The Happold Foundation is excited to be a partner of The Royal Academy of Engineers Graduate Engineering Engagement Programme (GEEP): Improving the employment of diverse engineering graduates.
The United Kingdom needs 1.2 million more engineers however each year there is a 20,000 shortfall of engineering graduates.
According to an Academy report on employment outcomes for engineering graduates by diversity characteristic – 71% of white engineering graduates are in full-time work within six months of graduation, in contrast to only 51% of their counterparts of other ethnic origin. And, while 15% of first degree qualifiers in engineering are female, women make up less than 10% of the UK’s professional engineering workforce. Even when degree class and university type are taken into account, graduates from other ethnic backgrounds are still more than twice as likely to be unemployed six months after graduation. The Graduate Engineering Engagement programme (GEEP) was developed in response to the need to address this engineering skills gap.
The aim of the GEEP is to establish a valuable and sustainable opportunity for engineering firms to widen the reach of their engagement with students from diverse backgrounds through offering programmes and experience in the workplace, develop one to one relationships, and mentorship to help enhance their employability.
The GEEP programme was named winner of the Race Equality Award at Business in the Community’s 2019 Annual Responsible Business Gala. The event was the culmination of the 2019 Responsible Business in Action campaign, run by Business in the Community– The Prince’s Responsible Business Network – to celebrate the innovative ways that businesses in the UK and abroad are making a sustained difference and transforming communities.