Engineering Futures: children's perceptions of engineers and the impact of stereotypes at early years on future interest and career choices

Engineering as a profession suffers from a skills shortage and a lack of diversity. Research shows that young people in general have little idea of what engineering involves, and that despite a limited understanding of particular job roles young children make decisions eliminating certain careers early. Understanding what young children know and think about engineers and engineering is key to tackling the misconceptions and stereotypes that can lead to early career-eliminating decisions. Methodologies for this are lacking and this talk will discuss progress and plans towards developing methods to measure young children's engineering perceptions, which are intended for use in exploring the role of stereotypes, related to gender, ethnicity and disability and how this influences children's perceptions of engineering.