Commitment remains necessary to get young people to choose engineering
The number of people employed in technical occupations continues to increase. The proportion of women is growing considerably, although the number of women in this group is still low. After several years of stabilization, the inflow into technical profiles and studies is now showing a slight decrease. This is evident from the annual Technology Pact Monitor published on June 15, 2020, during the Technology Pact Annual Conference.
After several years of stabilization, the 2019-2020 academic year shows for the first time a slight decrease of 1% in enrollment in technical profiles and studies. This applies to both vmbo (decrease from 20% to 19%), havo/vwo (49% to 48%) and secondary (29% to 28%) and higher education (29% to 28%). Beatrice Boots, director Platform Talent for Technology: "We know from researchthat the proportion of young people who would like to pursue a technical profession later has risen from 36% in 2011 to 52% in 2019. So the potential is there, only we do not yet see this sufficiently reflected in the new intake figures. Factors that play a major role in profile and study choice are, pleasure in subjects, sufficient self-confidence in technical knowledge and skills and the image of technology. Exact subjects are considered more boring than other classes. It is important to ensure more attractive education in the form of more practical classes and sufficient regional supply of technology education, among other things. We expect that the investments from the government to strengthen the technical vmbo (Strong Technical Education) will have a positive effect on the intake in vmbo and mbo in the coming years."
Thea Koster, president of the Techniekpact endorses the call for more action. In her advice tothe cabinet, she argues for the continuation of the Techniekpact with extra efforts on teaching technical skills in primary education, increasing the intake of girls/women and young people from non-Western backgrounds, more crossovers with engineering in vocational training, stimulating hybrid teaching and more regional region on incentive schemes in the context of lifelong development. "To ensure that more young people choose engineering, additional efforts remain badly needed," said Techniekpact president Thea Koster. "We will only achieve this with a long-term strategy.
An overview of all new education and labor market figures can be found at www.techniekpactmonitor.nl The monitor is a co-production of the Technology Pact, Platform Talent for Technology and the central government.