Industry minister Ed Husic says the independent review of federally funded programs designed to encourage women into science and technology professions will make for “uncomfortable” reading when it is released later this year.
As new research reveals the representation of women in the STEM workforce remains stubbornly low at 15 per cent, Mr Husic said the review has identified significant structural barriers to entry for women and underrepresented groups.
“This is going to be an uncomfortable report because we can put extra money into grant programs, Women in STEM, and unrepresented groups, but if we don’t tackle the structural issues underneath, we’re going nowhere fast,” he told the Tech Council’s National Tech Summit in Brisbane.
Announced in September last year, the Pathway to Diversity in STEM Review is assessing the government’s existing suite of Women in STEM programs to understand whether they are contributing to systemic and cultural change.
It is being led by being led by Cicada Innovations chief executive Sally-Ann Williams, with Indigital CEO and founder Mikaela Jade, University of Western Australia Associate Professor Parwinder Kaur, and Industry department acting deputy secretary Narelle Luchetti also on the panel.
Mr Husic said the review, which will be released in the coming months, will discuss the “need for us to be accountable, to lead, [and] to deal with those structural issues”, not “just talk about the niceties”.
“We’re going to have to confront why women and underrepresented groups might come in but might not stay in STEM related careers. We’ve got to change it, so that’s some of the stuff we’re looking to do,” he said.
“And to ensure the programs, the other thing we’re going to do is make sure we get the best practice so that anyone in government or industry that is looking at putting up these programs actually has that best practice ways in which to design and shape up those programs.”
“Because we do need to call up more people. There is no point in us saying we want to have 1.2 million people in these roles by 2030, but then say that if you’re a women, or if you’re from an underrepresented group, you don’t have a place at the table.”
Mr Husic’s comments came ahead of the release of the 2023 STEM Equity Monitor on Friday which he said, “shows some good headway being made”, particularly that 51 per cent of parents saying COVID-19 made them more likely to encourage their child to study or work in technology.
But the report also shows women represent only 15 per cent of the people working in STEM-qualified occupations in 2022, up from 10 per cent in 2002, compared with around 50 per cent of workers in non-STEM occupations.
“The proportion of women in STEM-qualified careers has gone from 11 per cent to 15 per cent of the workers. At this rate, it will take nearly a century to reach parity. Not good enough. We’ve got to do better,” Mr Husic said.
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