MPs pledge to boost school-industry links

All 650 MPs have been asked by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) to urge employers in their constituencies to work proactively with local schools and colleges to inspire more young people to become engineers as part of the wider STEM curriculum. The pledge has also called for MPs to encourage girls and boys to consider STEM careers, promote the value of vocational STEM subjects and promote STEM careers with parents. The motivation for the pledge comes in response to findings from the IET's 2014 Engineering and Technology Skills and Demand in Industry survey, which indicate that 53% of employers believe they should get more involved with schools, colleges and universities to help change the perception of engineering among young people. IET chief executive Nigel Fine said: "Demand for engineers in the UK remains high. We need 87,000 new engineers each year for the next decade, so there is a critical need to do more to promote engineering as an appealing career choice to young people. "It is encouraging to see from our survey that over half of engineering employers recognise that they have a crucial role to play here - as well as in helping to shape the curriculum so that young people enter the world of work with the skills that employers want. "MPs are ideally placed to help us capitalise on this opportunity by helping to get more employers involved with the education system at a local level so that we produce a talent pipeline that can sustain a thriving UK economy." The IET's survey also warned that more than half of employers were having difficulties recruiting the staff they need for their businesses to expand and just 6% of engineers were female. Almost two thirds of companies (59%) were concerned that a shortage of engineers would be a threat to their businesses.