What can STEM subjects learn from the arts?

The North East population has the lowest proportion of degree-level qualifications in the UK, with just over three in 10 North Easterners (31.7%) holding a qualification at NVQ Level 4 or above. The region lags behind the national average of 38.4%, with the blame often landing on the ‘brain drain’ of young people drifting away after graduating from North East universities.

The workforce is the lifeblood of the region’s economic future and a multifaceted issue. Not only do you need to provide great education here, you also need high quality housing, transport, culture and awareness of a range of careers.

The workforce is the lifeblood of the region’s economic future

That ethos is behind the Chamber’s long running‘Great Reasons to Build Your Career in North East England’ campaign as well as our ‘Building My Skills’ work with Chamber Partners Esh Group, linking businesses with schools across the region to provide careers advice.

Closing the gap between education and employment is vital, and why new approaches to education like the North East Futures University Technical College (UTC) are important. The UTC takes aim squarely at professional skills in the region’s growth industries of health sciences and digital technology, with pupils aged 14-19 working business hours in business dress and engaging in work experience in those sectors.

It’s not just STEM where building an ecosystem involving education and employment is important. In the very different world of the arts, Dance City hasbeen doing just that for 30 years.

The host of a Chamber Behind the Scenes event in Newcastle in October, Dance City takes contemporary dancers, producers and choreographers from the age of four right through to a professional level with degree and postgrad courses.

Part of Dance City’s mission is keeping professionals in the region, supporting them as they develop works and providing space for them to rehearse and perform.

That model could offer a lot for other sectors to learn from - and with the next phase of the Stephenson Quarter development in Newcastle, where the UTC is based, due to house a business incubator we could soon see how it works in practice.