Careers in engineering campaign 2017

DECEMBER 2017

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Careers in Engineering

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HRH Princess Anne “These are sought after, essential occupations. In the end, we will achieve a more balanced workforce.”

IMAGE: WISE AWARDS 2017

What did you want to be when you were young?

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IN THIS ISSUE Learning on the job Q&A with a current apprentice working in the real world P5

Creative engineering Want to be creative and make a difference?

Women returners WES provide insight into the biggest challenges facing STEM

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PHOTO: THE BIG BANG FAIR, WES

If you want to change the world – engineering is for you

In the last ten years engineering has changed dramatically, but we face a concerning skills shortage that could hold it back.

E

ngineering makes the world a better place, whether that’s through the built environment, mass transportation, energy pipelines or the water and sewage systems that transform lives around the world.

But engineering is also impacting our lives in ways that we could never have imagined ten years ago.

We’re on the cusp of breakthroughs in clean energy, in sustainable agriculture technologies, driverless cars and artificial technology. Engineering today goes way beyond many people’s expectations.

It’s also making a huge contribution to the economic prosperity Follow us

of the UK, contributing an astonishing £486 billion pounds to the UK GDP every year and employing roughly six million people.

Shattering pre-conceptions However, it’s facing some huge challenges - the greatest being an acute skills shortage. We need around 45,000-80,000 additional skilled workers each year and, in order to address that deficit, we need to shatter some pre-conceptions about engineering. Very few engineers actually wear hard hats and fluorescent jackets day-in, dayout so our challenge is to provide young people, and particularly

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Mark Titterington Chief Executive, EngineeringUK

“Engineering is impacting our lives in ways that we could never have imagined ten years ago.”

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girls, with relevant role models and a real industry insight.

When I speak to young engineers and ask what made the greatest difference to them, they tell me it was good quality careers advice. I’m delighted that the industry is rising to the challenge and engaging more and more with more schools and colleges. Our young people possess so much creativity and we need to show them their learning can make a tangible difference; in fact, it can change the world.

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Project Manager: Kate Clements E-mail: kate.clements@mediaplanet.com Content and Production Manager: Kate Jarvis Business Development Manager: John Critchley Content and Social Editor: Jenny Hyndman Managing Director: Alex Williams Designer: Juraj Príkopa Mediaplanet contact information: Phone: +44 (0) 203 642 0737 E-mail: info.uk@mediaplanet.com

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INSPIRATION COLUMN

Jenny Body OBE, FRAeS, FCGI, DEng (hc), HonDSc Chair of Education and Skills Committee, Royal Aeronautical Society

Space exploration needs creative thinkers

T

he UK boasts the world’s second biggest aerospace and aviation industry and technology is opening up the aeronautics industry like never before.

To keep pace, the workforce needs diverse people and skill sets A hybrid plane is currently being developed and we’ve got an explosion of activity in space exploration and satellite technology. “It’s so exciting,” says Jenny Body, Chair of the Education and Skills Committee at the Royal Aeronautical Society.

It’s not just the big players that are making waves in aeronautics either. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and the digital revolution have opened up the market place like never before.

With pressure mounting to produce cleaner, more sustainable aircraft, and the prospect of unmanned vehicles taking to our skies - the opportunities for new entrants has never been greater.

Project management and creative skills are sought after in aeronautics While the industry is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, there are a few myths that Body believes are holding it back. “We are facing completely new challenges and we need to encourage greater diversity and breadth of ideas. It’s certainly not an industry just for white, middle class boys,” says Body.

In the face of these new challenges, the industry doesn’t just need technicians either; those who can manage projects and inspire creativity are just as important. We are seeing people with valuable experience and skills from other sectors moving into aerospace and similarly the skills developed in aerospace are very transferable.

Things have come a long way since the first supersonic aircraft was developed barely 50 years ago. With the current pace of innovation, who knows where the next 50 will take us.

Read more on yourfuturecareer.co.uk

Role models help encourage young girls into STEM

By Sean Hargrave

More women in tech will solve the UK’s skill shortage and underrepresentation of women in STEM industries There appears to have been a historic disconnect in filling roles in the technology industry. The careers are interesting and well-paid, yet the industry still faces a skills shortage.

However, Chair of Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), Trudy Norris-Grey, is hopeful that the drive to encourage school girls to consider careers in STEM industries is showing signs of improving the traditional gender imbalance in technology. In doing so, the drive will also give a much-needed boost to skill levels in the UK economy.

Though now working in Seattle as Managing Director of Worldwide Business Development at Microsoft, NorrisGrey, decided to stay on in her UK WISE role as its key target for a better gender balance in STEM industries approaches.

“We’ve set a goal of ensuring 30 per cent of the workers in STEM industries are women by 2020,” she explains.

