Lucy Avery
Marketing Campaigns Manager
Lucy has worked in marketing in the charity sector for over 9 years. Prior to this she was a marketeer in the publishing industry. She has also written for theatre.
Celebrating new initiatives for 2024/25
There’s no doubt that the UK needs more young people from more diverse backgrounds to choose engineering and technology careers. And with jobs in the industry growing faster than in any other UK sector, it’s essential we find innovative ways to reach them. At EngineeringUK we inspire young minds into STEM careers through our free schools’ outreach programmes and collaborate with government, and others, to change policy. We also support our community of Corporate Members, Code Signatories and partners to do the same. Evaluation is key to our approach, helping us iterate and optimise what we do. Together with our research, we look at the areas best placed to make an impact. And every year we develop new initiatives to inspire even more young people to choose engineering.
As we closeout our year, I’ve been reflecting on our achievements. I wanted to spotlight some of the key new initiatives and share our progress.
2024/25 saw us bring all our offerings for schools together and provide one place for teachers to find support. We began a partnership with a host of Professional Engineering Institutions and other organisations to increase representation of girls in the industry. We also evolved our approach to how we support the Tomorrow’s Engineering Code community improve their outreach and meet the 4 pledges.
How have these new initiatives gone?
Well….
The new home of STEM inspiration: EUK Education
We launched EUK Education in September 2024 to bring together everything EngineeringUK does for teachers, career leaders and young people. The website offers free careers resources, activities and programmes to support teachers to deliver engaging lessons. All embedding the curriculum with links to real jobs in engineering and tech, helping students understand where STEM can take them.
EUK Education also showcases inspiring professionals in real engineering jobs, providing schools students with role models they can relate to. Schools can also access funding to increase STEM engagement and give students a chance to get hands-on with STEM.
Jenny Karlsson, Senior Marketing Communications Manager at EngineeringUK commented: “The engagement with EUK Education has been brilliant. 2024 saw over 55,000 young people engage with our schools’ activities during Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, which was, for the first time, found alongside all our programmes. The site has gone from strength to strength since. I’m excited to see how it develops, and how it contributes to inspiring more young people into rewarding and lucrative STEM careers.”
Gender pathways into engineering and technology
The majority of girls say they don’t think being an engineer is a suitable career for them. Currently, only 16.9% of the engineering and tech workforce is made up of women, even though women make up 56% of the UK workforce. Increasing representation of women in the future workforce is therefore essential if we’re to increase the number of people going into engineering careers.
We partnered with the Royal Academy of Engineering, BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, Women’s Engineering Society (WES) and Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) to tackle this disparity. Together we’re working to increase the number of girls entering engineering and technology pathways at age 18 through the gender pathways collective.
In the very first meeting back in May, 40 organisations met to first build a collective wisdom on the various factors influencing girls and young women. The group outlined the practice and evidence of what works in this space. Skip to the most recent meeting in October, and 60 organisations gathered to discuss this issue. Not only have we mapped the breadth of the challenge, but we’ve also gained funding for a literature review. We’re also working with awarding organisations on the content of teaching materials.
In November 2025 the government published its Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report. We were pleased to see that many of the recommendations are concerned with ending gender disparity in STEM. The gender pathways partnership has broadly welcomed the findings and formulated a shared response to the government’s review.
Susi Farnworth, Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion commented: “The gender pathways collective has been a highlight of my year. It’s been fantastic to co-lead this group and work closely over 40 key organisations in this space. And to be in a position where we can coordinate a response to the government’s curriculum review attests to how engaged everyone is. Making change takes collective action, driven by the evidence. This partnership will enable us to gain momentum and make that change happen.”
Find out more about the collective
See our response to the government’s November curriculum review
The Codes explores…
The Tomorrow’s Engineers Code unites a huge range of more than 400 organisations to increase the number and diversity of young people entering engineering and technology careers. Shaped around 4 pledges which act as a framework, it helps Signatories develop effective STEM outreach. This year, in response to feedback, we created a fresh approach to delivering content that was community-driven and delved deeper into a topic.
The Code explores… was launched, with its first series looking at the topic of engaging schools. Content in the series included:
- a lightning talk on how teachers engage with STEM outreach
- a webinar on how EngineeringUK’s platform, Neon, can help organisations reach more young people
- a webinar on building strong school partnerships through local Careers Hubs
We also ran Q&A sessions which saw us canvas the community for questions and then recruiting 3 amazing teachers to answer them.
To enable further flexibility for the community to engage with the content, we created both live and pre-recorded material. Everything was available on demand and backed up by resources, so the events were actionable for everyone.
This series gave Code members valuable insights into how schools engage with STEM outreach, as well as some of the challenges they face. It also provided invaluable insight for them to take away and develop their outreach. The second then focused on inspiring young people and was run during Tomorrow’s Engineers Week.
As Nicholas Rowe, Projects Support Officer at EngineeringUK commented: “I was delighted to see how many people attended our first Code explores… series. Everything was available online after the sessions for those who couldn’t attend, and the engagement with the post-session content has been great. We learnt a lot about what works for the community and are excited to build on that in our next series. It feels like a step change to the way we engage with the community and I’m looking forward to learning how this improves their outreach.”
Learn more about the Code explores… series
So, what’s new for 2025/26?
We’re really pleased with the success of our new initiatives for 2024/25 and hope you’ve enjoyed this spotlight on them.
Our focus for the next year includes:
- a research project into the extent to which multiple STEM engagements impact on young people’s subject choices and career aspirations
- working with a new partner to pilot a programme for schools that reveals the role of engineering in the food industry, highlighting associated careers
- engaging with government to address policy in STEM and careers education, and workforce planning for engineering, in partnership with the National Engineering Policy Centre
- establishing an All-Party Parliamentary Group focusing on engineering and technology skills for growth
The engagement with EUK Education has been brilliant. 2024 saw over 55,000 young people engage with our schools’ activities during Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, which was, for the first time, found alongside all our programmes.
— Jenny Karlsson, Senior Marketing Communications Manager at EngineeringUK
The gender pathways collective has been a highlight of my year. It’s been fantastic to co-lead this group and work closely over 40 key organisations in this space.
— Susi Farnworth, Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at EngineeringUK
I was delighted to see how many people attended our first Code explores… series. Everything was available online after the sessions for those who couldn’t attend, and the engagement with the post-session content has been great.
— Nicholas Rowe, Projects Support Officer at EngineeringUK
