Girls given further opportunities to engage with STEM
Wesley College in Melbourne provides a nurturing environment - and a new scholarship - for girls with a passion for STEM.
What is STEM and why is it increasingly important?
The acronym ‘STEM’ refers to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Smartphones and the COVID-19 vaccine are just two examples of the results of STEM and point to its growing importance in the world today. More broadly, the skills and thinking – such as problem-solving, creativity and design thinking – that children develop through STEM activities are absolutely critical to our future economy.
There is increased focus on recruiting and retaining females into STEM careers as women and girls are still underrepresented in STEM industries. The Australian Government recognises that our national talent pool is limited by this underrepresentation and points to a few barriers, such as bias, stereotyping and a lack of female role models.
How can we change the picture?
It seems that providing opportunities for girls to explore an interest in STEM – and potentially develop a passion for it – as well as representation through role modelling are a couple of ways schools can help to change this picture.
Wesley College is one of Australia’s largest coeducational schools, with unique curriculum opportunities and access to programs designed to develop and sustain girls’ interest in STEM. Across their broad range of STEM subjects – encompassing everything from Biology and Chemistry to Design and Technology and mathematics competitions – students regularly see female STEM teachers, and girls are involved in all of these classes as the College is coeducational.
Wesley College introduced a new scholarship this year to provide further opportunities for girls with an interest in STEM to continue to pursue that passion in an encouraging environment. Students will be able to access the College’s broad-based, liberal curriculum, which places emphasis on academic excellence and a well-rounded education, as well as STEM-specific industry mentors.
What do students think?
It seems the picture is changing for the better. More than 15 years ago, when Erin Bruns, Head of the Science Faculty at Glen Waverley Campus, first asked Year 7 students to draw a scientist as an introductory activity, she’d often see an Einstein-esque character with wild hair and stains on their lab coat, inevitably holding a coloured test tube.
‘Only two years ago did I have a class of students in which more than half drew female scientists,’ she says. ‘They didn’t all have wild hair or lab coats, many were working at computers, some in hospitals, and others working collaboratively with other scientists in design and technology. I feel Wesley has provided students with role models across these curriculum areas to help them understand that this is what science is really about.’
This shift in the perception of females in STEM happens through more than children seeing female scientists on the news and TV shows. At the school level, it takes place every time students work together in a coeducational environment, developing an understanding of other perspectives and a respect for one another as individuals.
Far from the stereotype of loud boys talking over the top of timid girls, girls are learning to wholeheartedly follow their passions into the Science classroom, and make their voices heard.
Year 12 student Harper Hamilton-Grutzner said, ‘I enjoyed learning in a coeducational environment as it reflects how the world is. It allowed me to learn how to speak up for myself, especially in my STEM classes.’
Scholarship opportunities, including academic and general excellence, are available at Wesley College for talented students who are enthusiastic to learn and reach their full potential, while contributing to College life. The Rennie Coutts STEM Scholarship for Girls is open to new, female students who wish to nurture their passion for STEM.