“It’s a tipping point where the industries will appear far less male-dominated and more women will be encouraged to seek careers in them.

It’s looking good because, although we’re just over 20 per cent now, the main

Trudy Norris-Grey Managing Director of Worldwide Business Development, Microsoft

question we’re asking ourselves is whether we can bring that target forward a year, to 2019. Last year we had 61,000 more women enter the STEM industries, so the pipeline is looking very encouraging.”

You don’t have to be exceptionally gifted to succeed in STEM

Norris-Grey believes that some young women are put off a career in technology because they wrongly think you have to be exceptionally gifted and that a top role may end up impacting on their ability to balance work and family life further down the line.

“I go into schools and speak at events to let people know that I’m totally normal and I have a wonderful job that is incredibly interesting and well paid, so there’s no reason why they can’t have the same,” she says.

“I don’t like to think of myself as a role model – it sounds boastful, but I do think women in tech need to

provide encouragement to school children, particularly girls, to make them aware of the huge opportunities that are out there. If young people can see someone who is enjoying a great career in the industry, then they can start seeing themselves entering the industry.”

Women in STEM can enjoy a career and raise a family

When it comes to having a happy home and work life, Norris-Grey has another important message she is keen to get over to school pupils and college students: “I often find that students are worried about having a family. They fear that getting a good career will mean they won’t be able to have kids and settle down,” she says.

“But I tell them that I have three kids, so it’s something they can do too. It’s not a choice or a compromise. The tech industry is a great choice for someone who wants to be fulfilled both professionally and personally.”

The fact that many businesses are now publishing their gender pay gaps is another encouraging sign, Norris-Grey believes. The transparency is a positive step to show women that employers are tackling inequality as a priority. That can only be good development for women across any business but particularly in those where they are underrepresented.

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Freedom to earn while you learn is a big attraction for apprenticeships Learning on the job in the real world is the biggest attraction for an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering for Jamie D’Ath

By Sean Hargrave

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One of the benefits apprentices talk about is real world experience. Would you agree?

Why did you go into mechanical engineering?

I love chemistry and technology.

After a work experience placement, I knew I wanted to get into something that combined science and technology with analysis thrown in too.

How did you become an apprentice?

I was aware that apprenticeships existed but my school was more focused on the university route, so didn’t promote an apprenticeship as a truly viable option.

The first time I really considered an apprenticeship was when I entered the Robot Rumble competition, sponsored by the defence company – and my now current employer – MBDA. I got talking to them about apprenticeships and what they could offer, which really inspired me.I found out MBDA is a part of a scheme called the 5% Club where member organisations aim to have at least 5% of their workforce in ‘earn and learn’ positions, which highlights its commitment to developing apprentices.

I was thrilled to be accepted for a role here. My school still made me try for a university place though – just in case!

How have you found being a young woman in mechanical engineering?

Ultimately, while there is still a

Jamie D’Ath Mechanical Engineering Apprentice, MBDA

large gender diversity gap, it’s shrinking and there’s nothing holding women back from succeeding in the industry.

So far, my experience has been great. I’ve not had a single problem, and everybody I have worked with has been really nice - they don’t seem to see me as different because I’m a woman and instead treat me the same as anybody else.

I do think working for a company that genuinely believes we need a more balanced workforce has made my experience much more positive.

Who’s your role model?

My mum. She worked as an engineering apprentice when she was my age and had been an early trailblazer in that way. She was working in mapping when she started a family and the men where she worked at the time really didn’t want to see her go.

She kept up her interest in engineering, working as a classroom assistant who could help out on any engineering topics and I’m sure her interest and knowledge contributed to my choice of career.

For me, learning in the real world is the main benefit of an apprenticeship over university. I’ve been given freedom and responsibility in my work, which has allowed me to grow both professionally and personally.

A project I ran looked at how we might be able to safely dispose of products. It wasn’t just a fascinating project; I was also given the independence to run it myself. It exposed me to work that involved combining safety and logistics with networking around the company that I feel I could never have received at university.

What would you say to a young woman considering a career in STEM?

Engineering isn’t all about guys in hi-vis jackets, hard hats and muddy boots (although there certainly is some of that, if that’s what you’re after!) The clincher for me is that the opportunities in mechanical engineering are endless. If I want to be working on missile trials, I can. If I want to move into missile design, I can – and that’s just within the company I work for.

There’s a lot of choice on where you take your career.

What do you think can be done to make children, particularly young women, aware of how they can pursue a career in STEM industries?

There needs to be more media campaigns that show young people just

how diverse careers in STEM are and employers need to reach out to schools.

Personally, I’ve seen how STEM outreach can excite young people and make them more aware of the opportunities available to them.

I do a lot of work with my old school as a mentor promoting careers in engineering and other STEM subjects, with my employer giving me time out of work to do this. I help out with Robot Rumble, a project where school children are given parts they can build a robot from, which they then enter into competitions.

