Strong Connections to Retain Engineering Talent
Strong Connections to Retain Engineering Talent
On 19 November 2025, the Netherlands Academy of Engineering will hold its annual Innovation Conference at the Prodentfabriek in Amersfoort. This event brings together leaders, researchers, and policymakers from academia, industry, and government around the theme of retaining engineering talent.
How can we reduce dropout rates from technical education and professions?
The Netherlands urgently needs all the technical brainpower and systems engineers it can get to address the major societal transitions ahead. Organisations such as Platform Talent voor Techniek, the 4TU Federation, and VHTO invest heavily in inspiring young people to choose a career in engineering. Yet only 19% of Dutch students opt for a degree in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), compared to the European average of 30%. In Germany the figure is 40%, and in Japan even 43% (figures from Holland High Tech).
There is far less focus on attrition within the sector, even though there are clear opportunities here. The Netherlands lacks a nationwide, coordinated approach to ensuring that engineering students and practising engineers—particularly women—actually stay in the field.
Keynote
- Shini Somara, Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE, United Kingdom) and presenter of the highly successful YouTube series Crash Course Engineering
Inspiration talks
- Joost Frenken – Chair of the National Outreach Council (NOO) and Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen
- Sahar Yadegari – director VHTO – Expert Centre Gender Diversity in STEM
- Vinod Subramaniam – President of the Executive Board, University of Twente
Work shops
- Increasing the proportion of female engineers
- Retaining engineering talent
- Systems solution for boosting engineering talent in the Netherlands
Chair of the Day
Eveline van Rijswijk
A systems-oriented national approach
With this Innovation Conference, the NAE is taking the first step towards a systems-oriented solution. We will focus on the issue of engineering talent attrition with questions such as: What are the reasons students or employees leave the technical sector? What are the most impactful accelerators for retaining engineering talent, with specific attention to female engineers? And what can the various actors in the field do together to significantly reduce dropout rates?
The conference marks the start of a multi-year NAE action programme aimed at structurally increasing the number of professionals in the engineering sector.