EngineeringUK reveals higher education insights

‘Engineering in higher education’ is based on 2020/21 data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). It explores the number, characteristics and outcomes of UK engineering and technology students in HE. It also compares the data for engineering and technology students alongside that of students studying on HE courses overall.

The report reveals there were 38,615 first-degree engineering and technology undergraduates in their first year of university, equating to 6.1 per cent of all first-degree undergraduates.

When considering undergraduates in all years of study and postgraduates, the number of engineering and technology students rises to 179,000 – which reflects a 14 per cent increase since 2009/10. This is just under ten percentage points higher compared to all subjects, where the number of students has risen by 5.2 per cent.

However, when looking at total number of students it’s important to consider that only a proportion of this group will be graduating and entering the job market next year, Engineering UK said.

Only 18.5 per cent of undergraduates are female students, a number EngineeringUK pointed out is exceptionally low compared to the 56.7 per cent representation seen across all subjects and an issue mirrored across the engineering and technology workforce.

Lack of ethnic diversity is another concern, with the majority (66.1 per cent) of engineering and technology students being white. Although, this figure is slightly lower than all subjects combined where over 72.1 per cent of students are white.

This is a result of better representation of Asian students in engineering and technology (18 per cent vs 12.7 per cent for all subjects). However, only 8.1 per cent of engineering and technology students were black and 4.9 per cent were mixed – similar for all subjects (8.3 per cent and 4.8 per respectively).

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The research also showed a lack of diversity in terms of disability and social mobility. Only 10.5 per cent of undergraduates have a known disability (vs 15.1 per cent for all subjects) and only 11.2 per cent were from areas with lowest HE participation (vs 13.5 per cent for all subjects).

Dr Claudia Mollidor, head of research and evaluation at EngineeringUK commented: “As with all pathways into engineering and technology careers, it’s really important to understand the numbers and characteristics of students coming through the higher education route.

“Our report highlights a concerning lack of diversity among students, particularly the underrepresentation of women. If the UK is going to have a successful and thriving engineering and technology sector, it’s clear we need to do much more to ensure studying engineering and tech appeals to young people from all backgrounds."

The report also breaks down the numbers and characteristics of students within the seven principal specialisms of engineering.

In order of largest uptake among undergraduate students, this includes mechanical engineering (22.5 per cent); electrical and electronic engineering (15.8 per cent); general engineering (15.7 per cent); civil engineering (13.7 per cent); aeronautical and aerospace engineering (10 per cent); chemical, process and energy engineering (7.10 per cent); production and manufacturing engineering (6.3 per cent).

Mollidor pointed out that interestingly, the number and diversity of students does differ substantially among these specialisms.

“We encourage the sector to pay particular attention to the data breakdown for their area, and consider the impact this might have on its workforce size and what they can do to improve representation,” she said.