STEM Demand vs STEM Supply: Reality, Rhetoric or Recruitment Challenge?

9th joint SEPnet and WRIPA workshop where we will be exploring the gap between physics students' applications and job offers.
About this Event

There is anecdotal evidence suggesting that some physics graduates are required to submit more than fifty job applications before securing employment, despite the frequently cited demand for highly skilled STEM graduates. If this evidence reflects experience of a significant proportion of students, it may indicate a disconnect between perceived employer demand and actual graduate employment outcomes.

This workshop seeks to explore whether this represents myth or reality by drawing on direct insights from employers actively involved in recruiting graduates. Through their perspectives, we aim to understand current market expectations, recruitment practices, and any gaps between graduate preparation and employer requirements.

By bringing together academic colleagues and employers, the discussion aims to move beyond assumption and towards a clearer, evidence-informed understanding of current STEM recruitment dynamics.

Agenda

🕑: 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Registration and light lunch
🕑: 12:35 PM - 01:00 PM
Chair's address - facts on the current state of STEM recruitment
🕑: 01:00 PM - 01:20 PM
How recruitment has changed and the introduction of AI has impacted students?
🕑: 01:20 PM - 02:00 PM
Round Table discussions & Feedback
🕑: 02:00 PM - 02:45 PM
What employers are actually looking for and the challenges they have
🕑: 02:45 PM - 03:30 PM
Round table discussion & Feedback - Coffee and Refreshments
🕑: 03:30 PM - 03:50 PM
Success stories and effective interventions
🕑: 03:50 PM - 04:30 PM
Discussion & Feedback
🕑: 04:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Wrap-up – Professor Sir William Wakeham