Executive summary (3/3)

4 Science and engineering workforce

 Is the UK producing enough scientists and engineers?

 Is the UK government investing enough in technical and vocational education?

 How does this compare with other countries?

 Although science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates in the UK accounted for 41% of total graduates – above countries such as France and Canada, and similar to the United States – the share of graduates in the STEM sub-discipline of engineering, manufacturing and construction represented only 9% of graduates, well below comparator countries such as Germany (26%) and Korea (21%).

 The UK had a relatively low share of researchers working in the business sector in 2020 (42%), below Korea (82%), Japan (75%), the United States (72%), France (63%) and Germany (60%).

 Although women account for 39% of total researchers, placing the UK in the top 10 of OECD countries, female graduates are under-represented in some STEM disciplines in the UK, particularly in engineering, manufacturing and construction.

5 Environmental Innovation

 How does the UK compare in environmental and energy technology research and development (R&D) investment?

 How is R&D expenditure translating into patenting performance?

 Is the UK capturing the economic potential of the transition towards environmental sustainability?

 Gross value added in the UK environmental goods and services sector (EGSS), as defined by the ONS, was estimated to be £45.2 billion in 2019 (up 5.4% from 2018). The sector’s employment is estimated at 394,900 full-time equivalent employees in 2019 (down 4.7% from 2018).

 The OECD estimates that at 6%, the UK had the sixth highest government budget allocation for R&D in environment and energy innovation among OECD countries in 2020. This is higher than that of the United States (3%), but lower than Japan (8%), Germany (8%), Korea (8%), and France (9%).

 The UK ranks seventh among OECD countries in patent applications for the group of technologies defined by the OECD as “environment-related technologies”.