Work
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Inspiring the next generation
The UK faces a critical shortage of engineers. It’s a problem the Institution of Mechanical Engineers is keen to address, in part by inspiring the next generation of young engineers to enter the profession.
We worked with the Institution to brand and promote mechanical engineering careers to 14 – 16 year-olds, stimulating interest and correcting misconceptions to influence study choices at schools and colleges.
The challenge
Mechanical engineering had a branding problem. Not enough young people were choosing to study it at college or university, and those who were weren’t representative of society as a whole. But why?
Focus groups showed that for some, it wasn’t a conscious choice. Many students simply weren’t aware that mechanical engineering was a career path open to them; they’d never heard from an engineer.
But for others, the issue ran deeper than that. Perhaps influenced by popular historic depictions of the profession (think Brunel in his stovepipe hat). They – and their teachers – often had an outdated and inaccurate understanding of what mechanical engineers actually do.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers needed a campaign to correct these misconceptions, and educate and inspire the next generation to choose the profession.
The work
Our strategy focused on addressing these misconceptions among young people and those influencing them. We set out to educate and inform careers advisers and teachers, and give them the support they needed to become powerful ambassadors for mechanical engineering.
We did this by positioning mechanical engineering as the true ‘creative industry’ – thriving on a diverse range of people with fresh ideas to make a fundamental difference to the way we live.
We created materials including a printed careers guide and microsite for young people, and a mechanical engineering primer, posters and presentation for careers advisors and teachers. We also arranged an opportunity for the Institution to directly brief careers advisors on mechanical engineering and the new materials.
The impact
The number of students studying STEM A levels increased steadily between 2016 & 2020 – the period in which we’d expect the careers guide to have influenced pupils. While there is still much to do, the general trend for mechanical engineering is positive, with a 6% increase in student numbers at degree level since 2010, and a 5% increase in women choosing to study mechanical engineering over the same period.
