Girls shunning maths ‘shut out of jobs’

Parents could hold the key to boosting girls’ meagre participation in maths and science at school.

Senior advanced maths students at Roseville College: Sophie Doherty, 16, Angela Dong, 16, Amy Psaltis, 17, Caitlin Baksa, 16, and Olivia Filipe, 16. Picture: Hollie Adams

Parents could hold the key to boosting girls’ meagre partici­pation in maths and science at school, amid concerns that more than a decade of policy intervent­ions and awareness campaigns have failed to yield results.

New figures on Year 12 mathematics participation, released by the Aust­ralian Mathematical Science­s Institute to coincide with Inter­national Women’s Day today, reveal­ that less than 7 per cent of girls studied advanced, or higher-level, maths in their final year of school in 2017.

That was down from 7.8 per cent the year before, continuing a 20-year downward trend. In comparison, 12 per cent of boys were enrolled in the subject.

The figures, while concerning, are of little surprise when taking into account the latest government survey on youth attitudes and awareness of science, tech­nol­ogy, engineering and maths subjects and careers, which reveal a male skew towards such subjects­.

Of the 2000 students aged 12 and older interviewed for the Departme­nt of Industry, Inno­vation and Science survey, 52 per cent of males claimed they were considering studying STEM subjects­ in the future, while only 40 per cent of females said likewise.

By Years 9 and 10, 70 per cent of males were undertaking at least one STEM-related elective subject­, compared with less than a third of female students.

AMSI director Tim Brown said the discrepancy was a “significant concern”, given that many jobs in growth industries, such as business analytics and data science, relied on advanced mathematics skills.

Professor Brown said girls were shutting themselves out of future opportunities by shunning maths.

“Mathematics is the doorway to a multitude of exciting pathways,” he said.

“Regret­tably, the prospects for Australia without increased participatio­n, particularly for girls, are not good when it comes to our ability as a country to compet­e in the world economy.”

Professor Brown said previous policy interventions and cam­paigns­ to boost girls’ STEM participation were “not working as well as hoped”. “It’s hard to shift community­ attitudes,” he said.

“There’s a lack of awareness among many parents of how important advanced mathematics is when it comes to being able to acce­ss these jobs of the future.”

The departmental survey also highlighted the crucial role of parents in encouraging girls to stick with maths and science in senior school, with more than half of res­pondent­s saying their parents were the biggest influence on their subject choices, compared with a quarter who singled out teachers.

Sydney’s Roseville College, which has bucked the trend in girls’ STEM participation, has taken a “deliberate and strategic approach” to encouraging senior girls into advanced-level maths and science, starting with enrichment and acceleration opportunities in the junior school, according to principal Deb Magill.

As a result, 72 per cent of Year 11 students and 62 per cent of Year 12 students this year are studying advanc­ed maths.

“This is a trend we have seen grow over the past six years — more and more of our girls want to be challenged by the more advance­d mathematics courses,” Ms Magill said.

“Learning works best for our students when there is a three-way partnership between the girls, their families and the school.”