Inspiring the Next Generation of Problem-Solvers

A new report, ‘Advancing STEM Careers Provision in England: Key Lessons and Opportunities’, warns that time pressures, patchy funding, and a lack of strategic oversight are leaving too many young people without clear pathways into vital STEM careers. At a time when the UK is facing growing skills shortages, this is more than a missed opportunity, it risks holding back the next generation of innovators.

The challenge is real. Government figures show that around 9.4 million people now work in STEM roles, underlining the sector’s vital importance to the economy. Yet nearly half of engineering and technology employers struggle to fill vacancies, with skills shortages costing the UK an estimated £1.5 billion each year. The latest analysis from Skills England, with its focus on future workforce needs, provides vital insight into where action is most urgently required.

Plugging the Skills Gap

Skills England’s Assessment of Priority Skills shows the huge demand for training and skills development across ten industrial sectors by 2030, forecasting that demand for workers in priority occupations will expand significantly, outpacing growth in other sectors. Among the areas expected to see the biggest increases are digital technology and engineering. For STEM, it signals that the UK will need far more people with the skills to innovate in fields such as data, AI, and advanced engineering if it is to meet the challenges of the next decade.

This is not just a UK issue. Globally, STEM-proficient workers are in short supply. The World Economic Forum[iv] reports that in Europe, close to half of businesses are struggling to recruit people with the STEM skills they need. In the US, 45% of STEM employees with a PhD were born overseas. Even in Asia, where many governments invest heavily in education, countries like Japan have seen STEM graduate numbers flatline in recent years.

Countries are experimenting with ways to bridge these gaps. In Singapore, major investment has gone into the SkillsFuture initiative, which offers citizens lifelong learning credits to retrain in high-demand fields. Germany’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) system continues to be hailed as a model for aligning education with labour market needs.

While in Canada, partnerships between industry, and university and colleges are providing direct experience in emerging technologies to better prepare graduates for work[vii]. These examples show what can be achieved when governments, educators, and employers collaborate strategically.

Meeting demand for data, AI, and analytics

In the UK, demand is growing not just for traditional engineering and science roles but also for skills in data, AI, and analytics, vital across many industries including healthcare, transport, energy, and climate solutions.

Analysis from the Office for Students shows more than 7,600 students enrolled in AI and data science postgraduate conversion courses between 2020 and 2023, exceeding government targets and beginning to plug national skills gaps. But unless we strengthen the careers system and inspire more young people into STEM from an earlier stage, this momentum could falter.

The good news is that for those pursuing STEM, the rewards are significant. STEM graduates enjoy strong career prospects, earning on average nearly 20% more than non-STEM graduates. In the UK, the average salary for STEM graduate jobs is £30,973, compared to a £26,023 for university graduates. Roles in areas such as data science are especially attractive, with average salaries now exceeding £67,000, and experienced professionals earning over £90,000.

Applying STEM to real-world problems

Operational research (OR) connects STEM skills with real-world problems. Combining advanced mathematical techniques such as modelling, optimisation, and simulation with creative problem-solving and systems thinking, OR equips individuals to tackle complex societal and business challenges. With technological advances and urgent global issues like climate change demanding innovative solutions, the need for OR and data science professionals has never been greater.

Initiatives such as our recently launched community, Data Science Connects, provide a glimpse of how this can work in practice, offering students, graduates, and professionals opportunities to develop skills, build networks, and see how data and OR can be applied in sectors from healthcare to transport, energy and logistics. By offering skills training, networking, and mentoring to support professional growth and connect people applying data in real-world situations, we can start to address STEM skills gaps and build a future ready workforce.

The future talent pipeline

Operational research demonstrates how STEM skills can be applied to tackle challenges, opening up exciting and diverse opportunities. Careers in cybersecurity operations, addressing environmental sustainability challenges, risk management roles in finance, energy, and logistics, and helping to develop smart cities are just a few of the areas open to OR professionals.

By highlighting the variety of roles where OR and data skills are used, we hope to inspire students to see themselves as the problem-solvers of the future, ready to innovate and contribute to a workforce capable of meeting the UK’s evolving social and economic needs.

The OR Society recommends students considering a career in OR study STEM subjects at A level. Beyond this, degrees in OR, Mathematics, Computing and data science, or business analytics are ideal, though other numerate degrees are also highly valued.

Ultimately, the goal is to ensure young people leave education not only with knowledge, but with the confidence and experience to apply it to the challenges facing society now and in the future.

By Dr Colette Fletcher, Executive Director at the OR Society