Mind the gap: Engineers Australia on the engineering skills shortage
We met with Stephen Durkin, CEO, Engineers Australia, to discuss the state of the engineering industry, the ongoing skills shortage, and how the industry is working to bridge the gap.
Tell us about the quality of engineering in this country, how do we rate?There is no doubt in my mind that the quality of engineering carried out in Australia is absolutely world class.
The future for the engineering industry in Australia is about developing smart people, highly regarded on the world stage, who have a great way of thinking.
If Australia is going to transform from a resource-based traditional economy to one that is all about productivity and innovation, our view is we need more engineers and more engineering thinking in the kinds of things that we do.
Are we still facing a skills shortage in the engineering sector?
The macro view of the engineering profession remains that we simply do not have enough engineers to meet demand.
When we look at the number of domestic students graduating the figure’s been relatively unchanged for a decade. We average around 9,000 students per year. So by definition, we’ve got a mismatch, in classic economic terms we’re not able to meet demand.
Given that engineering skills are so central to the economy, and society, why are there almost constant skills shortages in this sector?
Without a shadow of doubt in my mind the role and importance of engineering is not as well understood by the general public, by the general community in Australia as it is in overseas countries.
This creates, in a community sense, a big grey zone as to what engineering actually is and what engineers actually do.
One challenge is that as engineers, we’re not particularly great communicators! We always talk about the features and details of things rather than the benefit. The team at Engineers Australia is working hard towards creating a different image or projection of what engineering is about to help shift perceptions and grow the industry.
Will changing perceptions of engineering help address the shortage?
Only fifteen percent of the Australian engineering population is female and part of the reason for this is because of the perceptions and stereotypes as to what engineering is all about.
So we are really focused on talking about the importance of creativity, teamwork, leadership and innovation in engineering, which are areas in which women excel.
Engineers are involved in exciting projects, from environmental engineering to chemical engineering to technology innovation and we want the wider population to be more aware of this.
Why do you think Australians don’t understand what a career in engineering is about?
There are a number of reasons for it. There seems to be a lower level of public recognition of the role and importance of engineers just in a social sense versus a number of other countries.
The critical role of engineering is not embedded in our political system as it is in many countries overseas. In China, for example, many of the senior political leaders are engineers.
Tony Abbott declared himself as the ‘Prime Minister for infrastructure’ so we strongly believe we will need more engineers to meet these demands, but also to help Australia transition to an economy that is about productivity and innovation.
On behalf of our 100,000 members, Engineers Australia has a role to play in telling this story in a way that helps the profession connect more effectively to the general public and the community.
We need to help Australians to actually see that the work of engineers is critical and supporting better quality of life, which ultimately we see as being vital to our national wellbeing.
Thanks for your time. On a final note, is there any particular engineering achievement that you personally find amazing or interesting?
I’ve always been fascinated by how an aeroplane is able to fly. The wheels, the technology and the engine are great examples of how many aspects of engineering come together. Another reason it excites me is that only 100 years ago we began to fly and when you think about how many billions of years we have on this incredible planet, it was not that long ago we discovered this great innovation.