North East STEM Foundation

STEM strength is key to becoming a science superpower

By Tania Cooper MBE, Chair of the North East STEM Foundation

The North East has the potential to play a key role in the growth of the UK economy and our green industrial revolution. It has become a focus for the levelling up agenda and is receiving investment, which is creating opportunities for our region. However, this is currently a double-edged sword as there is the danger this potential cannot be fulfilled without an industry-focused STEM-based, skilled workforce.

This issue has been brought into sharp focus with several recent government announcements that can benefit the region, while simultaneously employers continue to voice concerns about the quality and depth of the labour market, highlighted by a recent study of 2,020 UK employers by Manpower, which found four in five businesses are struggling to fill vacancies because of a lack of skilled workers – the highest number in 17 years.

In 2001, Tony Blair presented his vision of meeting his government’s goal of 50% of young adults progressing to higher education by 2010. He declared that his top priority was “education, education, education”, which pushed generations of young people towards academic qualifications not suited to modern industries meaning far too many people pursued degrees not relevant to the evolving economy. This contributed to more than two decades of neglect in the STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and maths, in secondary, further and vocational education.

While STEM learning is not solely vocational, it is a fundamental element of building a skilled workforce. However, in 2016, a select committee concluded that a “culture of inequality” existed between vocational and academic education and cited Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) figures which illustrated, across developed countries, an average of 50% of young people follow vocational routes to work and, in Germany, the proportion is close to 75%. In the UK, it is just 30%.

The challenge to fill the increasing vacancies is exacerbated by the ‘Great Retirement’ the UK experienced during and after the Covid pandemic when an estimated 500,000 over-50s left the British workforce according to the OECD.

This is why I was pleased that in his first budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt announced initiatives to entice more ‘experienced’ people back into work and made STEM-based learning a major focus.

Industry in the North East is thriving, highlighted by a flood of funding and initiatives, such as Tees Valley being granted Freeport status in March 2021, creating more than 18,000 jobs and provides a £ 3.2 billion boost to the local economy over the next five years.

There is also an influx of investment in the Port of Tyne, which contributes approximately £500m Gross Value Added to the economy of North East and supports around 12,000 jobs. Dogger Bank Wind Farm is being built more than 130km off the North East coast with its Operation and Management base located at the Port of Tyne, supporting 400 long-term jobs.

Furthermore, the chancellor announced his desire to turn the UK into the next Silicon Valley with 12 regional Canary Wharfs in the form of a dozen Investment Zones – with two in our region.

The Investment Zones will be situated largely around UK universities and will benefit from a total of £160m and, according to Mr Hunt, “supercharge” growth in hi-tech industries by establishing specific tax and regulatory rules intended to drive economic growth. This will catalyse research and development in the UK's "most budding industries" such as technology, creative industries, life sciences, manufacturing, and the green sector.

However, without a proper skilled workforce, the significant investments will never deliver full value. Beneath the chancellor’s four pillars of enterprise, employment, education, everywhere, there needs to be a foundation of STEM-based training at every level of the education system.

Training and education in STEM subjects can have a significant transformational effect on a young person’s life as it equips them with practical and transferrable skills, which helps to prepare them not just for life but also for the workplace through providing hands-on professional experience, which many universities struggle to deliver.

STEM also provides employers with the opportunity to invest in their workforce by hiring work-ready young people who are ahead of the curve as they not only have the knowledge and qualifications but have the experience of working within a company and interacting with colleagues so are ready to hit the ground running.

If we are to be the “science superpower” the chancellor wishes us to be, we must remember that a superpower derives its strength from the people who drive it. STEM-based education is fundamental to the economic success of the North East and the UK, which is why the Department for Education should redouble their focus on a curriculum based upon our technological age.

ENDS