Britons no longer have the skills and confidence to creatively engineer or “make things” from scratch because too many people focus on softer subjects like media studies.
Delivering this verdict, James Dyson also warned that greater take-up of sociology or philosophy courses is hampering the UK’s ability to combat its urgent challenges.
As a nation, the entrepreneur said, “we’ve lost our confidence to engineer and make things” relegating us to a state of redundancy, just as foreign competition intensifies.
Meanwhile neither industry nor government has crushed the “misconception of science and engineering” as leading to “geeky” jobs or careers, Mr Dyson said in a podcast for the Times.
“This misperception,” he added, “...puts young people off from what, in reality, has the potential to be a bright, exciting and profitable future.
“The result is that we produce only 24,000 engineering graduates a year, compared with 300,000 in China and 450,000 in India. Britain has to go back to its roots.
“As our balance of trade sinks into the red, we have a choice: do we want Britain to be a theme park, or a hub of creative engineering? We’re on course to shuffle into a sort of residential home for retired great powers.”
As to the cause of this skills crisis, Mr Dyson is clear: “The starting point has to be education. We have to stem the gravitation of our young people towards philosophy, sociology and media studies,” he said.
“As interesting as these subjects may be, they’re not going to provide us with a workforce which can create practical solutions to our 21st century challenges of energy, housing and an ageing population.”
The warnings from Mr Dyson, one of Britain’s best-known design and engineering entrepreneurs, were echoed by the Engineering Employers Federation.
“Science and engineering will be fundamental to enhancing the quality of life in the UK, as well as addressing critical issues, such as climate change and sustainable living,” said Martin Temple, group chairman.
“The belief that we can exist purely as a service economy is now a fast-exploding myth and it is essential that we step up efforts as a society to promote the value of technology-related careers to young people.”
Meanwhile Mr Dyson added: “Britain was the first to trade globally, through the rapid expansion of the Empire, but we’ve lost our confidence to engineer and make things that we had in the 19th and early 20th centuries.”
Jan 22, 2008
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