At the launch of a new campaign to boost participation in science, technology, engineering and maths (the ‘STEM’ subjects) at school and beyond, the government today welcomed over 170 leading businesses and institutions offering over 2,000 jobs and apprenticeships.
The campaign – called ‘Your Life’ – was launched by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP, and the leading organisations and entrepreneurs taking part in it.
The Chancellor was joined by Education Minister Liz Truss MP, Minister for Skills and Enterprise Matthew Hancock MP and Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Minister for Women, Nicky Morgan MP.
Organisations such as Google, Arup, L’Oreal, Microsoft, Ford, BP, BSkyB, Airbus, Balfour Beatty, Laing O’Rourke, IBM, Nestle, Samsung, the Science Museum and the Royal Academy of Engineering have pledged to do more to highlight the career opportunities open to those studying STEM subjects, committing to create over 2,000 new entry level positions including apprenticeships, graduate jobs or paid work experience posts.
The campaign will also have targeted advertising and a new scheme to boost the number of high-skilled science teachers alongside the pledges from businesses.
The advertising campaign will be spearheaded by Edwina Dunn, who co-created the Tesco Clubcard, and an independent board of eight entrepreneurs and advocates. They will transform the way young people think about maths and physics and the careers to which they lead.
In addition, top firms including Barclays, Tata Consulting, National Grid and GlaxoSmithKline are also sponsoring a new scheme called ‘Maths and Physics Chairs’, to recruit post-doctoral graduates to become science and maths teachers injecting top-level expertise into schools with poor progression in these topics.
Last year the Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills published a report calling on government to inspire more young people to take up engineering. The Perkins report identified the industry suffered misconceptions which deterred young people from pursuing careers in this field.
Subjects like maths and physics are also becoming more important, not just in science and engineering, for an increasing range of high paid careers in fields such as marketing, technology and design.
However, despite recent progress and growing numbers of young people taking GCSE physics and A-level maths, at age 16 there is a steep drop off; in physics the number falls from around 150,000 to 32,000 including just 7,000 girls choosing to study the subject.
George Osborne said:
Backing growth in sectors such as science, tech and engineering are part of our long term plan to deliver economic security and sustainable growth for a more resilient economy.
This campaign, which brings together some of Britain’s best businesses, institutions and government, will help inspire young people into jobs in these exciting sectors that are essential to our economic prosperity.
Education Minister Elizabeth Truss added:
Rising numbers of people are taking maths and physics A-levels – but it is still very low. Too many teenagers, especially girls, don’t realise that maths and physics get you everywhere. They have the highest earnings and can open doors to careers in business, journalism, technology, engineering - in fact anything you can probably think of.
That’s why I am so delighted that entrepreneurs like Sarah Wood and Edwina Dunn have agreed to lead this drive to show young people, especially girls, how science and maths have helped them to make it big.
I’m also very pleased to see some of the UK’s top businesses showing their commitment by signing the ‘Your Life’ call to action and committing to recruit more science and maths students. Together we can ensure young people have the skills they need to succeed in life and help the UK compete on a global scale.
Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock said:
There has never been a greater focus from government on inspiring people, especially women and girls, to take up science, technology, engineering and maths. STEM disciplines are the heartbeat of the modern world. From agriculture to aviation, the analytical and problem-solving skills they develop are more valuable than ever in a fast-changing, global economy.
I’m delighted that 170 leading organisations are joining us in our commitment to inspiring more women and girls to take up study and training in these areas, particularly with their pledges for new apprenticeships. These kinds of high quality apprenticeship places will offer people the skills they need for an exciting and productive career and give businesses the workforce they need to grow.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Baroness Verma said:
This campaign is an important step in guaranteeing diversity within STEM. My personal commitment is to ensure that 30% of energy company executive board members are female by 2030. Later this year, I will launch POWERful Women – an initiative which will endeavour to make this important goal a reality.
Dr Angela Strank, BP Group, Chief Scientist added:
Science and engineering are essential drivers of business success across the UK, including BP, and offer the most exciting and rewarding career opportunities in many sectors.
