EQUALISING PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN STEM:

INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDIES OF SUCCESSFUL

STRATEGIES
GLOBAL VOICES OECD AUSTRALIAN YOUTH DELEGATION
ANNA KOSMYNINA
MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY MERIT SCHOLARS PROGRAM
JUNE 2015

www.globalvoices.org.au

GLOBAL VOICES
Global Voices was established in February 2011 as a non-profit private company limited by guarantee through a grant
from the British Council. We are now funded through partnerships with Australias leading universities, the corporate
& philanthropic communities and Government. We are based in Melbourne, with five part-time team members all
aged 26 and under. Our board of directors is chaired by The Honourable Peter Lindsay, a former Parliamentary
Secretary for Defence.
Global Voices selects, funds, prepares and then coordinates delegations of Australias future leaders to a variety of
major international events. We also run a domestic events program designed to bring Australias future leaders faceto-face with key international decision makers over a small, intimate working meal.
Our vision is to see young Australian leaders having influence on the world stage.
Our mission is to provide opportunities for young Australians to engage with international policy both at home and
abroad.

ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION & DEVELOPMENT (OECD)

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development is an international organisation comprising 34 countries
which has the aim of improving the economic and social well-being of people around the world.
The OECDs Annual Forum brings together a large range of stakeholders to discuss the most pressing issues on the
international agenda. These stakeholders include high-level representatives from the private, public, and social sectors
as well as academia and representatives from the OECD itself.
In 2015, the OECD Forum entitled Investing in the Future, will explore elements of people, planet, prosperity and
investment.

ANNA KOSMYNINA
Anna Kosmynina, 22, is a Merit Scholar at Macquarie University and is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts and a
Bachelor of Science, majoring in Politics and International Relations, Philosophy and Biomolecular Sciences. She is an
active member of the Young Scientists of Australia (YSA), a member of Macquaries Global Leadership Program, a keen
debater who has competed at the World Universities Debating Championships, and was the recipient of a Rotary Youth
Leadership Award in 2014.

Abstract
Despite the advances that women have made in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), participation in
Australia remains predominantly male, with only 33% of tertiary STEM qualifications being awarded to women and
the qualified STEM workforce only comprising 28% women. Similar patterns of gendered participation are observed
internationally, however Australia is below the OECD average. Developing and implementing strategies to increase
womens participation in STEM education and workforces and engages educators, government and industry in its
solutions, and leads to increased gender equality and economic benefits. This paper explicitly contributes to the post2015 OECD outcomes of empowering women and enhancing the capacity to innovate to achieve integrated
sustainability.

Recommendations
1. School-based: use of technology to facilitate gender-sensitive learning and professional development; place
emphasis on inquiry-based learning and excursions and other engagement opportunities.
2. Mentoring and role models: implementation of mentoring programs over a variety of contexts to ensure
female STEM role models.
3. Financial incentives: scholarships and fellowships for female students, grant application funding and success
tied to female representation in project
4. Industry: highlight long-term incentives for businesses to aim for equality, raise awareness of disparity,
facilitate flexible work arrangements
5. Government: prioritise equalising womens participation in STEM, legislate, institute quotas and targets

Introduction
STEM fields are critical to maximising Australias competitiveness, innovation and creativity, which in turn benefit
Australias economy. The direct and flow-on contributions of STEM to Australias GDP is, at a conservative estimate,
$292 billion per year or 22% of GDP.1 STEM fields account for 760,000 of Australias jobs and the productivity of those
employees is double that of employees in other fields.2 Importantly, alignment in gender balance in the workforce
relative to the population is likely to lead to research which is better aligned to the needs of the population, and
diversity of participation increases the talent pool and therefore increases creativity and decreases bias.3 Additionally,
as the gender wage gap in the STEM workforce is smaller than the average, womens participation is also relevant to
improving pay equity.4 Increasing access to STEM fields therefore maximises Australias innovation and productivity in
these fields and strengthens a crucial component of the economy.
However, women are significantly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in
Australia. In 2011, 72% of those who were employed were male, compared to 28% females, among the over-15 years
old STEM-qualified population.5 Comparatively, women make up 55% of those employed Australians who are 15 years
or older and have tertiary qualifications.6 It is important to note that the gender disparity is an international trend. In
the United States, the proportion of women in STEM workforces has remained unchanged at 24% between 2000 and
2009.7 In the European Union, the proportion of female 25-34 year-old science-related tertiary graduates in
employment was 35% in OECD countries in 2010.8
There are many factors which lead to the current underrepresentation of women, despite there being little difference
between mens and womens scientific ability.9 The compounding influences of a lack of role-models, bias and
comparatively low expectations, and pressure to fulfil a feminine gender role edges women out of STEM during their
education and careers.10
The trend of gendered participation, that is, differences in participation between genders, can be traced back through
levels of education prior to reaching the workforce. Addressing disparity in pursuing STEM education may therefore
be beneficial to increasing womens participation in STEM in their later years. At a tertiary level, the growing number
of female students and graduates has led to an increase in the absolute numbers of female STEM graduates, however
men continue to outnumber women in STEM fields.11 In Australia in 2011, women were awarded 33% of tertiary STEM

