Five ‘tribes’ need personalised engineering education

This time, it's the turn of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), which has just published 'Five Tribes: Personalising Engineering Education'. The report's conclusion is that 'We need a wholesale change to the way we promote engineering in schools to reach out to different student groups'. According to Peter Finegold, head of education and skills for the Institution: "Whatever we have been doing isn't working." That's obvious; the challenge is - and always has been - what should be done to change things. The IMechE report has found five types of student - or 'tribes' - and calls for different approaches for each type in order to inspire them about engineering. Symmetrically, the report offers five recommendations. • Government, teachers, industry and STEM organisations must take into account young people's diverse values and attitudes when developing programmes, courses and activities. • A significant minority of school students is enthusiastic about engineering but lacks confidence to pursue the subject. Schools and outreach providers should actively identify and support these people to build up their resilience and maintain their passion. • We should select a broad range of modern technologies and contexts to illustrate the diverse nature of engineering, particularly to young women. • UK Government Education Departments should ensure that engineering features prominently and explicitly in the curriculum to allow each young person to see the connection between their individual capabilities, interests and values; and future career opportunities. • The study should be repeated every three to four years to gauge how perceptions of STEM and engineering are changing. All very worthy, but it comes down to recommendation number four; getting engineering into the curriculum. This simply won't happen. The curriculum is already an overcrowded place; what does the IMechE suggest is dropped? One thing on which we can all agree is this problem is complex and it's not going away. But perhaps if manufacturing hadn't been thrown on the proverbial scrap heap a couple of decades ago, we might be in a better situation.