The tomorrow people

摘要

Two years on from the Perkins review of engineering skills and just as we all pull together plans for the third Tomorrow's Engineers Week, something rather exciting is happening. The public is starting to appreciate engineers and plans to reach one million young people with great engineering in schools means they might even want to join us when they enter the workforce. Findings from our annual perceptions survey, to be published later this month, show that 27 per cent more 11-14 year olds believe a career in engineering is desirable than five years ago. The proportion of 15 and 16 year olds who would consider a career in engineering has increased from 37 per cent to 49 per cent in the same period. And for 17-19 year olds, the number that have considered an engineering career has risen from 23 per cent to 37 per cent, with the proportion of girls of that age who have considered the industry rising from 12 to 28 per cent.