New chief scientist Cathy Foley to push more girls into science, technology, engineering and maths

Australia’s new chief scientist Cathy Foley is finished with being the only woman in the laboratory and she is on a mission to get more young girls into science and maths.

Australia’s next chief scientist, physicist Cathy Foley, wants more girls to study STEM subjects at schools and colleges. Picture: Gary Ramage

Australia’s next chief scientist, Cathy Foley, is fed up with being the only woman in the laboratory and is on a mission to get more young girls into science and maths.

Dr Foley, a renowned physicist, will take the nation’s top science post next month after nearly 40 years at the CSIRO, and Scott Morrison has said she will play a key role in the science-led post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

A coronavirus vaccine and combating climate change are at the top of Dr Foley’s agenda when she replaces Alan Finkel — who is retiring after four years — but she also wants to convince more girls and young women that a career in science is a fruitful one.

“It’s something I have striven for my entire career but I think I’ve been pretty unsuccessful,” she told The Australian. “I attended a ­conference recently on superconducting and only 10 per cent of ­attendees were women.

“We have more and more women taking up science and maths in university but they are not sticking with it and we need to ask why. What is it about science that women don’t gravitate towards? It is important they have role models and mentors in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). I am very passionate about addressing it, and I know the Science Minister (former engineer Karen Andrews) is too.”

Dr Foley specialises in using electric superconductors to detect magnetic fields and valuable deposits of minerals, and has led the CSIRO’s team of scientists through the pandemic.

At school, she struggled with reading and writing and was considered “slow” by her teachers ­before she discovered the world of physics at high school. In a dazzling career she has won several major science prizes, including the Clunies Ross Medal and the International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Award.

When she was unveiled as Dr Finkel’s successor in Canberra on Monday, she started her push to get more young girls into STEM careers in earnest. Unexpectedly, at a press conference, she presented the Prime Minister with two science kits for his young daughters.

“We’ve got some gifts for them, to actually hope that they will start off a journey to become CSIRO scientists in the future,” she told a surprised Mr Morrison.