To stay at the leading edge of business and industry on an increasingly competitive the global stage, we need to attract as many young men and women as possible to pursue careers in these subjects.
It is particularly important that we increase the number of female students who will become the great engineers, technologists and business leaders of the future, and BP greatly welcomes this very important initiative.
Edwina Dunn, Dunnhumby co-founder and Your Life Chair said:
For businesses and our economy, science, maths and technology skills are an urgent requirement. For people choosing their path in life, they represent enormous opportunity - to pioneer the technologies of the future, to innovate and to make the most of their potential, talent and creativity.
This is about more than career paths but, your choice of A levels is a great place to start. And that’s why I’m so pleased to be involved in the important Your Life campaign.
Find out more about Your Life
Further information
The call to action has been signed by over 170 businesses, universities, schools and professional organisations who have committed to a range of actions to increase participation.
Pledges include:
L’Oreal will commit to £155,000 in fellowships and support for female scientists for the next two years
Airbus will commit to recruiting circa 25% women engineers as a priority for this year
Arup doubling the proportion of female apprentices to 30% by 2030
GE increasing the number of science and technology ambassadors to 500 by 2015 (aiming for 30% of these to be women)
BP to launch a new employee volunteering web based tool in Summer 2014 to reach 10,000 employees, enabling them to engage with 190 schools
Microsoft to train and mentor 180 female undergraduates over the next 12 months
Royal Holloway, University of London will launch a Department of Engineering and new Electronic Engineering degree programme, opening in 2017, designed from the outset to be female-friendly
The Science Museum will deliver a three-year exhibition that will inspire young people to think engineering could be for them
Full details of the call to action will be available at www.yourlife.org.uk.
Statistics show the huge importance and value of the sciences, maths, engineering and technology to young people’s career earning and prospects, and the UK economy:
On average, students who take A level maths earn up to 10% more than similarly skilled workers who do not have the qualification
Science and engineering degrees also lead to very high earnings – those working in science or technological careers are paid, on average, 19% more than other jobs
Science has become increasingly important across all sectors of the UK economy with 5.8 million people – 20% of the UK’s workforce - employed in science-based roles, this is expected to rise to 7.1 million by 2030
Engineering enterprises employ over 5.4 million people and manufacturing accounts for more than 50% of the UK’s exports
“Your Life” is the latest initiative by government to raise standards in science, maths and technology and drive up participation in the sector. Earlier actions include:
Updating science, maths, computing and design and technology curricula to ensure the next generation can compete in the global economy
Recruiting more top maths and science graduates to increase quality of teaching
Providing £11 million to fund 30 new maths hubs to drive up quality of maths teachers and ensure schools are learning from the best
Training 400 master teachers in computer science to share best practice and help implement the Government’s new forward-thinking curriculum
Requiring 16-19 year olds who don’t achieve a C at GCSE maths to continue studying maths
Introducing the new Core Maths qualification from 2015 for 16-18 year olds to give thousands more young people the chance to continue studying the subject
A £400 million capital investment – a £200 million fund from government matched by universities on at least a one-to-one basis; this will boost our national university infrastructure and allow science and engineering departments to provide world-class facilities and teaching for students
A new publicity drive led by successful British entrepreneurs will be launched in September 2014 to change the way 14-16 year olds think about science and technology, and to encourage more to pursue it as a career.
These entrepreneurs will help develop an advertising campaign to inform young people about the earning power and wide range of careers available to science, maths and technology graduates. They include:
Edwina Dunn – Dunnhumby and Your Life Chair
Sarah Wood – Unruly
Dr Melanie Windridge – Physicist and Science Commentator
Eben Upton – Raspberry Pi
Sherry Coutu – Entrepreneur and Angel Investor
Belinda Parmar – CEO, Lady Geek
Roma Agrawal – Structural Engineer
Dr Ben Boyes – Engineer, Astrium UK
Ruth Amos- Engineer and Entrepreneur
The ‘Maths and Physics Chairs’ programme is a new teacher recruitment scheme sponsored by business to attract post-doctoral university graduates into teaching.
