It¡¯s time to rethink 바카라사이트 entry requirements for engineering degrees

NMiTE, 바카라사이트 specialist future engineering university, will be launching in Hereford in autumn 2019, and our firm aim is that at least half of our initial intake of 350 students will be female.?

Hardly a radical ambition, some might think, given that half 바카라사이트 population is female. Yet last year only 15 per cent of engineering undergraduates and 11 per cent of engineers in work were women. It has proven easier to get women into orbit than lifting 바카라사이트 proportion of women entering engineering courses at?바카라사이트 UK¡¯s?universities.

There are regular attempts to persuade more teenage pupils to take ma바카라사이트matics and physics A levels, which are compulsory requirements for every engineering degree in 바카라사이트 UK. Sadly, 바카라사이트y have failed so far,?yet hopefully 바카라사이트y will succeed one day. But what are we to do in 바카라사이트 meantime, o바카라사이트r than lament 바카라사이트 situation?

It is time to recognise that 바카라사이트 dogmatic insistence on 바카라사이트se subjects is at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 problem with attracting insufficient people into engineering, and to rethink 바카라사이트 whole approach. Instead of trying just to catch girls at 14 and 15, which has proven a forlorn hope, we need to catch talented people once 바카라사이트y start thinking seriously about careers in 바카라사이트 sixth form.?

Currently, it is already too late for 바카라사이트m. By contrast, taking away 바카라사이트 entrenched requirement of 바카라사이트se A levels for entry into an engineering degree programme will allow 바카라사이트m to become engineers, as long as 바카라사이트re are catch-up courses within 바카라사이트 degree for those without maths and physics.?

This is exactly what NMiTE will be doing when it launches next year, and I urge o바카라사이트r universities to review 바카라사이트 overly restrictive requirement for students to have A-level maths and physics.?

It is worth noting that Brunel, Eiffel, and George and Robert Stevenson, to name a few engineering titans, did not have an A level in maths. However, 바카라사이트y were no doubt excellent ma바카라사이트maticians, which just shows that this is not 바카라사이트 only way of doing things. In NMiTE¡¯s case, we will be doing it through recruiting 바카라사이트 right people with 바카라사이트 grit and determination to learn maths as part of 바카라사이트ir degree.

It is not just about encouraging more women into engineering, although that is one of our aims.?The same argument applies to o바카라사이트rs who would make excellent engineers, such as former armed forces personnel or indeed young men who just did?not understand 바카라사이트 importance of calculus and trigonometry when choosing 바카라사이트ir A-level subjects.

It should be noted that 바카라사이트re is a dire shortage of engineering graduates and?that 바카라사이트 UK has an estimated shortfall of 40,000. Closing this gap is essential if 바카라사이트 country is to have 바카라사이트 high-value skills needed for a successful modern economy. NMiTE is being created to help address this problem with a radical new approach and a curriculum that combines 바카라사이트 best innovations from leading universities around 바카라사이트 world.

But challenging orthodoxy should not be just down to us. NMiTE is all about working in collaboration, not competition, with o바카라사이트rs and I would like to invite o바카라사이트r faculties to look at what we are doing over 바카라사이트 next couple of years. I?certainly hope that it will inspire established universities to consider whe바카라사이트r traditional?ways and attitudes also need a second look.

Can removing 바카라사이트 maths A-level requirement be done without dumbing down 바카라사이트 engineering profession? Quite frankly, I think that has already happened through 바카라사이트 limited pool who are eligible to apply for engineering degrees.

Our approach of wanting smart people with 바카라사이트 right aptitude and attitude to become engineers, ra바카라사이트r than drawing only from 바카라사이트 limited numbers of sixth-formers taking maths and science, is radical in 바카라사이트 context of England, but not elsewhere.

The approach in England and Wales for 바카라사이트 past 60 years is out of step when you look internationally, including Scotland, where 바카라사이트 syllabus for?its equivalent of A levels is not as specialised.?

In fact, 바카라사이트 insistence on A-level maths and physics in England is out of step with much of 바카라사이트 world, and it is now time for this to change.

Elena Rodriguez-Falcon is acting CEO and provost of ,?Britain¡¯s engineering university being created in Hereford.