Fewer school students are studying advanced mathematics – which means fewer engineers down the line. A recent roundtable set out to raise awareness and to explore what potential policy changes could make a difference.
Students across the country are currently enjoying the autumn holidays before they return to school next week.
But with fewer of them enrolled in advanced mathematics subjects than in previous years, engineering leaders are worried that Australia’s future workforce is at risk.
Participation rates in both intermediate and higher mathematics are slowly but steadily falling, according to the most recent data analysed by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI).
In 2020, the proportion of students taking higher mathematics fell below 10 per cent for the first time since AMSI began recording national participation rates.
The measure reached a new low of 8.4 per cent in 2023. See the graph below.
“In 2023, only around 8 per cent of Year 12 students studied advanced mathematics,” Chief Engineer Katherine Richards AM HonFIEAust CPEng EngExec said. “Without a significant increase in students pursuing maths, we cannot grow the next generation of engineers.
“This has dire consequences for the nation with engineering underpinning around 60 per cent of our nation’s [gross domestic product].”
Meanwhile, AMSI data also reveals that the overall female participation rate in higher mathematics declined to 5.9 per cent in 2023, compared with 11 per cent for male students.
At the Year 12 level, the gap between male and female participation hasn’t significantly reduced over the past 15 years. See the graph below.
Policy action
A recent breakfast roundtable convened by The Parliamentary Friends of Engineering gathered engineering leaders and parliamentarians to highlight the critical role engineering plays in supporting Australia’s national security and economic prosperity.
The event aimed to inform future policy settings that could strengthen the country’s engineering capability, with a key focus on promoting participation in mathematics – a topic framed as a sovereign capability issue.
Richards said the decline in students undertaking advanced maths at school is already impacting the nation’s future skilled workforce needs.
“[The decline raises] serious concerns about the long-term supply of engineering graduates needed to support infrastructure delivery, technological innovation and national productivity,” Richards said. “At the same time … regional and remote students are behind when compared with their city peers.
“This roundtable presented an opportunity to explore the factors behind these worrying trends and unite parliamentarians in pushing for coordinated action to address the issue.”
Overall, the roundtable session was geared towards discussing potential policy actions including:
- Direct assistance for maths teachers
- Reviewing and modernising the national maths curriculum
- Targets for students to stick with maths in higher education – particularly girls
- Prioritising funding of diverse pathways into STEM
Feature image caption (L-R): Ryan Winn, CEO of Science & Technology Australia; Engineers Australia CEO Romilly Madew AO FTSE HonFIEAust EngExec; the Hon Dr Andrew Charlton, Cabinet Secretary, Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy and Co-Chair of Parliamentary Friends of Engineering; Garth Hamilton, Co-Chair of Parliamentary Friends of Engineering, and Shadow Assistant Minister for Energy Security and Affordability; Kylie Walker, CEO, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering; Jonathan Cartledge, CEO of Consult Australia; Professor Tim Finnigan, President, Australian Council of Engineering Deans.
