New tech and ‘digitally savvy’ businesses urged to work with teachers to help close STEM skills gap

Despite young people showing an interest in gaming and IT careers, not enough plan to study required A-level maths and science subjects

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New tech and ‘digitally savvy’ businesses are being urged to work with school teachers in order to help close a persistent skills gap.

Teachers are seen to be key in working alongside employers within science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) to close pupils’ gap in knowledge which could be related to a lack of the relationship between relevant employers and schools, says a young people’s campaign.

The call has come after a survey ​revealed young people are turning their backs on the relevant qualifications that will equip them for “the jobs of the future.” The findings highlighted a significant number of students aged 11 to 18 are keen to pursue a career which requires STEM qualifications, with five of the top desired careers being STEM-based.

Almost a third of young people are​ interested in undertaking a career in gaming, and nearly a fifth in IT. Yet, despite this, only a third are planning to study maths and science at A-level which is seen as “the best gateways” to these careers.

The survey has come from Your Life, a three-year long campaign aiming to increase the numbers of young people studying maths and physics post-16 by half by the end of 2017.

By allowing such employers to open their doors to teachers, Your Life said it wants to see more teachers spend time in “real businesses” as part of their Continuing Professional Development schemes.

This knowledge of the ​new era ​world of work will, in turn, help teachers provide better information to their pupils on the importance of STEM qualifications to securing the careers they are most interested in​, more importantly, where many jobs are.

Edwina Dunn, Your Life campaign chair, described how the findings show “an alarmingly low level awareness” of the importance of STEM subjects to the jobs of the future among today’s schoolchildren.

She said: “It is also worrying that nearly a quarter are only taking single-science subjects at GCSE. This limits choices in both future study and careers. Our research shows young people have not had experience of ​new era ​employers to allow them to make informed decisions about their future. One fundamental way to change this is to ​invest​ teachers with a better understanding of the reality of working and Jobs of the Future​.

“This is why we are calling on STEM employers to open their doors to teachers as part of their CPD. Collaboration like this is the only way we can achieve lasting change for young people and ensure we close the persistent STEM skills gap that hampers business growth and our economy today​.”

The research also ​found STEM’s “image problems” remain; nearly half of young people who are not planning to study maths or science say it’s because they don’t enjoy it. One in five of all young people think STEM industries are male-dominated - rising to 31 per cent in young women - and 15 per cent think they are “boring.”

Despite the rising number of jobs available in the sector, over two thirds don’t feel these subjects are relevant to many careers. Meanwhile, less than half the number of girls (20 per cent) are planning to study physics compared to boys (41 per cent).

Disparities also emerged between school type: 34 per cent of those at grammar schools think STEM subjects will be helpful for their future careers, significantly more than the 24 per cent of those at state schools and 22 per cent at specialist schools.