A survey of 100 engineering heads of department and 250 undergraduate engineering students highlights the very real dangers facing the once-mighty British engineering industry, including the challenge of enticing teenagers to study engineering then, crucially, retaining graduates within an engineering career.

The research was conducted in November 2006 by Loudhouse on behalf of C-MAC MicroTechnology, a leading British provider of high-reliability electronic systems, modules and components.

These findings back up fears that the UK’s engineering industry could be in terminal decline unless urgent action is taken to attract and recruit more students, as well as to encourage more engineering jobs in the country. Unless steps are taken, there will be a negative impact on the UK economy, according to 86 per cent of the academics questioned.

Key findings are highlighted below.

Forty-five per cent of universities report a drop in course applications over the past three years - schools a root cause.

The majority of academics (76 per cent) believe that this trend is due to the demanding academic nature, which is not unusual for many science courses, but a huge 58 per cent also find blame with schools for not promoting engineering as a career option. Seventy-five per cent of academics admit that engineering also suffers from a serious image problem.

It is perhaps a reflection of universities desperation to attract students that 63 per cent of respondents stated that course entry requirements have decreased over the past three years: unsurprisingly, 45 per cent of academics believe that the calibre of students has decreased.

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Tags : engineer, engineering, graduates, course, universities, survey, department

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