Page 753 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 21 March 2017
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institutes. We represent only about 25 per cent of the STEM workforce. The pay gap is there too—a 23.5 per cent difference between men and women in 2016 in professional, scientific and technical services. That is huge—a 23.5 per cent difference.
We are living in the information age, and STEM will continue to be a major source of jobs and economic growth. It follows, then, that this current underrepresentation of women in STEM careers is a tragedy now and into the future. How many treatments and cures have gone undiscovered? How many renewable energy innovations have lain dormant? How many engineering issues persist today because the woman with the answer was told that girls are no good at maths? Fifty50 is helping to change these figures by working in schools and universities, where the seeds of future careers are planted.
Too often we hear of young women shying away from STEM subjects because they think they are not naturally strong at maths or question their ability to conceptualise solutions to engineering problems. We know that these concerns are unfounded. Research has shown that gender makes no inherent difference to our ability to perform in maths or science.
What does make a difference is our culture and our social norms. Training our girls from a young age to believe that maths just “is not their thing” means we raise young women who lack the drive, motivation or self-belief to practise and master these subjects. If we expect girls to become engineers, mathematicians and scientists, then they will become them and they will excel. And Francesca is proof of that.
Another key element to encourage women into STEM careers is the availability of women role models and mentors for girls and young women to look up to. The Bureau of Meteorology recently reported that, when girls aged between nine and 11 were asked to draw a picture of a scientist, two out of three girls drew a male scientist. You cannot be what you cannot see and, whether it is explicit or implicit, women in STEM careers send a clear message to girls and young women: “I did it; so you can too.”
Francesca is an excellent role model. She and her colleagues at fifty50 are working hard to mentor young women in STEM and play a critical role in changing ideas of what a scientist looks like. It is critical that women are a strong voice in STEM industries not only from an equality perspective but also to give us the best chance of finding answers to the big issues we are facing: climate change, disease and sustainable development, to name just a few.
Women like Francesca are truly admirable for the steps they are taking to change the way we view women in STEM. Her career path and her work in fifty50 send a strong message to our younger women that you can, and you should, pursue STEM careers if that is where your interests lie. I thank Francesca for her work and congratulate her on the great achievement of being ACT Young Woman of the Year 2017.
International Women’s Day highlighted the amazing work of women across Canberra as we strive for equality. Francesca’s work breaks down stereotypes to show us
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