Engineers Australia report finds less students do math, science subjects

LESS high school students are studying science and maths and Australia imports too many skilled migrants to fill the void, a new report has warned.

The number of high school students studying science and maths subjects is in free fall, a new report has warned. Picture: iStock

THE number of high school students studying science and maths subjects is in free fall and Australia is importing too many skilled migrants to fill the void, a new report has warned.

Unless the country stops the decline in students taking up science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects “we will simply be left behind”.

State and federal governments are being called on to act on the looming crisis, with less than half of the country’s engineers now Australian-born.

The Engineers Australia report, to be released on Thursday, warns the over-reliance on skilled migration “comes with serious risks” as migrant selection is geared to entry-level qualifications and not their competency in the job.

Australian ‘will simply be left behind’ if high school students don’t take up more science and math subjects. Picture: Stock image.

The report also reveals:

— BETWEEN 2001 and 2015, high school students studying advanced maths has fallen from 15.9 per cent to 6.2 per cent and physics from 25.1 per cent to 5.9 per cent ;

— THERE is a particular concern with female participation in STEM subjects, with only 6 per cent of girls studying physics in year 12; and

— AT LEAST 57 per cent of engineers in Australia are born overseas, compared with 40 per cent in other professions.

Engineers Australia jobs spokesman Chris Stolz said the figures were a wake-up call, with the skills required in the “new economy” largely based on STEM subjects.

“Australia faces enormous challenges as it transitions from a resources based economy to one that is diverse, innovative and technologically based,” Mr Stolz said.

“Alarmingly, our research shows less and less young people are studying the advanced science and maths subjects needed for these types of jobs — engineering is a case in point.

“Currently we have no choice — filling engineering jobs here is excessively dependent on skilled migration. This ranks in stark contrast to other professions.”

Along with focusing on getting more children to study STEM subjects, the report recommends changing migration policies to put a greater emphasis on whether migrants have the skills for the in-demand jobs.

Mr Stolz said the decline in the study of STEM subjects was particularly worrying when Australia’s South-East Asian neighbours were experiencing an uptake in the study of those subjects.

“The new economy is going to be built around science and technology and if we don’t do anything in Australia we are going to be left behind, because numbers are falling off the cliff,” he said.

@Gallo_Ways