Launching a bold, multi-year initiative titled Inspiring Future Engineers, the national body is partnering with Gen Z-focused ed-tech company Year13 to inform not only the next generation about the many facets and opportunities in the field, but critically, the educators and parents who shape their decisions.
Australia faces a growing shortfall of engineers, with an estimated 60,000 more needed by 2035, yet student commencements in engineering have flatlined since 2014 and fewer young people are taking the advanced maths subjects needed to enter the profession.
As a result, the nation remains heavily reliant on skilled migration to meet demand, and with 60 per cent of the current engineering workforce born overseas, it’s a strategy that’s not sustainable in the long-term.
“We’re now 10 years down the track and we’ve seen no growth in students picking up engineering studies at university level,” Engineers Australia Senior Manager - Engineering Talent Shellie McDonald tells EducationHQ.
So what is happening? Why aren’t more students finding their way into engineering-related careers?
Research by Engineers Australia conducted over the last two years, titled Decoding the Career Path of Today’s Young People has found that stereotypes and a widespread lack of understanding is pushing some young Australians away from engineering.
To put it in perspective, at present it ranks fourth among career interests of students, behind medicine, health sciences and business and economics.
Yet engineering is one of the most diverse, future-focused careers available, from tech and healthcare to climate and space, engineering shapes every part of modern life.
It’s a career for anyone who loves creativity, solving problems and making a real impact.
Yet the research, involving students, parents, teachers and careers advisers, has found that none really know what engineering is and much of the information students are exposed to is “really outdated”.
“It’s all about old traditional engineering – hard hats and civil construction – and there isn’t the material out there that talks about how technology has advanced engineering, and the different types of engineering that are out there,” McDonald says.
Shellie McDonald, pictured above, says Engineers Australia is getting busy providing tools for teachers and careers advisers - people who have enormous influence but limited time and resources.
In response, Inspiring Future Engineers is aiming to address that.
To launch the program, Engineers Australia has drawn on the experience and expertise of Year13 for its Engineered for Impact Academy and Engineering Hub, which use social media, career tools and engaging online content to raise awareness about engineering and its positive impacts on society among school students.
Research from Year13 shows that outdated stereotypes and a lack of visibility of the real-world impact of engineers is turning potential talent away before they’ve had a chance to even consider the profession.
There’s no single path into engineering, and many different roles within an engineering team, Engineering Australia’s Bernadette Foley says.
“Some people go directly to university; others pursue apprenticeships or vocational training,” she says.
“What matters is making sure more young people can see themselves in roles within the engineering profession.”
McDonald agrees and says Year13 is a powerful vessel to help get the message out.
“What we identified internally is we don’t have the skills as an organisation to reach out to Gen Z,” McDonald explains.
“Year13 has reached into 1200 schools to date, so we saw them as a really strategic partner to get our awareness campaign going.”
Importantly, the partnership also provides access to Year13’s career tools platform, which is aimed at teachers and career advisors, for them to share with students when they’re having those engineering-related conversations.
“So we’ll be releasing the career tool study guide for engineering soon, because it aligns with our data which has showed us how influential parents and teachers are on young people, but that they’re not able to influence them really on engineering because they don’t know what it is.”
Engineers Australia is a membership organisation of 130,000 individual engineers at different stages of their careers, in different sectors, with different skill sets and disciplines.
McDonald says members have been consulted in the development of the resources to ensure the information is accurate and reflective of real engineering jobs, with a range of excellent young engineers on the platform being profiled as engineering ‘champs’.
“So we’ve showcased our young engineers through video content about why they chose engineering and their different disciplines so they can connect more with that younger generation,” she says.
Australia lags far behind the rest of the world in terms of women engineers. In India and Pakistan, for example, female engineer numbers have already reached gender parity.
In Australia, just 16 per cent of professional engineers and 19 per cent of engineering graduates in Australia are women.
Of the 871 young females (aged 13-18 years) interviewed for Engineers Austraia's research, only 8 per cent said they want to pursue a career in engineering, with many citing a lack of female role models and understanding of what engineering is as key barriers.
“There’s a core section of the program that’s aimed at connecting with young women, because we really want to showcase just how diverse engineering is and how inclusive it is for men and women from different backgrounds and with different ways of thinking. Because we know that," McDonald says.
“If we don’t grow the pipeline now, this shortfall’s just going to continue.”
Key findings – Year13 survey of 306 students
- Engineering awareness
Great deal 5% | A lot 6% | Moderate 23% | Little 42% | Nothing 24% - Industry perception
Very positive 8% | Positive 47% | Neutral 41% | Negative 4% | Very negative 0% - Likelihood of engineering career
Definitely 5% | Likely 9% | Neutral 16% | Unlikely 39% | Definitely not 31% - Most attractive aspects
Great pay 43% | Solving big problems 27% | Unsure 14% | Travel/overseas 10% | Variety 6%
