‘Girls and the neuro­diverse must tackle STEM subjects’

Australia’s chief scientist has called for more girls and ‘neuro­diverse’ students to take maths and science subjects, saying our hi-tech industries cannot depend on migrants.

Chief scientist Cathy Foley. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Australia’s chief scientist has called for more girls and “neuro­diverse’’ students to take maths and science subjects, saying our hi-tech industries cannot depend on migrants.

Cathy Foley, a physicist who invented a sensor system to locate minerals deep underground, decried the “declining participation and performance’’ among students enrolled in the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths.

She said schoolgirls who excelled at maths and science often aspired to be a doctor or vet – but “too many” stopped working once they had children.

“We need to grow the domestic STEM-educated workforce,’’ Dr Foley told The ­Aus­tralian.

“Skilled migration and international collaboration are certainly part of the answer but they won’t get us where we need to be. Advanced countries are competing for the same pool of people with specialist skills.’’

Dr Foley called for more STEM enrolments among “neuro­diverse’’ people, who include those with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

She said world leaders were turning to science to solve climate change, food security and population pressures.

“We need fresh thinking, problem solving and a diversity of approaches,’’ she said.

“This means more women.

“It also means more people from different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds, and also neurodiverse people.’’

Dr Foley said STEM skills shortages were “especially acute for girls and women, who still do not participate in STEM learning in anywhere near the numbers overall of boys and men.

“This is a problem right through the senior school and university years,’’ she said.

“It’s really disappointing to see that when women do enter STEM careers, too many drop out after having children. This needs structural change.

“Where women are entering the STEM fields, it’s overwhelmingly in the caring professions such as in medical and veterinary science, as well as environmental science. That’s good but it’s not enough.’’

Dr Foley is concerned that women make up just 37 per cent of enrolments in university STEM courses, and 16 per cent of enrolments in vocational STEM courses, such as electrical apprentice­ships or information technology diplomas. She said she was “not convinced science and technology careers don’t appeal to women’’. “I think the issue is more structural than that,’’ she said.

“It’s more about the assumptions we make right through the education system, the ways we measure success, and the supports and career progression available to women once they get into the workforce. Those are the things we need to change.’’

High school enrolments in advanced maths subjects fell to an unprecedented low in 2020, the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute has found. Just 9.2 per cent of students studied higher maths – down from 11.6 per cent in 2008. Enrolments in intermediate level maths – necessary for many medical, science and technology degrees – plunged from 23.3 per cent in 2008 to 17.6 per cent in 2020.

The latest STEM Equity Monitor from the Department of Industry, Science and Resources reveals that girls lose confidence in STEM subjects in the senior high school years.