Shini Somara: What is the overall mission of the Association For Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK)?
Zainab Adigun: AFBE-UK provides support and promotes higher achievements in Education and Engineering, particularly among students and professionals who are from ethnic minority backgrounds. It is estimated that by 2050, the proportion of UK citizens from ethnic minority communities will reach 20-30 per cent, yet only 9 per cent of UK engineers are from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds. 29.9 per cent of engineering graduates are from BME backgrounds, so at AFBE-UK we look to retain and increase the interest of under-represented groups into STEM and improve diversity and inclusion within the industry. We achieve this through a range of educational and mentoring programmes.
We are growing year on year and MEH [Making Engineering Hot, an engineering outreach programme which engages school children from the ages of 6 to 18 with role...