Australian Academy of Science (2015), The Importance of Advanced Physical and Mathematical Sciences to the Australian
Economy, Canberra.
2
ibid.
3
Roberts, K. (2014) Engaging More Women and Girls in Mathematics and STEM fields: The International Evidence. Report for the
Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute: Melbourne.
4
Beede, D., Julian, T., Langdon, D., McKittrick, G., Khan, B., and Doms, M. (2011) Women in STEM: A gender gap to innovation.
Report from Economics and Statistics Administration, US Department of Commerce: Washington.
5
Healy, J., Mavromaras, K. and Zhu, R. (2013) The STEM Labour Market in Australia. Contributing consultant report to STEM:
Country Comparisons project. National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University, on behalf of ACOLA. Australian Office for
the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
6
ibid.
7
US Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration (2011) Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation,
Author: Washington D.C.
8
Eurostat (2014) Human Resources in Science and Technology as a Share of Labour Force Total.
9
Blickenstaff, J. C. (2006) Women and science careers: leaky pipeline or gender filter?, Gender and Education, vol. 14, no. 4,
pp.369-386.
10
Milgram, D. (2011) How to recruit women and girls to the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) classroom,
Technology and Engineering Teacher, pp. 4-8.
11
Education at a Glance 2013; Bell (2010) Women in science: The persistence of gender in Australia. Higher Education
Management and Policy. OECD Publishing. 22(1):1-19.

qualifications, this being only slightly higher than 32% in 2000, and below the OECD average.12 Engineering has the
lowest completion STEM rate at 21% women, while life sciences has the highest at 55%.13
Gendered participation is also present in secondary education. In New South Wales, 18.6% of boys continued STEM
subjects into their final year, compared to 13.6% of girls.14 There is greater divergence when the subjects are further
divided with girls preferring to choose biology or psychology and lower level maths instead of physics, chemistry or
higher maths.15 Although progress has been made over past decades, when surveyed at 15 years old, 46% of boys
indicated that they expected to be in a computer sciences or engineering career by age 30, compared to only 8% of
girls indicating the same.16 This divergence is slightly greater than the OECD average. While education is not the only
level at which women are underrepresented in STEM, it is the earliest that is detectable and is indicative of a trend
which continues throughout the STEM engagement lifecycle.
Developing and implementing strategies to increase womens participation in STEM education and workforces
therefore addresses an important problem in the Australian context and engages educators, government and industry
in its solutions. This paper considers the successful implementation of measures from across the world in an attempt
to recommend those suitable to Australias context.

School-Based Approaches
As the first formal educative experience, schools play an important role in shaping girls experiences of STEM subjects.
Experiences of STEM subjects in middle school shapes their selection in upper school, leading to tertiary pathways.
Schools influence girls choices via the professional development of their teachers and the extent to which the
curriculum and pedagogy are gender-sensitive.17
Technologies in the classroom have been used successfully in Finland and Israel to assist in combating pedagogical
bias. In Finland, a computer program was created to facilitate the creation of a gender sensitive learning environment
in primary schools though a web-based STEM learning resource that included a professional development component
as a lasting resource for teachers.18 The program that launched in Israel assisted teachers in improving their utilization
of ICT in the STEM classroom.19
Some schools have been successful in reforming their pedagogical approaches to place a higher emphasis on inquirybased science education and problem solving and research and have shifted away from traditional approaches in an
attempt to attract more girls.20 University students were also engaged with similar approaches, and reported that they
found the program enjoyable to influential to their career choices.21 Additionally, as boys and girls exhibit different
preferences regarding their preferred style of study in STEM, curricula that emphasise depth of content rather than
12

