New Report on Engineering in Higher Education in U.K.

Nonprofit, London-based organization EngineeringUK on March 16 released a new research report, Engineering in Higher Education, that explores the number, characteristics and outcomes of engineering and technology students in higher education (HE) in the U.K. Based on 2020-21 data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the report also compares data for engineering and technology students alongside that of students studying HE courses overall. In terms of numbers, the report reveals there were 38,615 first-degree engineering and technology undergraduates in their first year of university. This equates to 6.1% of all first-degree undergraduates. When taking into account undergraduates in all years of study and postgraduates, the number of engineering and technology students rises to 179,000, which reflects a 14% increase since 2009-10. The most concerning diversity issue among engineering and technology students was found to be gender, with only 18.5% of undergraduates being female students. This is exceptionally low compared to the 56.5% representation seen across all subjects, and is an issue which is mirrored across the engineering and technology workforce. The entire report may be downloaded for free here.