
Programme to cover an extensive range of schemes and activities
available for schools wishing to explore engineering in all its
facets, and these are now widely disseminated through the STEM
Directories, launched in September 2008. STEMNET is responsible
for the promotion and dissemination of the directories at the
regional level, as part of their wider responsibility for brokering
STEM enrichment and enhancement activities.
STEMNET are also responsible for the STEM Ambassadors
(formerly Science and Engineering Ambassadors) programme, which
aims to have 27,000 ambassadors in place by March 2011. The RCUK
Researchers in Residence programme fulfils a similar function
by facilitating young people's encounters with practising scientists
and engineers.
In conjunction with the Engineering and Technology
Board (ETB) and the Royal Academy of Engineering, BIS and DCSF
(Government) remain committed to the future of the Big Bang Fair,
which earlier this year attracted over 7,000 visitors, and included
the presentation of the first National Science Competition prize.
Careers awareness was a key theme within responses
to the 2008 A Vision for Science and Society consultation.
We announced recently the establishment of 5 expert groups to
take forward the Science and Society strategy The careers group
will address myths and disincentives that inhibit students from
entering science and engineering careers, and build on the Science:
[So what? So everything] campaign in communicating the possibilities.
This will supplement the important careers activity
that DCSF has already introduced—for example through FutureMorph,
introduced as part of their £140 million programme to promote
and raise awareness of STEM careers to both children and parents.
50. The key to solving sector-specific shortages
of engineers will ultimately lie in the UK's ability to train
the next generation of generalist engineers, who will then specialise
after university. Plastics electronics is one example of an industry
that would benefit from the introduction of post-graduate programmes
that offered generalist engineers specialised training. We recommend
that EPSRC engage with industry to assess the potential for establishing
a range of conversion courses according to need across the engineering
sector to upskill generalist engineers. (Paragraph 331)
EPSRC supports the Committee's view concerning the
importance of engaging with industry and is already working with
industry representatives to identify priorities for postgraduate
training.
For example, EPSRC recently announced funding for
45 new Centres for Doctoral Training, which will create communities
of highly qualified students from a range of disciplines, focused
on specific mission and research areas such as plastic electronics.
The announcement included 17 Industrial Doctorate Centres, many
of which focus on engineering, which were required to demonstrate
significant industry demand as part of the criteria for funding.
All such centres include taught coursework to develop technical
and transferable skills. EPSRC believes that combining the development
of transferable skills alongside training in research represents
a strong model for delivering the advanced skills needed for the
UK.
As a further example, within the recent £44M
investment in Knowledge Transfer Accounts (KTAs), funding has
been provided for a range of Continual Professional Development
(CPD) courses which will afford those already working in industry
the opportunity to enhance their existing skills or to develop
advanced skills in new areas.
Specifically in the area of plastic electronics,
EPSRC has funded a number of activities to develop industrial
collaboration, research capacity and skills. These include:
- An Innovation and Knowledge
Centre in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies for Photonics and
Electronics, at the University of Cambridge (awarded in January
2007).
- A Doctoral Training Centre in Plastic Electronics
at Imperial College London (awarded in December 2008).
- A £6.9M programme grant led by Professor
Sir Richard Friend at the University of Cambridge to develop and
sustain a world-class research centre in organic semiconductor
devices (awarded in March 2009).
51. We believe there to be value in incorporating
management skills in post-graduate masters and doctoral programmes.
We recommend that HEFCE, EPSRC, the Royal Academy of Engineering
and the professional institutions co-ordinate to advise on best-practice
in the delivery of this training by higher and further education
institutes. (Paragraph 336)
The Government has facilitated through the Sector
Skills Councils a richer dialogue between universities and employers
so that course content can evolve to meet contemporary needs.
Many taught masters programmes in engineering already have some
elements of management in them.
EPSRC encourages universities to consider what management
training should be included in the curriculum for postgraduate
training, but considers that the primary responsibility for delivering
skills training should lie with universities. EPSRC's Industrial
Doctorate Centres are one approach to doctoral training that provides
management training, usually in partnership with the university's
business school, to prepare students for a career in industry.
EPSRC would certainly be willing to engage further with other
funding bodies to demonstrate the benefits of this particular
approach and also to explore best practice models for training.
More broadly, the Research Councils provide Career
Development and Transferable Skills Training (Roberts) Payments
to universities. These amounted to £22M in 2007-08 and are
for the development of research students and staff employed on
research grants.
EPSRC will consider its role in this area in the
light of the Higher Education Framework to be published by BIS
this summer.
52. We support the Government's efforts to promote
diversity in engineering. Its financial support for STEMNET and
the Science and Engineering Ambassadors programme, WISE, the Computer
Club for Girls, and the work of the Royal Academy of Engineering
and the Engineering Development Trust is welcome and should continue.
(Paragraph 344)
The Government fully supports this recommendation—diversity
and inclusion underpin the Science and Society strategy's aim
for a representative workforce, and Government will continue to
stress this goal. We are not complacent, and recognise the extent
of the ground which has to be made up to achieve greater representation
of diverse groups.
We continue our support for the UK Resource Centre
for Women in SET, and will encourage them to continue their support
for women at all stages in their engineering careers. They are
already promoting the long-term careers of women in academia the
Athena SWAN Charter programme, and working with over 700 companies
to improve workplace attitudes to diversity. They are also working
with the Royal Academy of Engineering specifically to promote
Diversity in Engineering. Their CEO Charter initiative is a good
way to engage the engineering institutions, and through them their
members, to develop effective practice in diversity in their organisations.