OECD (2013) Education at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing: Paris.
ibid.
14
Marginson, S.M., Tytler, R., Freeman, B. and Roberts, K. (2013) STEM: Country comparisons. Report for PMSEIC and the Office
for the Chief Scientist. ACOLA, Melbourne.
15
ibid.
16
OECD (2010) Expectations for science-related careers by gender. OECD Factbook 2010: Economic, Environmental and Social
Statistics. OECD Publishing: Paris.
17
Roberts (2014), op. cit.
18
Dobson, I.R. (2013) A Critical Examination of Existing Solutions to the STEM Skills Shortage in Comparable [European]
Countries. Country Report: Finland. Contributing consultant report to STEM: Country Comparisons project. On behalf of ACOLA,
for the Australian Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
19
Drori, G.S. and Netivi, A. (2013) STEM in Israel: The Educational Foundation of Start-Up Nation. Contributing consultant
report to STEM: Country Comparisons project. On behalf of ACOLA, for the Australian Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
20
Jon, J. and Chung, H. (2013) STEM Report: Republic of Korea. Contributing consultant report to STEM: Country Comparisons
project. On behalf of ACOLA, for the Australian Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
21
ibid.
13

breadth would be effective in increasing girls engagement.22 Excursions and visits from experts have similarly yielded
positive results. In a 2005 study, female students preferred to engage in excursions to museums and industrial settings
and with expert visitors, compared to their normal classes.23

Mentoring and Role Models

Teachers, role models and other sources of support are influential in cultivating an interest in girls in STEM and their
pursuit of a related career. As girls do not differ significantly from boys in their scientific ability, it is largely factors
related to confidence and attitude that deter girls from STEM pathways. The support of teachers, mentoring programs
and career counselling services decreases negative stereotypes, increases awareness of STEM study and careers and
improves self-esteem among girls in STEM.24
There are many programs that have been successful in supporting girls access to female role models in STEM. French
programs have focused on showcasing successful professional women who studied STEM subjects and on targeting
female students and encouraging them to pursue specific careers.25 Israeli students have participated in a program
that exposed girls to STEM study and work, and facilitated their excursions to Google offices, R&D laboratories and
university settings. Of the girls who participated in the program, 40% chose computer science as their major stream in
upper secondary school.26
In the European Union, a mentoring network engages with women at different points in their study and careers to
mentor them and support them in academia and research, and ultimately their career development.27 Norwegian
doctoral and post-doctoral women receive mentorship from professors with reportedly positive results and Finnish
female high school students received mentorship from female tertiary students in electrical engineering, including
regular visits to university engineering settings to be exposed to basic electronics. The program was successful for its
duration.28
Given that STEM study and workplaces are largely perceived to be out of the reach of or irrelevant to women,
mentoring programs offer the chance for girls and women to be exposed to the positive experiences of role models
and to work collaboratively and be supported in their personal and professional development. As seen in the case of
other OECD nations, this can have a significant positive impact on their decision to pursue further study or professional
opportunities in STEM.

Financial Incentives
Measures such as scholarship and fellowships specifically targeted at female students and researchers may provide
women with financial incentive to pursue STEM study and careers. They have been successful in increasing the
proportion of women who progress to professional roles and may broadly include the reservation of funds for women
in assist their study and establishment as researchers, or greater competitiveness in funding applications for projects
with favourable gender balances.29 Specifically, Swiss universities are encouraged to appoint female professors by the
22

Blickenstaff, op. cit.

Roberts (2014), op. cit.
24
ibid.
25
de Oliveira, E. and Roberts, K. (2013) Literature Review: STEM Education in France. Contributing consultant report to STEM:
Country Comparisons project. On behalf of ACOLA, for the Australian Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
26
Drori, G.S. and Netivi, A. (2013) STEM in Israel: The Educational Foundation of Start-Up Nation. Contributing consultant
report to STEM: Country Comparisons project. On behalf of ACOLA, for the Australian Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
27
Roberts, K. (2013) Literature Review A Selection of the Work of International Organizations on STEM education and STEMrelated issues. Contributing consultant report to STEM: Country Comparisons project.
28
Dobson, I.R. (2013) A Critical Examination of Existing Solutions to the STEM Skills Shortage in Comparable [European]
Countries. Country Report: Finland. Contributing consultant report to STEM: Country Comparisons project. On behalf of ACOLA,
for the Australian Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
29
Roberts (2014), op. cit.
23

provision of greater government funding as a reward. Funding applications in Greece receive a 5% boost to their
evaluation score per involved female researcher, and similarly, in Spain, applications receive a 5% boost to their score
where the project director is a woman or the project has greater than the average number of women.30 Another
examples is the French foundation, the LOreal France Foundation, which facilitates competitions among female
scientists for funding grants.31 These measures financially incentivise women to pursue STEM education and careers
and incentivise their inclusion by workplaces.

