Over 2000 new jobs and apprenticeships from leading STEM organisations
7 May 2014 12:41 PM
New opportunities are
part of an industry-led campaign launched by the Chancellor to inspire more
young people to study maths and physics.
At the launch of a new campaign
to boost participation in science, technology, engineering and maths (the
‘STEM’ subjects) at school and beyond, the government today
welcomed over 170 leading businesses and institutions offering over 2,000 jobs
and apprenticeships.
The campaign – called
‘Your Life’
– was launched by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon. George
Osborne MP, and the leading organisations and entrepreneurs taking part in
it.
The Chancellor was joined by
Education Minister Liz Truss MP, Minister for Skills and Enterprise Matthew
Hancock MP and Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Minister for Women,
Nicky Morgan MP.
Organisations such as Google,
Arup, L’Oreal, Microsoft, Ford, BP, BSkyB, Airbus, Balfour Beatty, Laing
O’Rourke, IBM, Nestle, Samsung, the Science Museum and the Royal Academy
of Engineering have pledged to do more to highlight the career opportunities
open to those studying STEM subjects, committing to create over 2,000 new entry
level positions including apprenticeships, graduate jobs or paid work
experience posts.
The campaign will also have
targeted advertising and a new scheme to boost the number of high-skilled
science teachers alongside the pledges from businesses.
The advertising campaign will be
spearheaded by Edwina Dunn, who co-created the Tesco Clubcard, and an
independent board of eight entrepreneurs and advocates. They will transform the
way young people think about maths and physics and the careers to which they
lead.
In addition, top firms including
Barclays, Tata Consulting, National Grid and GlaxoSmithKline are also
sponsoring a new scheme called ‘Maths and Physics Chairs’, to
recruit post-doctoral graduates to become science and maths teachers injecting
top-level expertise into schools with poor progression in these
topics.
Last year the Chief Scientific
Advisor at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills published a report
calling on government to inspire more young people to take up engineering.
The Perkins
report identified the industry suffered misconceptions which deterred
young people from pursuing careers in this field.
Subjects like maths and physics
are also becoming more important, not just in science and engineering, for an
increasing range of high paid careers in fields such as marketing, technology
and design.
However, despite recent progress
and growing numbers of young people taking GCSE physics and A-level maths, at
age 16 there is a steep drop off; in physics the number falls from around
150,000 to 32,000 including just 7,000 girls choosing to study the
subject.
George Osborne
said:
Backing growth in sectors such
as science, tech and engineering are part of our long term plan to deliver
economic security and sustainable growth for a more resilient
economy.
This campaign, which brings
together some of Britain’s best businesses, institutions and government,
will help inspire young people into jobs in these exciting sectors that are
essential to our economic prosperity.
Education Minister Elizabeth
Truss added:
Rising numbers of people are
taking maths and physics A-levels – but it is still very low. Too many
teenagers, especially girls, don’t realise that maths and physics get you
everywhere. They have the highest earnings and can open doors to careers in
business, journalism, technology, engineering - in fact anything you can
probably think of.
That’s why I am so
delighted that entrepreneurs like Sarah Wood and Edwina Dunn have agreed to
lead this drive to show young people, especially girls, how science and maths
have helped them to make it big.
I’m also very pleased to
see some of the UK’s top businesses showing their commitment by signing
the ‘Your Life’ call to action and committing to recruit more
science and maths students. Together we can ensure young people have the skills
they need to succeed in life and help the UK compete on a global
scale.
Skills and Enterprise Minister
Matthew Hancock said:
There has never been a greater
focus from government on inspiring people, especially women and girls, to take
up science, technology, engineering and maths. STEM disciplines are the
heartbeat of the modern world. From agriculture to aviation, the analytical and
problem-solving skills they develop are more valuable than ever in a
fast-changing, global economy.
I’m delighted that 170
leading organisations are joining us in our commitment to inspiring more women
and girls to take up study and training in these areas, particularly with their
pledges for new apprenticeships. These kinds of high quality apprenticeship
places will offer people the skills they need for an exciting and productive
career and give businesses the workforce they need to grow.
Energy and Climate Change
Minister Baroness Verma said:
This campaign is an important
step in guaranteeing diversity within STEM. My personal commitment is to ensure
that 30% of energy company executive board members are female by 2030. Later
this year, I will launch POWERful Women – an initiative which will
endeavour to make this important goal a reality.
Dr Angela Strank, BP Group,
Chief Scientist added:
Science and engineering are
essential drivers of business success across the UK, including BP, and offer
the most exciting and rewarding career opportunities in many
sectors.