We will encourage the Royal Academy of Engineering in their support
for the Charter, and their ongoing work with UKRC. We will also
continue to support both the Expert Group for Women in STEM and
the WISE campaign.
HEFCE's National STEM programme will provide £20
million between 2009 and 2012 to support demand raising activities
across the STEM landscape—this will enable expansion of
programmes including the extension of the London Engineering Project.
We are particularly pleased that the Royal Academy
of Engineering have signed up to the UKRC's CEO Charter, and would
encourage other engineering organisations to do so.
While the work of UKRC helps support women who have
already chosen a STEM career, we continue to support the WISE
campaign, in recognition of the fact that work on diversity must
begin at an early stage, at a point where they can reshape and
influence career decisions.
STEMNET are also charged with ensuring that their
ambassador cohort is representative and diverse; they will work
to ensure that there are sufficient engineers from the broad diversity
of backgrounds to inspire and motivate children to pursue similar
paths.
Similarly, the BIS small grants scheme has the specific
remit of enabling participation by under-represented groups in
National Science and Engineering Week. Funding was doubled in
2009, and will continue into 2010.
Broadening access to engineering to women and the
ethnic minorities is also a major aim of the London Engineering
Project mentioned earlier, and it is hoped that the effective
practice established there will be disseminated nationally through
the HEFCE funded National STEM Programme, now being run by Birmingham
University.
53. We are concerned that evidence is lacking
on the factors that affect the career choices of women and other
under-represented groups. We recommend that DIUS commission research
to examine these factors. This evidence should then be used as
a platform from which to develop and target widening participation
initiatives. (Paragraph 345)
BIS is commissioning a research project to assess
the reasons why around 50% of STEM graduates choose not to go
into STEM careers. That research is expected to be published in
2010.
As detailed above, from the work of the WISE Campaign
it has been recognised for some time that only 15% of engineering
undergraduates are women. This correlates directly with the fact
that only 20% of A level Physics candidates are women. The major
issue is to encourage more women to take A level Physics. The
Institute of Physics looked at this problem in its report Girls
in the Physics Classroom (June 2006) which recommended pedagogic
change at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. It would seem that development
of these ideas through practical (empirical) programmes in schools
(again as done in the London Engineering Project) might prove
more effective than to commission further abstract attitudinal
research.
54. We suggest that the engineering institutions,
Engineering Council UK and the Government (see Paragraph 284,
Chapter 5) should do a better job of promoting Chartered Engineer
status (CEng), Incorporated Engineer status (IEng) and Engineering
Technician status (EngTech). In the same way the general public
respects academic qualifications such as PhDs, Masters and Honours
Degrees, or professional qualifications in law and medicine, so
should it be possible to inform the public about the professional
status of CEng, IEng and EngTech. (Paragraph 357)
This is primarily for the Engineering Council UK
(ECUK) and the major (accrediting) engineering institutions.
Engineers should aspire to CEng status (and Institutional membership
through the support and status which they bestow on them as professionals).
This is to be achieved through demonstrating their relevance to
professional engineers at all stages of their career and in ensuring
that the standards, support and services are world-class on a
par with, for example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers (IEEE).
ECUK has successfully promoted CEng recognition
as an internationally recognised professional engineering qualification
through the FEANI and Washington Accord networks. The advantages
of this to practising engineers need to be more widely publicised
within the profession in the UK, particularly given the increasing
uptake of Institution membership abroad, especially in China and
South East Asia.
The engineering institutions must be able to demonstrate
their relevance. The issue is related more widely to that of the
retention of engineering graduates in the profession, which will
be considered in part by the BIS-funded Engineers for Enterprise
Study, which is looking at developing undergraduate engineering
degree courses to better meet the diverse needs of industry.
55. There is a need for better trans-departmental
management of engineering policy. The Government should adopt
a practice of formulating and following roadmaps for each major
engineering programme, including skills provision (see Chapter
2) with co-ordination between each of them. The Government should
also be more strategic in its support for emerging industries
and policy areas (see Chapters 3 and 4). Finally, Government would
benefit from having senior officials tasked to oversee engineering
roadmaps and strategic plans, and to manage engineering advice
in a Civil Service with more residual and specialised engineering
expertise. There should be two people responsible for this challenging
body of work: a Government Chief Scientific and Engineering Adviser
and a Government Chief Engineer (see Chapter 5). (Paragraph 360)
The Government recognises the need for improvement,
and has already taken a number of steps to better facilitate the
use of engineering in trans-departmental policy. These include
the introduction of joint Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets,
the increased effectiveness of the CSAC network, and improved
links with the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Engineering
Institutions.
The Government does not agree that the use of engineering
in Government should be overseen by two separate people, as this
would add an unnecessary layer of complexity and the potential
to cause confusion.
56. We are convinced that the considerable strength
of the UK's engineering base makes it both this nation's responsibility
and in its economic interest to play a major part, through our
engineering base, in solving global problems such as climate change,
food and water supply, energy security and economic instability.
The recent economic crisis has presented the Government with a
once-in-generation opportunity to restructure the economy by building
on the existing substantial strengths of UK engineering. (Paragraph
362)
The Government welcomes the Committee's support for
the UK engineering base, and shares its view of the importance
of engineering to the UK and its economy. The Government also
recognises the opportunities presented by the economic situation,
and on 20 April published Building Britain's Future: New Industry,
New Jobs, setting out how we would take advantage of these
opportunities. Engineering was one of the promising areas identified
in this paper as being key to the economy of the future.
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