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It’s no secret that the UK needs more engineers to clean up our energy system, ensure the defence sector has the talent it needs for success and so we have the skilled workforce needed to grow the economy. At EngineeringUK we have long argued that a shortage of engineering and technology skills in the UK is holding the country back. It is therefore encouraging to see that the government in its Industrial Strategy and IS-8 sector plans, as well as across other strategies, has now also acknowledged that engineers will be vital to the UK’s future. Government strategies are clear – we need to do more to attract people into, train and retrain the workforce.

As another recent example, in the Clean Energy Jobs Plan, government highlights that the UK’s clean energy workforce will almost need to double by 2030, from 440,000 to 860,000 people. Large infrastructure projects are one of the drivers of this demand. And the same plan also stresses that engineering roles are central to this growth, with civil engineers being among the 31 priority occupations. In addition, the construction sector has been given a lot of attention in recent government announcements. As a result, new shorter apprenticeships are being rolled out to enable a rapid workforce expansion.

Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, much of the focus has been on the immediate demand for skills; I call it a crisis management approach. 2030 is the focus and the challenge seems immense, with survey after survey telling us that employers are struggling to recruit for the skills they need. And in many ways, this focus is understandable. However, what has and continues to be less talked about is how as a country we ensure that we have people with the right skills not only in the next five years but going forward – beyond 2030.

Ensuring that people not only have the right skills and that there are enough engineers and technicians in the future to meet demand, requires government to think more strategically. It needs government to link the employment market to the education and skills system and for the system to be responsive to that demand. We therefore cautiously welcomed the Post-16 education and skills white paper. It signals a promising step towards strengthening work-focused training for young people in key sectors like engineering and technology. However, government also needs to understand that people develop relevant skills way before they reach 16. The education system and the way we teach young people determines whether they choose to, and can access, a career in engineering and technology.

This means that we need to look at the school curriculum and the way we teach science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. And it also means that we need to look at what opportunities exist for young people to understand and be inspired by the roles available in engineering and technology in the UK. We need them to understand what it is really like to work in this field and the variety of entry routes available. And we need to start this work now, not least because many of today’s 12 to 14 year-olds will be entering (pathways to) the workforce in 2030.

Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, the nationwide celebration running all this week, provides a great platform to do just that. Once again, we’ve been delighted to see the engineering community working together to showcase the vast range of possibilities a career in engineering and tech offers. This year’s theme is “dare to discover”, showing young people that problem solving, iteration and tenacity are key in engineering and tech. STEM outreach programmes such as this are vital to achieving a step change in young people’s interest in careers in this sector.

The success of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week is testament to the power of collaboration. Another example of this is The Tomorrow’s Engineers Code, which has just reached the exciting milestone of 400 members. The Code is a growing community of like-minded organisations committed to increasing the number and diversity of young people entering engineering and technology careers. They do this by designing, delivering, supporting or funding STEM outreach activities.

Increasing the diversity of young people seeing a career in engineering and technology as an option for them is key. Women are particularly under-represented in this sector, making up just 16.9% of the engineering and technology workforce. And the reality is that, unless we can encourage more girls to become the engineers and technologists of tomorrow, we will simply not have enough people to meet workforce demand. Never mind the missing out on the diversity of thought and ideas that this sector desperately needs.

Data shows that this gender split starts at school. The Science Education Tracker, for example, finds that just 12% of girls in years 10 and 11 say being an engineer fits well with who they are. Similarly, only 16% think a career in engineering is suitable for someone like them. This compares to 38% and 44% respectively for boys. To address this, we are leading the Gender Pathways Collective, along with BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, the Royal Academy of Engineering, Women’s Engineering Society (WES) and Women into Science and Engineering (WISE). To date, the partnership has brought together a coalition of over 40 organisations and together we are actively driving forward thinking and activities that look to address the systemic barriers underlying this gender imbalance.

As Tomorrow’s Engineers Week draws to a close, we must keep up the momentum to develop the next generation of engineers and technologists. We need to ensure that young people see engineering as something that they want to do and have the educational and training opportunities to enable them to access careers in the sector.  We will continue to engage with government to address policy and delivery challenges in STEM and careers education and workforce planning for engineering and technology.

Find out more about Tomorrow’s Engineers Week and get involved here.

• Beatrice Barleon is head of policy and public affairs at EngineeringUK 

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