•The British Petroleum (BP) and Oxford Strategic Consulting study consisted of 20-30 fixed choice and open-ended questions covering a range of areas including skills development, motivations, career aspirations, barriers to employment, role models and perceptions of a career in engineering in the oil and gas industry.

•Almost 200 respondents were interviewed between September and October 2013.

Key Findings of the BP study about young Emiratis

1. Around 85 per cent of high-school pupils planned to go to university after finishing high school, with about 34 per cent planning to study engineering (including computer engineering). Subsequently, the most popular subjects are IT and Computing and Business.

2. Students, who were not studying engineering, were asked why the subject did not appeal to them. The main reason for not studying engineering by high-school pupils and university students was preference for another subject (47 per cent and 46 per cent)

3. Students also mentioned dislike of mathematical or scientific subjects (17 per cent and 24 per cent) and the demanding nature of engineering as a subject (9 per cent and 24 per cent). A minority also mentioned lack of engineering jobs (2 per cent and 4 per cent). In the detailed interviews, several students mentioned that engineering in oil and gas was a ‘dirty’ job, meant staying away from for months in the desert or at sea and was ‘not cool’.

4. Only around 1 out of 10 high school (10 per cent) and university students (8 per cent) were somewhat or very interested in the oil and gas industry. Over 30 per cent of all students were unsure whether a career in oil and gas was for them — a reflection of lack of knowledge perhaps.

5. Males (13 per cent) were more than twice as likely as females (6 per cent) to be interested in a career in the oil and gas industry.

6. The study also revealed that Emirati students considered the most important skills that they needed to develop before entering the workforce was the sense of responsibility required for work. Detailed interviews suggested this was because they were concerned that work-life was very different to student life, but they had not had sufficient preparation - not least in the obligations and duties of the workplace.

7. Communication, management and team-working skills were also quite accurately seen as important.

8. Whilst employers and young Emiratis both agree that money is an important motivator, employers significantly overstate its significance (at 63 per cent) compared with Emiratis’ actual top motivating factor of ‘helping the country’, and the closely related ‘contributing to society’, which have a combined score of 74 per cent.