Industry
Although STEM workplaces have typically suffered from the perception of being somewhat unwelcoming towards
women, there are many effective measures that may be implemented to change this. As industry and employers
generally are motivated by profit and financial outcomes, these must be addressed in order to incentivise change.
A successful example of this is a report produced by Engineers Australia that identified potential strategies to increase
recruitment and retention of women in engineering.32 The report highlighted the beneficial outcomes for employers
such as increased creativity and productivity, greater retention, a higher standard of recruitment and improved client
relations. Specifically, increasing womens participation increases the talent pool, decreases production bias and
allows industry to better account for the needs of female consumers, which make up half of their market share,
ensuring continued viability and success.33 Additionally, it suggested multiple strategies which have undergone
successful reviews, including scholarships for female students, exposure to students through industry events at schools
and universities, pay equity, mentoring programs, management awareness, flexible work practices and child care
facilities. Norway, Finland, Sweden and Slovenia extend the contracted period of employment to take into account
parental leave and males are encouraged to make use of the provision as well to equalise the impacts of childrearing
between genders. The Athena project in the UK provided women with professional and personal career support and
heads of department were briefed on gendered issues, with modifications to departmental cultures being made to
ensure better support for work-life balance as a result.34
More broadly, raising awareness of the gender disparity in STEM workplaces is important as it allows employers to
account for female perspectives and challenges during human resources procedures and allows for greater
transparency in funding and promotions. Increasing awareness is particularly important in reducing bias which
currently may lead to undervaluing of female employees in funding and promotional assessments, poor hiring
practices and negativity between colleagues, leading to a suboptimal work environment.35
An increased awareness of possible bias and restructured workplace policies allow therefore allow for greater
participation by women, and are most likely to be instituted when the financial gains are clear.

Government
Governments have great potential to influence womens participation in STEM education and careers outside of
education policy. Firstly, governments are able to create a consistent national policy agenda and commit systematically

30

Roberts, K. (2013) Literature Review A Selection of the Work of International Organizations on STEM education and STEMrelated issues. Contributing consultant report to STEM: Country Comparisons project. On behalf of ACOLA, for the Australian
Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
31
de Oliveira, op. cit.
32
Engineers Australia (2012) Women in Engineering: Industry Blueprint of Successful in-house Professional Womens Programs.
Author: Canberra.
33
Roberts (2014), op. cit.
34
UNESCO (2007) Science, Technology and Gender: An International Report. Science and Technology for Development Series.
UNESCO, Division for Science Policy and Sustainable Development.
35
Hill, C., Corbett, C. and St. Rose, A. (2010) Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
American Association of University Women: Washington, D.C.

to gender equality in STEM education and careers. A variety of mechanisms may be used, such as increasing
understanding of gender issues and political will, legislating, ensuring the involvement of women in senior position
and in decision-making bodies, as well as more suitable funding systems and human resources processes. 36
Importantly, this policy agenda must include a clear commitment from policy makers and leaders in STEM fields, as
well as a consistent, diverse effort and maintained focus.
Additionally, governments are able to legislate to ensure greater representation of women, including at senior levels
in academia and decision-making bodies, and should feature transparent, standardised selection procedures, widespread publication of positions and head-hunting of talented women and monitoring of outcomes. Quotas and targets
are important governmental tools and are most effective when used together, their implementation at a government
level encouraging uptake in the private sector and civil society.37 They may be set for funding rates, the uptake of
maternity leave, and for ensuring a minimum number of women overall; in senior positions or in decision-making
positions and are most effective when incentivised and followed-up. Given that targets allow greater institutional
flexibility and autonomy, acting institutions prefer them to quotas, especially where political pressure to achieve
targets is strong.38 France has prioritised the encouragement of more women to select STEM fields and has enacted
equality legislation of encourage the diversification of womens professional choices. By contrast, Canada has not
engaged with the underrepresentation of women in this sector and women remain particularly underrepresented.39
However, targets and quotas may be met with negativity and minimal effectiveness where they are perceived to be
discriminatory against men, unsustainably imposed and insensitive to cultural contexts.40 While there may be
challenges associated with implementing these measures, recent case studies of the introduction of structured policies
and processes to minimize gender disparities suggests the necessity for these measures, and their capacity to
contribute to industrial and social outcomes. Therefore, government policy is most effective where it accounts for
existing cultural contexts and the sustainability of entities affected.

