Australians with qualifications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are working across the economy in many roles from wine-makers to financial analysts, according to a new report from The Office of the Chief Scientist.
The first comprehensive analysis of the STEM-qualified population is based on data from the 2011 Census.
The report investigates the workforce destinations of people with qualifications in STEM fields - from both the university and the vocational education and training (VET) sectors. It looked at the demographics, industries, occupations and salaries that students studying for those qualifications can expect in the workforce.
The report shows that STEM educated Australians take diverse career paths.
However, it also found that fewer than one-third of STEM university graduates were female, with Physics and Astronomy and Engineering having even lower proportions of female graduates. Biological Sciences and Environmental Studies graduates were evenly split between the genders. In the VET sector, only 9% of those with STEM qualifications were women.
According to chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel, an even more worrying finding is the pay-gap between men and women in all STEM fields, which cannot be fully explained by having children or by the increased proportion of women working part-time.
Gaining a doctorate is a sound investment, with more STEM PhD graduates in the top income bracket than their Bachelor-qualified counterparts. However, these same STEM PhD holders are less likely to own their own business or to work in the private sector.