Call for contributions: educational pathways into engineering (Special Interest Group on Attractiveness of Engineering Education)

The increasing demand for engineers in Europe requires a concerted effort to make engineering education more attractive and accessible. To better understand how we can strategically inspire and support the next generation of engineers, the SEFI SIG on Attractiveness of Engineering Education is seeking contributors for our ongoing study on educational pathways.

What we are looking for:

We invite colleagues to contribute their expertise on the national or regional educational pathways in their area. Because education is sometimes organised on a regional level, capturing these specific nuances is incredibly valuable to our research.

We are looking to identify key educational routes, transition points, critical decisions, internal/external influences, and potential interventions that shape students’ journeys toward engineering.

Pathways we have already mapped

If you are from one of the regions below, we still want to hear from you! Reviewing and validating existing pathways requires limited effort and helps us ensure accuracy. We currently have mapping for:

• The UK
• Belgium (Flanders)
• Czechia
• Spain
• France
• Denmark

How to contribute

The process is designed to be simple and should only take about 30-60 minutes of your time. Please email Irene Josa (i.josa@ucl.ac.uk) to express your interest, and we will guide you through the next steps.

Our previous work

For more context on this initiative, you can read our recent publications on this topic:

• Wint, N., Craps, S., Deprez, H., Mottl, P. (2024). Exploring The Role Of National Education System On Pathways Into Engineering: A Comparative Study. In: Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Conference of SEFI, (Paper No. 223). Lausanne, Switzerland. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.14254780
• Bertel, K.B., Craps, S., Deprez, H., Guerne, M.G., Josa, I., Kittou, G., Kövesi, K., Kranjc Horvat, A., Mottl, P., Simarro, C. (2025). Attracting future engineers: students’ choices and core concepts in secondary education. In: Proceedings of the 53nd Annual Conference of SEFI, (Paper No. 153). Tampere, Finland. ISBN: 978-2-87352-029-8. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.17631722