How to create outreach programmes that land

1. Make engineering relatable by starting with what young people already know

One of the biggest challenges we face is that engineering isn’t always visible to young people. Engineering and technology account for 19% of all UK jobs, but this scale often isn’t reflected in young people’s awareness.

In fact, gendered interest begins early. Our gender dashboard confirms that only 23% of girls are interested in a technology career, compared with 52% of boys. This shows a clear need to make engineering more recognisable and relatable to groups who may not currently see it as for them.

Outreach programmes really can close this gap by showing how engineering shapes everyday life. This helps young people recognise its relevance in ways that feel familiar. Grounding activities in real-world, relatable examples can bring things to life – such as the tech behind apps they use every day, familiar buildings such as stadiums or concert halls, or local environmental challenges. This helps make engineering less abstract and far more meaningful to young audiences.

2. Use diverse, relatable role models with authentic stories

Representation matters. Our diversity dashboard reinforces what many of us see in schools: the engineering workforce doesn’t yet reflect the society it serves.

• only 16.9% of the engineering and technology workforce are women
• 14% of the workforce are from UK minority ethnic backgrounds, compared with 18% across all occupations
• 14% of the engineering workforce are disabled, compared with 19% across all occupations

Young people notice when they don’t see people like themselves in a field. That’s why outreach must amplify diverse role models. And why panels, videos, classroom visits, and case studies should deliberately reflect a full range of identities and backgrounds. It doesn’t just inspire. It helps counter stereotypes and signals to young people that engineering is open to them.

The most effective outreach does 3 things:

1. showcases early career professionals rather than senior experts who young people may struggle to relate to
2. shares honest stories, including the challenges, detours, and moments of self doubt – we can learn from our mistakes
3. reflects a breadth of backgrounds, pathways, and identities

3. Connect engineering with the issues young people care about

64% of young people are interested in climate change issues. 35% of young people want a career that helps reduce the impact of climate change. Imagine if we harnessed that passion and turned it into green career aspirations!

Urban and rural students are drawn to different issues. Air pollution attracts those in cities, biodiversity in rural areas, so tailoring activity themes to local context is key.

More broadly, young people are drawn to:

• climate solutions
• social impact
• health and wellbeing
• technology with purpose

Making these interests the ‘hook’ for STEM activities gives young people a powerful reason to engage. And framing engineering as a way to make a difference taps into motivations that go far beyond academic achievement.

If you're interested in promoting engineering and technology careers through environmental sustainability you can download a full guide:

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4. Prioritise hands on, practical activities that build confidence

Young people respond best to practical, physical, and sensory engagement. Yet GCSE students doing hands-on practical work at least once a fortnight is down – from 44% in 2016 to 26% in 2023. This leaves a space for outreach providers to fill.

We know that: 

• project based learning has the highest impact on continuing STEM engagement
• hands on sessions that mirror real engineering tasks build self efficacy
• activities that include challenge, trial and error, and reflection strengthen confidence and persistence

If hands-on learning in schools is limited, then outreach activities play an even more essential role in providing exploratory, trial and error experience that builds genuine confidence.

Practical workshops, repair challenges, prototyping tasks, physical objects, and interactive experiments all give young people something that classroom constraints increasingly struggle to offer.

5. Build programmes that are inclusive by design

For outreach to have impact, every young person must feel able to participate.

EngineeringUK, and The Code community, recommend:

• using plain, accessible language
• ensuring clear instructions and manageable pacing
• designing activities with multiple ways to participate, not just one set approach
• providing space for reflection, not just action
• using examples and case studies that reflect different cultures, genders, and backgrounds

Our research shows that SEND students are equally interested in engineering careers (47%) as non-SEND students. In fact, they are more interested in tech careers (43%) than non-SEND students (37%). Inclusive outreach planning is essential if we’re going to give all young people the opportunity to follow their passion for STEM into a career. 

The Code is shaped around 4 pledges that are a framework to help Signatories develop and deliver impactful STEM outreach activities. Signatories are supported with resources to make their activities inclusive and engaging for young people from all backgrounds.

The Code champions the sharing of knowledge and best practice. In this Code explores… series, a webinar with EngineeringUK’s Programme Content and Careers teams highlighted insights from evaluating our own programmes to show what works when creating inclusive activities.

6. Give clear next steps, because inspiration alone isn’t enough

We know from the Science Education Tracker, that parents are the most consulted source of careers information by young people.

In our most recent research, we found that more than half of parents are not confident discussing engineering careers. And almost a quarter are not at all confident. Much of this uncertainty is rooted in low awareness of entry routes. We discovered that while 42% of parents say they know a lot about university degrees, only 20% say the same for apprenticeships, 15% for other vocational qualifications, 12% for BTECs, and just 5% for T Levels. 

In fact, 43% of parents in England either haven’t heard of T Levels or aren’t sure if they have.

Young people can only explore a career if they know how to get there. 

Outreach should also include:

• clear explanations of the routes into engineering
• accurate labour market information, including salaries and skills demand
• resources young people can explore later
• opportunities to meet real engineers and technicians
• whether through quizzes or EngineeringUK’s many careers’ resources, providing these next steps helps turn initial interest into long term ambition.

Explore our resources to help parents understand STEM careers

Delve into all our careers resources to support outreach

7. Embed ongoing engagement, not one off interactions

While single activities are valuable, we know that progress requires sustained engagement. Outreach may boost interest in engineering and technology, especially for groups underrepresented in the workforce, but targeted, ongoing interventions are key to diversifying the future talent pool.

That means:

• building long term relationships with schools
• repeating activities over time
• offering follow up resources
• encouraging clubs, competitions, or extended projects
• sharing impact data and iterating year on year

EngineeringUK uses the COM B model (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation – Behaviour) which highlights the importance of supporting students across multiple touchpoints to build lasting confidence and motivation.