Conclusion
As the causes of underrepresentation are diverse and engrained, the literature reveals that no single measure will
rectify the problem as a significant and sustainable increase in womens participation rates necessarily requires a
consistent and diverse effort which targets as many causes as possible.
School-based initiatives engage and inspire girls from a young age, and mentoring programs provide access to support
and visible role models. Similarly, financial policies such as scholarships or increased grant application competitiveness
incentivise womens participation and inclusion, and reform in industry may be achieved by highlighting profit and
competitiveness incentives to restructure workplaces to facilitate greater participation. Importantly, governments
may prioritise increasing womens participation in STEM and are able to legislate and institute relevant quotas and
targets to this effect. Importantly, data collection and analysis will allow for the evaluation of the efficacy of initiatives
taken.

36

Roberts (2014), op. cit.

Roberts, K. (2013) Literature Review A Selection of the Work of International Organizations on STEM education and STEMrelated issues. Contributing consultant report to STEM: Country Comparisons project. On behalf of ACOLA, for the Australian
Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
38
Roberts (2014), op. cit.
39
European Communities (2008) Mapping the Maze: Getting More Women to the Top in Research. Scientific Culture and Gender
Issues, Directorate of Science, Economy and Society. European Commission: Brussels. Document Number: EUR 23311 EN;
European Communities (2004) Europe Needs More Scientists. Report of the High Level Groups on Human Resources for Science
and Technology in Europe. Education and Science. Directorate of Science and Society. European Commission: Brussels.
40
European Communities (2008) Mapping the Maze: Getting More Women to the Top in Research. Scientific Culture and Gender
Issues, Directorate of Science, Economy and Society. European Commission: Brussels. Document Number: EUR 23311 EN.
37

Given the crucial contribution of STEM fields to Australias economy, there is much to be gained by equalising
participation and encouraging greater participation from a currently underrepresented portion of the workforce.

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for Science and Technology in Europe. Education and Science. Directorate of Science and Society. European
Commission: Brussels.
European Communities (2008) Mapping the Maze: Getting More Women to the Top in Research. Scientific Culture
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Number: EUR 23311 EN.
Eurostat (2014) Human Resources in Science and Technology as a Share of Labour Force Total.
Healy, J., Mavromaras, K. and Zhu, R. (2013) The STEM Labour Market in Australia. Contributing consultant report to
STEM: Country Comparisons project. National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University, on behalf of ACOLA.
Australian Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
Hill, C., Corbett, C. and St. Rose, A. (2010) Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics. American Association of University Women: Washington, D.C.
Jon, J. and Chung, H. (2013) STEM Report: Republic of Korea. Contributing consultant report to STEM: Country
Comparisons project. On behalf of ACOLA, for the Australian Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
Marginson, S.M., Tytler, R., Freeman, B. and Roberts, K. (2013) STEM: Country comparisons. Report for PMSEIC and
the Office for the Chief Scientist. ACOLA, Melbourne.
8

Milgram, D. (2011) How to recruit women and girls to the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)
classroom, Technology and Engineering Teacher, pp. 4-8.
OECD (2010) Expectations for science-related careers by gender. OECD Factbook 2010: Economic, Environmental
and Social Statistics. OECD Publishing: Paris.
OECD (2013) Education at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing: Paris.
De Oliveira, E. and Roberts, K. (2013) Literature Review: STEM Education in France. Contributing consultant report to
STEM: Country Comparisons project. On behalf of ACOLA, for the Australian Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
Roberts, K. (2013) Literature Review A Selection of the Work of International Organizations on STEM education and
STEM-related issues. Contributing consultant report to STEM: Country Comparisons project. On behalf of ACOLA,
for the Australian Office for the Chief Scientist: Canberra.
Roberts, K. (2014) Engaging More Women and Girls in Mathematics and STEM fields: The International Evidence.
Report for the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute: Melbourne.
UNESCO (2007) Science, Technology and Gender: An International Report. Science and Technology for Development
Series. UNESCO, Division for Science Policy and Sustainable Development.
US Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration (2011) Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to
Innovation, Author: Washington D.C.