FUTURE CONFERENCE STEM (or STEAM) What the problem is Why it - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

WELCOME TO RDA HUNTER’S LEVERAGING A STEM WORKFORCE FOR THE FUTURE CONFERENCE

STEM (or STEAM)  What the problem is  Why it happened  How we might address it

The STEM ‘crisis’ is really a bundle of issues:  Slippping performance by 15 year olds on PISA  Relatively low numbers of graduates in ‘hard’ science disciplines  < 20% of all engineering graduates being female  Australia’s poor productivity growth since early 2000s. Are we heading for economic problems?

PISA 2012 results for Australia  Performance on 15 year olds on OECD PISA (mathematical, scientific & reading literacy)  Overall performance good  In Maths, Australia outperformed by 16 countries & for Science we were outperformed by 7 countries  In Maths Australia declined significantly since early 2000s; held in Science.

Productivity growth in Australia - a grim story in recent years Multifactor Productivity 105.00 100.00 95.00 Index 90.00 85.00 80.00 75.00 Year Source: ABS 5260.0.55.002 Experimental Estimates of Industry Multifactor Productivity, Australia: Detailed Productivity, 2013

Innovation is generally seen as necessary to productivity growth Innovation is … 1) ‘Creative destruction’ – Schumpeter 2) ‘Innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), process, new marketing method or a new organisational method in business practices, workplace organisation or external relations.’ 1 1. Source: OECD (2005) Oslo Manual: Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Innovation Data, 3rd edition, OECD and European Commission.

Global Innovation Index Global Competitiveness (GII – 141 economies) Index (GCI – 140 countries) Country 2015 2014 2013 Country 2015/16 2014/15 2013/14 2012/13 Switzerland 1 1 1 Switzerland 1 1 1 1 UK 2 2 3 Singapore 2 2 2 2 Sweden 3 3 2 USA 3 3 5 7 Netherlands 4 5 4 Germany 4 5 4 6 USA 5 6 5 Netherlands 5 8 8 5 Finland 6 4 6 Japan 6 Singapore 7 7 8 Hong Kong (China) 7 7 7 9 Ireland 8 11 10 Finland 8 4 3 3 Luxembourg 9 9 12 Sweden 9 10 6 4 Denmark 10 8 9 UK 10 9 10 8 Canada 16 12 11 Canada 13 15 14 14 Australia 17 17 19 Australia 21 22 21 20 China 29 29 35 China 28 28 29 29

Comparing Australia with other OECD countries (GII index) A selection of the top 10 in GII Other OECD BRIC Country Metric Switzd UK Sweden Nthrlnds USA Finland Canada Australia China GII 2015 (out of 141) 1 ● 2 ● 3 ● 4 ● 5 6 16 17 29 Innovation Input Sub-Index (ISI), 2 ● 6 ● 3 ● 7 11 5 9 10 41 has 5 pillars Innovation Output Sub-Index 1 ● 5 ● 4 ● 3 ● 9 10 22 24 21 (OSI), has 2 pillars Innovation Efficiency Ratio 2 ● 70 ○ 72 ○ 6 ● 18 16 8 33 41 Ratio of OSI/ISI Notes: 1. Coloured cells correspond to quintiles 11 – 20 21 – 30 31 – 40 41 – 143 Top 10 from index 2. ● indicates a relative strength; ○ a relative weakness;

Comparing Australia with other OECD countries (GCI index) Country A selection of the top 10 in GCI Other OECD BRIC Switzd UK Sweden Nthrlnds USA Finland Canada Australia China† Metric GCI 2015 – 2016 1 10 9 5 3 8 13 21 28 (out of 140) 2 25 13 7 30 11 16 15 28 Basic requirements (20%) Efficiency enhancers (50%) 4 5 12 9 1 13 6 14 32 Innovation and 1 9 7 6 4 5 24 26 34 sophistication factors (30%) † Note: China’s sub -indices are weighted differently due to development stage. Basic requirements (40%), efficiency enhancers (50%) & Innovation and sophistication factors (10%) Note: Coloured cells correspond to quintiles 11 – 20 21 – 30 31 – 40 41 – 143 Top 10 from index

Major problem areas  Business sophistication  Technological innovation  Labour and goods market efficiency

What to do?  Worry less about innovation inputs  Focus more on encouraging a sophisticated & networked business system and keep focusing on technological breakthroughs & their uptake

More specifically within STEM Note the big ‘problem’ is … Maths  Not enjoyed, not seen as necessary  And it’s not just numeracy, though that’s important!  It’s having a good ‘feel’ for symbolic reasoning [vital for complex problem solving!]

Why?  Advanced Maths not compulsory [No. 1 reason, cf. developing nations] Not helped by  Once Maths is abandoned, choice is limited  Many teachers at all levels are underqualified, undertrained & unconfident to teach Maths & Science

How?  Rethink making Maths compulsory  Ensure Maths teachers are well trained, confident & encouraging.  2nd & 3 rd chances to re-enter Maths stream especially when starting Engineering degrees  Link Maths learning to related skills e.g. Languages  Use lots of changes to showcase STEM through extracurricular activities so kids can understand job options

STEM in the Hunter – some initiatives  HUNTER REGIONAL SCIENCE HUB  SCIENCE & ENGINEERING CHALLENGE  STEM ACTION SCHOOLS - Maitland Grossmann High School  ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA