STEM Equity Monitor shows increasing gender parity

The number of students enrolling in STEM subjects in their final year of school has almost reached gender parity, according to the federal government’s 2023 STEM Equity Monitor.

From 2020 to 2021, Year 12 STEM subject enrolments increased by almost 3000 students, with more than half of these being girls. Girls make up a large proportion of students enrolled in the biological and earth sciences but remain underrepresented in subjects such as IT, physics and engineering.

The data highlights an opportunity to engage students in STEM much earlier, through programs like Future You — an educational program developed and led by the federal government’s Women in STEM Ambassador, Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith.

Harvey-Smith has welcomed the increase in enrolments and what it means for Australia’s future.

“There is a tremendous opportunity for every child in Australia to contribute to tackling global challenges like climate change, and it is people with STEM skills who will create the technologies that take us there,” she said.

“We need to ready young people for the jobs of tomorrow, where it’s predicted that half of workers will need to know how to work with digital systems — a critical skill embedded in STEM studies.

“Australia imports more than 50% of our engineers from overseas because young people are not choosing engineering pathways. Research tells us that this is because they don’t understand what an engineer does, and they aren’t aware of all the different specialities within STEM.”

The Future You program is working to increase participation in STEM subjects and careers by eliminating stereotypes about the type of people who work in STEM and increasing awareness about the various STEM careers amongst children aged 8 to 12, their parents and educators.

“It’s not just girls who feel that STEM may not be for them. Damaging stereotypes, negative perceptions and other obstacles are holding many children back from following a career pathway in STEM, but programs like Future You can support greater understanding of relevant STEM pathways for all,” said Hilary Schubert-Jones, Program Manager for Future You.

The STEM Equity Monitor collects and standardises data from a range of sources and puts them in a single report on the current state of STEM gender equity in Australia. The 2023 report provides insights into whether efforts to progress equity in STEM are working and where future efforts are best focused.

Image credit: iStock.com/Andrey Suslov