Are Australian Schools Failing Girls In STEM?

Mastercard, as part of its ongoing commitment to support girls studying STEM in Australia and raise awareness around women in sciences and technology, has just released the findings from its annual report into STEM research.

The study, which surveyed over 300 12-19 year-old Australian teens and 106 female STEM graduates, has revealed that more needs to be done to encourage the next generation of girls to pursue jobs of the future.

 According to the study, for the second year running, Australia has the lowest percentage of girls studying STEM in the APAC region. Furthermore, more than half (52%) of Australian girls aged between 12-14 want to pursue a career in STEM.

Almost one in four girls aged 15-19 did not end up with a STEM job as there were no openings despite 1 in 5 STEM graduates finding their job search to be easy, with majority landing their first job within the first six months.

Other findings included:

• The number one career for STEM graduates is within the healthcare and medical sector (45%), followed by computer and information technology (24%).
• Parents (57%), teachers/counsellors (8%) andschool environment (14%) ranked as the most important influence the career path of young girls.
• Almost a quarter believe that featuring successful STEM role models is a way of encouraging girls to pursue STEM subjects.
• 70% of Australian girls aged between 15-19 believe STEM jobs are suitable for women.
• Australian girls prefer creative pursuits with actresses, artists and teachers being the most popular dream career paths among girls aged 12-14.
• Reasons for not studying STEM include perceptions of male dominance (52%), lack of interest (48%) and lack of encouragement from society (39%).
• 70% of Australian girls believe parents are the most influential factor in studying STEM.
• More than half of Australian girls believe parents are the most influential factor in their career paths.
• Almost a quarter believe that featuring successful STEM role models is a way of encouraging girls to pursue STEM subjects.

First Jobbers 

• 1 in 5 STEM graduates found their job search to be easy.
• Reasons for majoring in STEM include passion (42%), the challenge (42%) and excelling in the subject (37%).
• More than half of those surveyed believed that women are less likely than men to work in STEM, one of the reasons being that STEM jobs tend to be male dominated.
• Almost half of graduates believe that universities can better prepare women for STEM careers by creating more networking opportunities and offering STEM internships.

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Education Technology Solutions has been created to inspire and encourage the use of technology in education. Through its content, Education Technology Solutions seeks to showcase cutting edge products and practices with a view to expanding the boundaries and raising the standards of education curricula. It introduces teachers and IT staff to the latest products, services and developments in education technology with a view to providing practical how-to guidance designed to facilitate the integration of those products and services into the school environment in the most productive and beneficial manner possible.

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