Limited understanding of engineering

The findings indicate a limited initial awareness and understanding of engineering and engineers, which in turn is affecting recruitment and threatening a skills shortage in the UK, with an increasing number of engineering companies, including Haden Freeman (HFL), forced to look outside of the UK for qualified engineers. Nigel Hirst, managing director of HFL, says: “The research highlighted that initial awareness and understanding of engineers and engineering primarily related to construction and manual professions and that generally ‘engineers fix things’. The word ‘engineer’ was associated with a variety of roles, but predominantly connected to building or fixing things rather than design, innovation or creativity. “Interestingly, respondents recognised that they had a low level of knowledge, often questioning the accuracy of their responses. Many felt that engineering was difficult to define and vague and because there are so many types of engineers, it makes engineering confusing for the average person to understand. It was also noted that general misuse of the term to describe other trades meant that there was not a definitive answer. Hirst goes on to say that engineering has many strands, which can make it complex and difficult to understand, “but this is also what makes it such a diverse and exciting profession”. He concludes: “The industry must encourage awareness and promote understanding of the range of skills available. The respondents taking part in the research said participating had generated an interest in engineering and as a result, a number suggested they now wanted to delve deeper and gain a greater understanding.” The Royal Academy’s research has been carried out to provide a ‘solid baseline measurement against which to track changes across subsequent years’. The findings issue a warning to the industry and higher authorities that we need to re-address how engineering is understood by the public. This means changing the way it is taught in schools, creating more opportunities to raise awareness of the discipline and promoting the achievements of engineering. Hirst adds: “The UK has a strong history and traditional in engineering excellence and we need to ensure we do not lose this through a simple lack of awareness.”