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Engineering a future
Getting enough students into STEM subjects to keep Australia competitive will require starting early and focusing on girls.
Linda Kristjanson interviewed by Amie Larter
With the federal government recently spruiking the need for higher numbers of STEM graduates in order to maximise the nation’ s prosperity, Swinburne University of Technology vice-chancellor Linda Kristjanson sat down with Campus Review to discuss the role universities need to play.
Kristjanson, whose tenure at Swinburne’ s helm was recently extended, discussed what Australia can learn from international efforts in this area, as well as the need to raise the profile of those leading the way in Australia’ s STEM professions.
CR: Why do you believe there’ s been a low participation rate in STEM, and what role do universities have to play in turning participation rates around?
LK: It’ s a complex issue and it requires a co-ordinated response from universities, from schools, from industry, from government, and from the wider community. Because we do need to tackle this in a holistic and long-term way. We’ ve learned from other countries that if there’ s a comprehensive national policy and focused strategies to encourage students to study and for universities to participate in fostering STEM education, then you’ ll see more students choosing that pathway and more careers that support that work.
We have been slow to do that in Australia. Other countries have moved on this probably about a decade ago. We have seen the advances that have been made in other countries that have a deliberate, national, co-ordinated strategy.
For example, in the US, in about 2011, President Obama announced the goal of preparing 100,000 excellent STEM teachers over the next decade. That kind of strategy gets attention and starts to change people’ s thinking. I think we have been falling behind because we have not been able to invest in the same quality of teacher education.
Our teachers do a great job, but they have probably not been trained well enough in the STEM subjects – for primary as well as secondary school. And I think we have probably been complacent in thinking about the quality of education they need, even in primary school, to be comfortable teaching these STEM subjects. Because they know we need to motivate children at a young age.
We have some weaknesses when it comes to parental advice; the parents, they knock themselves. It becomes a long-term effect, where they may not have felt comfortable with their own STEM education, and therefore don’ t reinforce that with their children. I think [ there has been ] a lack of role models, and some stereotypical views about what scientists look like and who they are, and that has led to a gender bias. So we see girls selfselecting away from those subjects. Overall, we haven’ t [ highlighted professional the role models very well, other than references to‘ geeks’ … Noble, exciting role models [ are out there ].
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