Baker Dearing Educational Trust, the charity that promotes University Technical Colleges (UTCs), launched a new research report, From School Work to Real Work: How education fails students in the real world, on 28 February 2017 at Fujitsu’s head office in London.
The report asked over one thousand Young STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) workers about their experiences as they made the journey from school to employment and revealed a need for a greater connection between employers and schools.
The launch event was attended by employers and professional bodies including Intel, Hewlett Packard, Atkins and Institution of Engineering and Technology. Key facts from the study were presented by Duncan Brown, from research company EMSI, who contributed to the findings of the report.
Following the presentation, a panel chaired by former FT journalist Miranda Green, discussed the findings from the report. The panel included: Lord Baker, Chairman, Baker Dearing Educational Trust; Joanne Harper, Principal, UTC Reading; Ash Merchant, Director of Education, Fujitsu; and Thomas Stanley, Degree Apprentice, Fujitsu.
Ash Merchant described UTCs as a ‘wonderful initiative’ from Fujitsu’s experiences working with UTCs. The audience heard from former UTC Reading student, Thomas Stanley, about his time at the UTC and how it helped secure his role at Fujitsu. UTC Reading Principal, Joanne Harper talked about the need for industry level careers advice in schools.
The panel answered questions from the audience on the best way to bring schools and employers together and creating role models to encourage young girls to pursue STEM roles.
The report inspired discussions on social media including:
Great to see industry and schools exploring how technical education will evolve to address current and future skills demands. #school2workDr Theresa Simpkin @DrTerriS
Interesting new report from @UTColleges highlights importance of employer engagement in STEM education. #school2workCBI Education @CBI_ES
Industry & education needs to collaborate to develop skills needed to meet the #IndustrialStrategy #school2workAsh Merchant @fujitsu_uk
To read the findings from the full report, please click here.