To stay at the leading edge of
business and industry on an increasingly competitive the global stage, we need
to attract as many young men and women as possible to pursue careers in these
subjects.
It is particularly important
that we increase the number of female students who will become the great
engineers, technologists and business leaders of the future, and BP greatly
welcomes this very important initiative.
Edwina Dunn, Dunnhumby
co-founder and Your Life Chair said:
For businesses and our economy,
science, maths and technology skills are an urgent requirement. For people
choosing their path in life, they represent enormous opportunity - to pioneer
the technologies of the future, to innovate and to make the most of their
potential, talent and creativity.
This is about more than career
paths but, your choice of A levels is a great place to start. And that’s
why I’m so pleased to be involved in the important Your Life
campaign.
Find out
more about Your Life
Further
information
The call to action has been
signed by over 170 businesses, universities, schools and professional
organisations who have committed to a range of actions to increase
participation.
Pledges
include:
- L’Oreal will commit to
£155,000 in fellowships and support for female scientists for the next
two years
- Airbus will commit to recruiting
circa 25% women engineers as a priority for this year
- Arup doubling the proportion of
female apprentices to 30% by 2030
- GE increasing the number of
science and technology ambassadors to 500 by 2015 (aiming for 30% of these to
be women)
- BP to launch a new employee
volunteering web based tool in Summer 2014 to reach 10,000 employees, enabling
them to engage with 190 schools
- Microsoft to train and mentor
180 female undergraduates over the next 12 months
- Royal Holloway, University of
London will launch a Department of Engineering and new Electronic Engineering
degree programme, opening in 2017, designed from the outset to be
female-friendly
- The Science Museum will deliver
a three-year exhibition that will inspire young people to think engineering
could be for them
Full details of the call to
action will be available at www.yourlife.org.uk.
Statistics show the huge
importance and value of the sciences, maths, engineering and technology to
young people’s career earning and prospects, and the UK
economy:
- On average, students who take A
level maths earn up to 10% more than similarly skilled workers who do not have
the qualification
- Science and engineering degrees
also lead to very high earnings – those working in science or
technological careers are paid, on average, 19% more than other
jobs
- Science has become increasingly
important across all sectors of the UK economy with 5.8 million people –
20% of the UK’s workforce - employed in science-based roles, this is
expected to rise to 7.1 million by 2030
- Engineering enterprises employ
over 5.4 million people and manufacturing accounts for more than 50% of the
UK’s exports
“Your Life” is the
latest initiative by government to raise standards in science, maths and
technology and drive up participation in the sector. Earlier actions
include:
- Updating science, maths,
computing and design and technology curricula to ensure the next generation can
compete in the global economy
- Recruiting more top maths and
science graduates to increase quality of teaching
- Providing £11 million to
fund 30 new maths hubs to drive up quality of maths teachers and ensure schools
are learning from the best
- Training 400 master teachers in
computer science to share best practice and help implement the
Government’s new forward-thinking curriculum
- Requiring 16-19 year olds who
don’t achieve a C at GCSE maths to continue studying
maths
- Introducing the new Core Maths
qualification from 2015 for 16-18 year olds to give thousands more young people
the chance to continue studying the subject
- A £400 million capital
investment – a £200 million fund from government matched by
universities on at least a one-to-one basis; this will boost our national
university infrastructure and allow science and engineering departments to
provide world-class facilities and teaching for students
A new publicity drive led by
successful British entrepreneurs will be launched in September 2014 to change
the way 14-16 year olds think about science and technology, and to encourage
more to pursue it as a career.
These entrepreneurs will help
develop an advertising campaign to inform young people about the earning power
and wide range of careers available to science, maths and technology graduates.
They include:
- Edwina Dunn – Dunnhumby
and Your Life Chair
- Sarah Wood –
Unruly
- Dr Melanie Windridge –
Physicist and Science Commentator
- Eben Upton – Raspberry
Pi
- Sherry Coutu –
Entrepreneur and Angel Investor
- Belinda Parmar – CEO, Lady
Geek
- Roma Agrawal – Structural
Engineer
- Dr Ben Boyes – Engineer,
Astrium UK
- Ruth Amos- Engineer and
Entrepreneur
The ‘Maths and Physics
Chairs’ programme is a new teacher recruitment scheme sponsored by
business to attract post-doctoral university graduates into
teaching.
Businesses will fund training
and benefits packages for each chair, who will be placed in areas with poor
progression in science and technology subjects. They will then use their
expertise to raise standards and encourage 16-18 year olds to go on to study
maths and physics at university and get jobs in those sectors.
Businesses and institutions
involved here