Research
At EngineeringUK, robust research forms a vital part of our strategic decision making process.
At EngineeringUK, robust primary, secondary and evaluative research forms a vital part of our strategic decision making process and provides the feedback which allows us to continuously improve our two core programmes - The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair and Tomorrow’s Engineers.
Our flagship publication is the Engineering UK 2011 the state of engineering, which is an annual statistical analysis on the state of UK engineering. The report underpins our strategic decision making and serves as a valuable engineering community national resource. In this, the report’s thirteen year, we have written the report in collaboration with others, around the theme of the low carbon economy to provide a comprehensive analysis of supply, demand, education, training and employment trends in the sector. To read our latest report please click here.
Monitoring progress and refreshing thinking
To ensure the engineering community works effectively, it is essential that not only do we identify areas for improvement but that we also monitor progress made against our goals and periodically re-check our taken for granted assumptions. The Engineers and Engineering Brand Monitor (EEBM) is a UK wide perceptions study, annually measuring young people’s, the general public and educational professionals attitudes towards engineering and plays a key role in helping us to react to continual changing perceptions.
Our latest EEBM 2010 research clearly highlighted five clear themes:
For all audience groups increased knowledge of engineering led to improved perceptions of engineering. Also all the different audience groups saw the challenging nature of engineering as a desirable quality, however other aspects such as pay level of interest and enjoyment are likely to be more attractive to those considering it as a career.
The research also identified that skills that the general public stated they had were seen by them as not being those required by engineers even though they clearly were. Also to reverse the negative view of engineering and to make it more attractive to females; the creative and people aspects of engineering need to be better communicated along with access to female role models. Finally the public awareness of engineers is lower than other professions despite the fact they are viewed as the group most likely to get the country back on track post recession.
Research and briefing papers
In addition to our core annual research projects, EngineeringUK also undertakes research on relevant issues e.g. International Gender analysis on why the UK has the lowest proportion of female engineers in the EU, bespoke Omnibus surveys and occasional briefing papers on key issues in engineering in order to help, advise and inform the wider engineering community. Previous topics include international gender, manufacturing, destinations of graduates and careers IAG. Please click here to see all our research and briefing papers.
Date Published: May 19, 2011