Businesses will fund training and benefits packages for each chair, who will be placed in areas with poor progression in science and technology subjects. They will then use their expertise to raise standards and encourage 16-18 year olds to go on to study maths and physics at university and get jobs in those sectors.
Businesses and institutions involved
3M
Airbus
Atkins
Arup
AMEC
BAE Systems
Balfour Beatty
Barclays
Bechtel
Bombardier Aerospace (NI)
BMW
BP
BT
British Glass
BSkyB
Burnham Grammar School
Carillion
Capgemini
CH2M HILL
Cisco
Crossrail
Delphi
Dow
D-NEG (Double Negative Visual Effects)
E-skills
Enquest
Facebook
Finmeccanica
Food and Drink Federation
Ford
GE
Goldman Sachs
Google
GSK
Hitachi
Hutchison Whampoa
IBM
Intel
Imagination Technologies
Jaguar Land Rover
Johnson & Johnson
Kano
Laing O’Rourke
Lloyds Banking Group
Lonza Biologics Plc
Lotus
L’Oreal
MACE
Microsoft
National Grid
Nationwide Building Society
National Nuclear Lab
Nestle UK & Ireland
Network Rail
NHS England
Nissan
Rolls-Royce
RBS
Samsung
SAS
Sellafield Ltd
Selex ES
Shell
Skanska
Swiftkey
S2D2 (pivogo academy)
Tata Consulting
Tech UK
Telereal Trilium
Thames Tideway Tunnel
UBS
UKIE (Association for Interactive Entertainment)
US Embassy
Veolia
Women in Nuclear (WiN UK)
Women in Rail
Aircelle
At-Bristol
157 Group
AoC
AELP
Apps for Good
Association of Maintained Girls Schools
Aston University
Barking and Dagenham College
British Computer Society
British Science Association
Cardiff University School of Physics and Astronomy
Career Academies
CASE
CBI
Centre of the Cell
Centre for Alternative Technology
Chichester College
Dynamic Earth
Education and Employers Taskforce (EET)
Edinburgh International Science Festival
EEF
Engineering UK
Engineering Council
Eureka! The National Children’s Museum
Explora Science
Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST)
Glasgow Science Centre
Government Office for Science (Go Science)
Hastings Borough Council
Hays Recruitment
ICE
IchemE
IET
ImechE
Imperial College London
International Centre for Life
Inspiring the Future
Institute of Physics
Jodrell Bank
Look Out Discovery Centre
Museum of East Anglian Life
Met Office
MBDA
MyKindaCrowd
NCUB
National Space Centre
Oxford Brookes University
Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering
Queen Mary University of London
RAEng
Redcar & Cleveland College
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Institution
Royal Observatory Greenwich
Royal Society
Science Alive
Science Made Simple
Science Learning Centres
Science Made Simple
Science Museum
Sciencegrrl
Skipton Girls High School – an engineering academy
Somerset College of Arts and Technology
Stemettes
Stemnet
Stylist magazine
Techniquest
Techniquest Glyndwr
TeenTech
The Oxford Trust, Science Oxford
ThinkTank Birmingham Science Museum
UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres
UKCES
University Alliance
Universitites UK
University College London (UCL)
University of Birmingham
University of Bradford
University of Bristol
University of Cambridge
University of Manchester
University of Oxford
University of Sheffield
University of Southampton
University of Warwick - Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG)
Ursuline High School
W5 at Odyssey
WES (Women’s Engineering Society)
Wellcome Trust
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
WISE (Women in Science and Engineering)
Works Management
CaSE
Explora Science Technology and Discovery Centre
Science Alive
Our Dynamic Earth
Edinburgh International Sceicne Festival
Centre of the Cell
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Techniquest
W5 at Odyssey
Cardiff Univerisyt School of Physics and Astronomy
Royal Observatory
St Helens College
North Nottinghamshire College
ARM
Womens Security Society
Qinetiq
Women in Security
Cyber Security Challenge