Investing in the future
1 min read
Interest in engineering as a career has been declining for some years. A number of reasons have been suggested, ranging from the fact that engineering is just 'too hard' via no jobs and poor salaries to other sectors being 'sexier'.
What to do about it has been a harder problem to solve, but one which has been grasped by the UK Electronics Skills Foundation (UKESF). It has started with modest ambitions; demonstrating to a limited number of pre university students that there are, indeed, prospects in the electronics industry. This has been followed by a summer school in which a selection of current electronics students – UKESF scholars – received targeted presentations outlining what is expected of them by prospective employers. The journey, as they say, starts with the first step.
The issue of graduate skills continues to bubble up; employers have commented with regularity over the years that the graduates they employ don't have the necessary 'soft' skills: ranging from numeracy to interpersonal relations to team working. Solving this problem requires universities to refocus their teaching, something that may encounter a degree of resistance. Nevertheless, UKESF believes it can make change happen.
Reversing the decline of interest in electronics engineering will take time and effort, but what will help is broad support from the electronics industry. There's a range of things which can be done, such as helping to finance a student to go to university or providing someone with work experience. Why not see how you can support the UKESF's work?
