Monday 7 April 2025

Ireland is facing a growing shortage of engineering talent threatening the country’s ability to thrive in an increasingly technology-driven, knowledge-based economy. The From Awareness to Action: STEPS at 25 Advocating for Engineering Outreach paper examines the pivotal role of early engineering and STEM education and outreach in reversing this trend, presenting a strategic vision to build a strong, diverse, and future-ready engineering workforce.

The analysis reveals significant gaps in Ireland’s current STEM education landscape - particularly in how engineering is positioned, taught, and promoted.

The Engineers Ireland STEPS Programme has made substantial strides over the past 25 years engaging over 2 million students, teachers and parents through initiatives such as Engineers Week, Engineering Your Future, and the STEPS Young Engineers Award.

And whilst the STEPS programme has made progress —systemic barriers remain. Engineering continues to be under represented in universities, with just 9.8% of graduates coming from engineering disciplines, well below global averages. Limited visibility in curricula, inequitable access to STEM subjects (especially in all-girls schools), and societal biases against engineering careers contribute to this issue.

The paper highlights that engineering is often under represented in STEM education policy, with a heavy focus on science and mathematics.

Key challenges identified include:

• Limited visibility of engineering in curricula – Engineering content is often integrated within science and technology but lacks explicit recognition.
• Inequitable access to STEM subjects across schools – Many schools, particularly all-girls schools, do not offer key STEM subjects. 
• Gender disparity in engineering – Female participation remains low, with biases discouraging girls from pursuing engineering careers.
• Fragmented STEM outreach efforts – A lack of coordination among outreach initiatives results in missed opportunities for impact.

To address these issues, the paper makes the following recommendations:

1. Establishing a Centre of Excellence for Engineering outreach to lead, coordinate, and innovate national efforts and drive research;
2. Providing targeted teacher training to improve STEM and engineering education at all levels; 
3. Creating initiatives to boost girls’ awareness of engineering through STEPS outreach programmes that showcase how engineers positively impact society;
4. Highlighting the apprenticeship route to engineering through accredited programmes as a viable and respected pathway to engineering careers;
5. Launching a national public awareness campaign to enhance engineering’s appeal and visibility;
6. Embedding engineering more explicitly across school curricula through effective STEM education policy that advocates for STEM subject reform;
7. Supporting equitable access to engineering courses and outreach for all students to dismantle traditional barriers to engineering that influence and inform societal attitudes to the profession;
8. Expanding equitable access to STEM subjects by ensuring all secondary schools offer core STEM courses. By implementing these strategic measures and with targeted investment and cross-sector collaboration, Ireland can build a robust pipeline of future engineers, ensuring the country remains competitive as a knowledge-driven economy.

The paper calls on policymakers, educators, and industry leaders to collaborate and take decisive action to address the engineering skills gap for the next generation.

Download the paper: From Awareness to Action: Engineers Ireland advocating for engineering outreach (PDF 851.6 KB)