Andy,

I think your points 1 and 2 are actually linked. The reason there is a lack of interest in that age group is probably because of the lack of understanding of the wider professional role amongst early career engineers.

Another point worth considering is how information are engineering students (university, college, etc.) given about professional registration, never mind the sixth form students choosing their career. I have to admit that I was blissfully unaware of CEng registration until I started on a graduate scheme and others on the scheme were talking about their intention to gain CEng and then leave (though admittedly many who said that were still working alongside me in the same company quarter of a century later....). I was by that time pushing 30 (having had a different route to a degree but having come through an industry where registration was not common). It still took my manager a while to persuade me to submit my application as I wanted to be sure I had enough experience to be confident I would be successful - in retrospect he was probably right that I could have applied several years before I did.

The IMechE system (MPDS - Mentored Professional Development Scheme) has some advantages over the IET approach as it requires candidates to self assess and complete quarterly reports, but in other respects I find it too restrictive as I tend to tell candidates that they should be reporting what they are doing but the frequency of reporting needs to align with what they are learning - a scheme where they are spending a few weeks in each of six different departments probably needs much more frequent reporting than a year long stint in one department, but the MPDS model treats both the same. At work we use the IMechE approach, partly because the Mechanical Engineers make up the largest group but probably mainly because the IMechE provide Mentor training for free.

I agree about promoting mentoring/PRA services but it needs to be done from two sides - promote the availability and advantages of using the services but also encourage newly registered engineers to volunteer for these roles so that the increased uptake can be accommodated.

Alasdair

Andy,

I think your points 1 and 2 are actually linked. The reason there is a lack of interest in that age group is probably because of the lack of understanding of the wider professional role amongst early career engineers.

Another point worth considering is how information are engineering students (university, college, etc.) given about professional registration, never mind the sixth form students choosing their career. I have to admit that I was blissfully unaware of CEng registration until I started on a graduate scheme and others on the scheme were talking about their intention to gain CEng and then leave (though admittedly many who said that were still working alongside me in the same company quarter of a century later....). I was by that time pushing 30 (having had a different route to a degree but having come through an industry where registration was not common). It still took my manager a while to persuade me to submit my application as I wanted to be sure I had enough experience to be confident I would be successful - in retrospect he was probably right that I could have applied several years before I did.

The IMechE system (MPDS - Mentored Professional Development Scheme) has some advantages over the IET approach as it requires candidates to self assess and complete quarterly reports, but in other respects I find it too restrictive as I tend to tell candidates that they should be reporting what they are doing but the frequency of reporting needs to align with what they are learning - a scheme where they are spending a few weeks in each of six different departments probably needs much more frequent reporting than a year long stint in one department, but the MPDS model treats both the same. At work we use the IMechE approach, partly because the Mechanical Engineers make up the largest group but probably mainly because the IMechE provide Mentor training for free.

I agree about promoting mentoring/PRA services but it needs to be done from two sides - promote the availability and advantages of using the services but also encourage newly registered engineers to volunteer for these roles so that the increased uptake can be accommodated.

Alasdair