Number Of Students Of Geosciences In UK Down 45% Since 2014; Hitting Both O&G And Climate Science
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Professor Underhill said the situation is of great concern, particularly to Scotland’s economy and its carbon-neutral climate goals. He explained: “Geology, geophysics and allied subjects are normally thought to be the pathway into a career in geology and quite a substantial subset of that would go into industry including oil and gas. “Geoscience plays into a much larger, very relevant area too in terms of low-carbon energy transition, and the challenge of meeting the very ambitious net zero emissions targets that are there.
“Unfortunately for some people, geology is seen as a sort of old-fashioned subject, and very closely associated with extractive or fossil fuel industries in terms of employment. That has definitely created a negative perception, as opposed to thinking about it in terms of understanding the landscape, the skill sets one needs to describe a subsurface, and then to use those skills to best effect for the energy transition plans and to help tackle climate change.”
Since 2014, the number of people studying geosciences in the UK has fallen by 45%, and those doing so at Scottish universities has also declined. The number of Scots studying the subject has also likely fallen, according to Underhill, due to the removal of Higher geology from the Scottish curriculum in 2016.
He explained: “Back in 2002 there were 90 students at school doing Higher geology. If we fast-forward to about 2013 there were 60, then 50 in 2014, 40 in 2015, and then Higher geology stopped in 2016. It’s not part of the national curriculum anymore here in Scotland. “There are the consequences of that, quite apart from the negative perception around some geosciences being linked to fossil fuels, extraction. The knock-on effect is that in 2013, we had 245 students come to do geoscience in Scotland. That declined to 160 in 2018.”
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https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18592528.thunberg-effect-blamed-students-turning-away-geology/
