How are do you create an inclusive engineering graduate pipeline?

UK is industry is facing 173,000 STEM skills shortfall1, increasingly these roles demand higher and degree skills to support industry 4/52, typically in 2020 approximately 117,000 STEM students graduated3. However, the challenge is further up the STEM pipeline, students in UK are limited by geography access to prerequisite STEM education4, for example school students in the West of South Yorkshire have access to STEM A’level education oppose to those in East of South Yorkshire.

Only 14% Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BMAE) students secured graduate employment, compared to over 70% their white counterparts5. Placement attainment gap is similar between BAME and White engineering students. BAME and female graduates are typically employed in non-engineering roles, as well female engineers are paid less than their male peers. Only a third of employers had taken have taken positive action to address inclusiveness.

In conclusion, that in the UK everyone on the STEM pipeline, figure 1, need to take ownership to address the inclusive and diversity leaks:
• Schools ensuring students have access to the right STEM education, and advice.
• Higher Education (HE) needs to support Schools to ensure an inclusive and diverse STEM pipeline into HE
• HE needs to recruit, nurture and retain students to graduation into industry.
• Industry needs to reflect on how inclusive are their recruitment processes
• Industry evaluate the day to day operations and practices support inclusive and diverse workforce.