Abstract
Research conducted by Engineering UK (Engineering UK Report, State of Engineering 2013) and other sources (Royal Academy of Engineering. http://www.raeng.org.uk/policy/diversity-in-engineering/what-is-diversity) indicate that people of black and minority ethnic origin (BME) are underrepresented in technical apprenticeships/courses and in the engineering profession (6 %). On this premise, it stands to reason that an even smaller proportion of active and successful role models exists not least because visibility and access to said role models is limited. The positive correlation between a role model’s influence and a young person’s career choices is very well understood but few established Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) mentoring programmes have been targeted specifically at BME communities. This paper describes key aspects of the Transition programme, a talent retention scheme which aims to provide young engineering graduates and apprentices with a realistic lens into the engineering industry. Transition is a series of talks, seminars and workshops designed to prepare young trainees and university students for progression from student life into the world of work. It provides an avenue for students and graduates to meet key industry contacts, share questions, knowledge and experience of working in various sectors of Engineering.
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Notes
- 1.
Ethnic minorities will make up a third of Britain by 2050, Policy Exchange. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/category/item/ethnic-minorities-will-make-up-a-third-of-britain-by-2050.
- 2.
Report on ‘Attainment amongst young people in deprived communities’ Cabinet Office Social Exclusion Task Force, 2008.
- 3.
Improving Diversity in STEM A report by the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) May 2014 (http://sciencecampaign.org.uk/CaSEDiversityinSTEMreport2014.pdf).
- 4.
Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education https://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_pubs&task=show_pub_detail&pubid=1708&Itemid=.
- 5.
The Experience Gap (The unspoken skills gap), http://www.nce.co.uk/Journals/2015/03/11/s/l/d/The-Experience-Gap-FP1.pdf, March 2015.
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Folayan, O., Enegela, P., Bankole, Y., Colombo, I., Folayan, N. (2016). Transition: Influence of Role Models on the Progression from Student Life to the World of Work. In: Bhamidimarri, R., Liu, A. (eds) Engineering and Enterprise . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27825-4_7
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