Engineer recruiting businesses to buck the digital skills shortage in school
The following article was provided by Stem Venturi
The current digital skills gap is costing the UK economy as much as £63 billion a year in potential GDP with only 61% of the active population in the UK having digital skills compared to 69.4% in the US.
With less and less students choosing to take STEM related subjects at GCSE, with the number of young people taking IT subjects dropping 40% since 2015, the UK is heading towards a digital skills shortage disaster.
Former aerospace engineer and IET member Holly Davies, who runs STEM education organisation STEM Venturi in the Midlands, wants to see engineering firms and schools unite in tackling the issue.
Running regular outreach workshops she is actively teaming up with local businesses and engineers looking to complete their accreditation to help promote coding and engineering skills within school.
The aim is to help build vital skills for youngsters while showing them how hobbies, such as gaming and lego, could actually create career opportunities going forward, jobs in local firms they might not even have known existed.
Holly, who is actively pairing up businesses with schools to deliver engaging workshops which meet both the educational needs of the school and the community, social responsibility (CSR) of the business, said: “If we are to bridge the skills gap we need to start by inspiring the next generation to understand the possibilities.
“STEM is not only important for children who have a passion for engineering and technology but also in helping to encourage creativity and exploration to show youngsters that anything is possible.
“It may be that youngsters find they have an interest in coding, racing remote control cars or building robots. What they don’t then understand is that these interests could go on to create rewarding jobs later on such as designing 3D video games or building robots to solve problems for large manufacturing firms.
“If we are to inspire change then we need to be introducing new opportunities and that is where I think employers can help by bridging that gap between what schools are teaching and how that can be applied to a future career.”
Working with schools across the East and West Midlands Holly has helped to showcase skills from coding, robotics and animation to 3D printing, design and electronics.
Each of the courses take an educational concept and can be designed around the business sponsoring it. In this way they are marrying together the educational concept with real life experience.
Rachel Edwards, lead teacher at the Design Technology Department in Windsor Park CE Middle School, Uttoxeter, said it was important that experts were brought in to support teachers in delivering these ‘invaluable’ skills for young people.
She said: "STEM skills are crucial for preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the world of work. Being able to have external providers in, like STEM Venturi, to showcase these skills is invaluable. In a recent 3D printing workshop run by the STEM Venturi team our key stage 3 students left knowing a lot more about the additive manufacturing process and all of the possibilities that this technology can provide."
How can businesses collaborate with schools to inspire the next generation of digital coders and engineers?
- Look at your industry in a different light
Engineering firms up and down the country are struggling to recruit for specialist roles. If this is to change then businesses need to start promoting career opportunities and inspiring young people to see the possibilities from a younger age. If we are going to wait until they have chosen their career path to inspire them they may have already missed the opportunity. We need to be looking at what elements of a career in STEM are going to inspire young people and show them from an early age that there are more possibilities than they might think.
- Bring the role to life
Schools are always looking for ways to make STEM skills relatable. Many have the resources such as micro bits and computers for coding or animation but don’t necessarily have the teachers with the confidence of training to deliver classes on specialist digital skills. Look at ways you could provide one hour or even half day workshops that showcase skills your business is looking for. Get kids to program robots or create animations, build Lego sculptures and racing cars. The more interesting the task the more likely it is to bring STEM skills to life and show them what is possible.
- Offer role models in your field
There is nothing more inspiring than hearing from a real-life robotic engineer or racing car designer. By offering opportunities for school children to hear from real engineers and mathematicians it shows young people the opportunities that are available within the industry. Many might enjoy hobbies such as gaming or Lego but not realise that these skills can be used to create future career opportunities.
“If we are to change the industry and inspire more young engineers and STEM workers then change needs to happen now,” says Holly.
“We need to be showing young people that those hobbies and skills they are developing having fun gaming or designing Lego structures could actually turn in to rewarding careers.
“Schools cannot do that on their own though, it needs the industry insight of business leaders and current engineers to inspire the next generation.”
For more details or to find out how you could support your IET accreditation or how a business could benefit from the initiative then visit www.stemventuri.org or contact Holly Davies on info@stemventuri.org