Australia's STEM education challenges: discussion paper

This discussion paper is the first of three in a thought leadership series on the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and the STEM talent pipeline for Australia's future. The focus of this first discussion paper is on Australia's current STEM education challenges. It analyses Australia's current STEM education performance relating to quality, uptake, and the diversity of its cohort. It reviews the current approach of Australian governments to improve STEM education outcomes, and the range of related industry and education sector initiatives in place, and analyses trends for consideration in the second and third discussion papers. The primary aim of this paper is to start a conversation on how governments, industry and the education sector can work together to build a robust STEM talent pipeline. Consult Australia will discuss findings with stakeholders with the view to developing practical recommendations on improving STEM education outcomes, and to better understand how STEM education can align to skills demands of the future workforce - the focus areas of the second and third discussion paper.

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