Why are students so reluctant to consider engineering degrees?

Engineers shape almost every aspect of our students’ lives, from the houses or apartments where they sleep, the factory production line that produces their breakfast cereal, the bus they take to school (with a great view of the river from the bridge that crosses it), the phones on which they check their social media feeds, the electricity that they use to recharge that phone after a couple of hours of browsing, the search engine they prefer because the user experience is best for them, the satellite that allows them to chat with a friend halfway across the world (that phone again!), and so on.

Added to this, engineers are generally well paid and have good career progression, they can work internationally and can be part of a big company or set up and run their own small-scale businesses.

So the big question is: why do universities have to work so hard to entice students to apply for engineering courses?

Studying engineering: fear of the E-word

There is a cocktail of contributing factors. First, a lack of confidence with numbers. Then there’s the stereotype of an engineer wearing a hard hat and a hi-vis jacket, standing in the rain next to a half-completed gas pipeline – that it is not a cool job.

But most of all, I think it is the “engineer” label that puts students off. In a recent careers session with Year 9 students, we looked at jobs for the future. I asked them what they wanted to do when they left school or university. The most common answers were: “working with AI”, “designing phones”, “in something involving the metaverse or VR”, “with the environment or sustainability” and “with NASA”.

None of them mentioned the E-word. When we outlined how all of those jobs were done by – or with – engineers, students seemed surprised.

Avoiding labels: an interdisciplinary approach

A good way of helping our students be more open-minded about engineering opportunities is to focus on skills rather than labels, and to build an interdisciplinary approach across a range of subjects.

Alongside the obvious input from the physics and chemistry teachers, you might try some of the following:

• Geography: highlight the role environmental engineers play in combating climate change, or how drones are being used to improve crop monitoring and soil health.
• Music: illustrate exciting developments in music technology.
• History: explain that major historical change has always gone hand in hand with technical innovation. This could be illustrated through studying conflicts, communication, transportation or architecture.
• Art: incorporate ideas about product design into art lessons, or look at the role of structural engineering and new materials in architecture.
• Project work: our Year 7 students work on a “Snack Attack” collaborative project in term two, and one of the challenges is to create sustainable and hygienic packaging for their snack products.
• IT: work on designing simple control systems for drones or robots.
• Biology: show how bioengineers have transformed medical and diagnostic processes.

Summer courses and work placements

Universities try to attract talented students by offering good scholarships, summer courses and work placements. Their websites are packed with information on career opportunities, as are those of the professional engineering institutes. You might look at the UK’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers as an example. Links to the whole range of UK professional institutes is here.

For students who are worried about mathematics or physics, areas such as product design, green energy, food technology, and software and UX design might be less intimidating.

When students do then decide to apply for engineering-related degrees, early contact with universities’ engineering departments is a good starting point. They will invariably be helpful and encouraging in working with the students on their applications.

Work placements or work shadowing can strengthen applications – even a day in an engineering environment can demonstrate a better understanding of the field, build confidence and provide valuable material for a personal statement or essay.

Summer courses at universities, although often expensive, are very interactive and hands-on, and can be a valuable experience. There are many excellent (and free) online options as well, such as this MOOC provided by the University of Leeds.

I also encourage our students to make use of the student contact options on university websites. Chatting to current university students about their courses, career plans and life as an engineering student can be inspiring for those who like science and technology but are unsure of the best way to incorporate these into their future plans.

So perhaps the question we should ask is: why wouldn’t a student who is interested in science and technology consider engineering?