You can't start early enough by showing what engineering looks like in the real world, rather than on paper in your physics or maths textbook. I remember how uninteresting I used to find logarithms at school, hastily explained via rigid theory without any link to the real world. Those same logarithms at Thales now make sure we can distinguish between the sound of a bird and a drone in a radar. Or they help healthcare look at how something like the corona pandemic developed.
As a high-tech sector, we can and should do more to give technical studies and professions a better stage. After all, as tech companies, we are our best ambassadors. From Thales, we therefore also invest heavily in our ties with knowledge institutes; think about graduation assignments, guest lectures, guided tours, workshops and even tailor-made escaperooms.
Together with knowledge institutes, we look at how we can best help. Schools are saying goodbye to engineering courses, for instance, because they are expensive. For me, that means an extra big responsibility lies with the business community, for example to share equipment.
Another big challenge is and remains the intake of girls. We constantly think about that and put many actions in place, but the intake lags behind the targets. At VWO, more girls than boys choose technical profiles, while at TU, less than 10 per cent of students are women. There is still insufficient success in changing this. Here, talent remains on the shelf. Are we giving girls the same opportunities as boys? And are we adequately showing them why engineering offers fantastic career opportunities? As an industry, we need to invest more and more efficiently in the youngest generations, just as we already do in our own people.
Other press releases or expert quotes from this organisation:
'Citizens must have more control over their digital identity'
'Engineering education must soon become free'
'Navy protects critical infrastructure in North Sea'
'New AI law is result of Big Tech's 'self-fulfilling prophecy''
'Ships must be able to defend themselves against a wide range of threats'
'Punishing companies mercilessly after cyber attack is unnecessary'