It’s really important for me to work for a company that continuously explores new ways of engaging with young people and activitely encourages its employees to get involved.

What would you say to a young person who feels drawn to a career in STEM but loves to be artisticly creative too?

My hobby is art; both freehand and digital drawing. Being interested in a career in a STEM industry doesn’t mean you have to give up being interested in other things. Quite the opposite, really, because engineering involves creativity. It requires skills from many areas and having varied interests can enable you to see solutions that others may not be able to.

Read more on mbdacareers. co.uk

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INSPIRATION COLUMN

Amelia Gould

Practice, experience and hands-on learning offered by apprenticeships

Head of Engineering, BAE Systems

Want to be creative and make a difference? Be an engineer Amelia Gould visits school to show girls engineering is the prime choice for those wanting to be creative and make a difference

Nobody knows better than Amelia Gould how underrepresented women are in engineering.

As one of the Heads of Engineering at BAE Systems, she was sponsored by the Royal Navy through university. In the year before she attended Oxford University, she served on a ship with a predominantly male crew. At university, she was the only woman in her computer science class.

While things have most definitely improved since she graduated and entered the engineering industry in 2000, women still only account for just under one in four positions in STEM industries. With the UK facing a shortfall of around 20,000 engineers entering the industry each year, there has never been a more pressing time to let young women know of the opportunities engineering offers.

“A lot of the girls I speak to at schools and careers events are concerned that it’s nerdy and you end up in a hard hat and overalls,” says Gould. “I try to be a role model and show that I’m not a nerd or super clever and I’m still girly.”

Helping girls, convincing mums

Once you have their attention, Gould believes you can start to show school children that engineering can take them wherever they want to go in their careers and convince girls it is just as good a career choice for them as others they may be considering.

“It truly opens their eyes when we talk about how everything they come across in their life will have had the touch of an engineer at some stage,” says Gould.

“They start to see that engineering offers endless opportunities, it’s a very broad career that can take you all over the world doing all manner of incredible things. A lot of the girls say they want to do something they see as more creative or where they can make a difference. I show them how that’s exactly what a career in engineering will allow them to do.”

Although it may seem counter-intuititve, Gould often finds – at career events – that it is mothers she needs to convince the most about engineering. Too often they appear to believe engineering is a male profession and steer their daughters away. Hence she focusses particular attention on convincing mothers of the global opportunities the industry can offer both women and men.

By Sean Hargrave

Amy Mercer wanted to learn chemistry through hands-on work rather than a lecture room so chose an apprenticeship so she could get a degree and plenty of experience

Amy Mercer is in the fourth year of an apprenticeship with a pharmaceutical company. She recently won the “One To Watch” award from Women in Science and Engineering (WISE).

What attracted you to a career in a STEM industry?

I was studying for a BTEC in Applied Science with extended forensic science and excelled in chemistry and so wanted to do hands-on work in the field.

I really enjoyed being in a laboratory environment and this practical study inspired me to pursue chemistry through the pharmaceutical industry.

Who was your role model as a women in science? Did you come across any negativity when entering the industry?

I always loved a character called Abby Sciuto in the show NCIS because she was such a strong, confident woman, I loved everything that she stood for.

I went to a performing arts school and I was the

Amy Mercer Higher Laboratory Scientist Apprentice, Pfizer

only girl of my year to go into a career in science.

During my three and a half years so far I’ve not come across any prejudice personally, but I’m aware it exists. Women are quite well represented in pharmaceuticals, we make up around 42 per cent of the industry. I was interviewed by two women to earn my apprenticeship and my first boss was a woman.

What prompted you to take the apprenticeship route in the industry?

It’s a personal choice but I never really wanted to go to university. I’m more of a hands-on learner.

It was clear to me that, through my apprenticeship, I’d still have a degree in five years time but when I go to a job interview I’d be offering an employer someone with five years experience working on real projects in the industry.

I’m really passionate

about my work in industry, helping with the process of getting potentially life changing medicines to people that need them the most. I’ve received testimonials before about how a project I’ve worked on has changed someone’s life for the better and hearing those words is indescribable and so rewarding.

What advice would you pass on to young women considering pursuing a STEM career, perhaps through an apprenticeship?

I’d say look explore your options because I speak to a lot of school children who aren’t aware of apprenticeships being just as good as going to university. I’d also say that they need to be confident because there’s no reason they can’t be a success in STEM industries, nothing’s holding them back.

I’d caution, though, they need to be themselves and never be too proud to ask for help if there’s something they need a little more guidance on. Sometimes young women can see this as a weakness, but it’s not.

Read more on yourfuture career.co.uk

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Ignore the misconceptions of engineering. Break down the stereotypes and follow your passion and interests.

Be creative. Be different.

Be an engineer.

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