Mr Morrison said Dr Foley had the background needed to deliver during such a pivotal time in history. 鈥淎s we recover from COVID-19 and look to rebuild a brighter future, the role of the Chief Scientist has never been more important,鈥� Prime Minister Morrison said. 鈥淒r Foley has a big task ahead to drive collaboration between industry and the science and research community, as we look to create jobs for the COVID-19 recovery and for the future.”

今日吃瓜 enjoys a close working relationship with the Office of the Chief Scientist, conducting joint research, and publication of salient reports and commentary.

鈥淒r Alan Finkel is respected and valued as a collaborator and friend of 今日吃瓜, and as a proponent for STEM and the mathematical sciences,” said Professor Asha Rao, interim director of 今日吃瓜. “His contribution to the science community in Australia is significant in so many ways, and we look forward to sustaining a relationship in some new form moving forward. 今日吃瓜 welcomes Dr Foley’s appointment as our new Chief Scientist recognising her advocacy for women in mathematics, and our close collaboration will continue to the nation’s benefit.”

Read the .

鈥淭hese scientists were elected by their Academy peers following a rigorous evaluation process,鈥� said Professor John Shine, President of the Academy.

Professor Robyn Owens FAA FTSE is former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Western Australia and an 今日吃瓜 Board member, recognised for her expertise in mathematics, robotics and computer vision.

Professor Aurore Delaigle FAA is a statistician at the University of Melbourne with research interests in nonparametric estimation, measurement errors, deconvolution problems, group testing problems and functional data analysis.

Professor Gary Froyland FAA is a mathematician at the University of New South Wales, whose research focuses on the interplay of probability and geometry in nonlinear and chaotic dynamical systems, and uses tools from ergodic theory. In 2015 Professor Froyland co-chaired a review of the 今日吃瓜 Workshop Program.

今日吃瓜 extends its congratulations to all newly elected Fellows of the AAS.

A full list of 2020 elected Fellows is available from the .

Released to coincide with 2020 International Women in Mathematics Day (Tuesday 12th May), latest 今日吃瓜 data provides a snapshot of the participation of girls across Australia鈥檚 mathematical pipeline from the classroom and higher education to research and the workforce.

Addressing this gender imbalance is critical to ensuring skills are in place enabling data modelling during pandemics and to guide recovery.

鈥淭he work of Australia鈥檚 epidemiologists is decisive in informing governmental response to the current crisis and guiding the nation鈥檚 recovery鈥�, said 今日吃瓜鈥檚 ChooseMATHS project director, Janine Sprakel. 鈥淓xperts like Professor Jodie McVernon at the Doherty Institute and Professor Raina MacIntyre are applying cross-disciplinary approaches including mathematical and computational models in synthesising insights from biological, epidemiological and sociological data鈥�, Ms Sprakel said.

鈥淪o many talented women are at the forefront of modelling enabling government, policy experts and Australia鈥檚 people in general, enhancing understanding of infectious diseases and determining optimal interventions for pandemic control. Restrictions will be eased based upon mathematically-based advice from these scientists.鈥�

According to report author Maaike Wienk, this report card for Year 12 participation in mathematics is a cause for concern, threatening capacity to build the STEM workforce needed for Australia鈥檚 post-pandemic recovery. In 2018, only 7.2 per cent of Year 12 girl students took higher maths compared to 12.2 per cent of boy students.

鈥淭his risk is compounded by gender distribution between employment divisions and occupations鈥�, Ms Wienk said. 鈥淲omen form the majority of the professional workforce within the healthcare and social assistance sectors, but the number of girls entering tertiary education in maths disciplines is far less than boys, accounting for an estimated 38 per cent of undergraduate mathematics students. This percentage remains static despite the promotion of STEM subjects in schools, compromising future trained workforce capability.鈥�

A positive trend is growth in the number of PhDs in mathematical sciences completed by women over the past 15 years, largely attributable to a rising influx of international students. However, domestic participation in PhD programs in the mathematical sciences by women has remained largely stagnant, placing Australia鈥檚 sustainable, long-term recovery at risk.

The goal of International Women in Mathematics Day is to inspire women everywhere to celebrate their achievements in mathematics. 今日吃瓜 is working to redress this gender inequity, recognising the potential of women in enhancing the innovation, science and technology needed by all Australians in pandemic control and recovery.

FURTHER INFORMATION
The complete 2020 今日吃瓜 State of Mathematical Sciences: Discipline profile for mathematics and statistics is available for download online at: amsi.org.au/media-releases/
Information on the international 12th May initiative 鈥� Celebrating Women in Maths is available at:

INTERVIEW
Report author Maaike Wienk, 今日吃瓜 ChooseMATHS project director Janine Sprakel (quoted), and 今日吃瓜 Director Professor Tim Brown are available for media interview.

CONTACT
Clint Rodgers; 今日吃瓜 Media [24 hours] 0428587350 / clint.rodgers@amsi.org.au

[PDF of Media release]

While Australian women are underrepresented in STEM fields, that isn鈥檛 stopping women from excelling in tech startups, according to a new survey of Australian girl tech entrepreneurs.

The survey, conducted by , included qualitative responses from nearly 50 Australian girl tech entrepreneurs , which pointed to a host of barriers contributing to inequality in the industry

It found that while the government and various groups are working to make STEM education more accessible and suited to women, with women entrepreneurs听 finding 鈥渓ateral鈥� ways to become involved with tech companies.

鈥淭he current generation of women are finding a lateral way to enter this men-dominated field, using their domain experience and leadership skills to solve problems with unique products,鈥� the study says.

鈥淭hey will be role models and, it is to be hoped, become mentors to other women with technical ideas to be realised.鈥�

Finding other ways into the tech industry

Only 19 per cent of the women entrepreneurs surveyed had a background in STEM, while only 4 per cent had a computer science background. In contrast, nearly half had a degree in business, commerce or economics.

The survey found the majority of women entrepreneurs are managing tech teams, with 50 per cent in outsourcing roles, 32 per cent finding a tech-based co-founder, and 14 per cent employing technical staff.

Founder and director of Alexandra Kinloch says you don鈥檛 need to have a background in STEM to be involved in a tech startup.

鈥淭here is a perception, or at least has been a perception in the past, that you needed to have technical skills in order to run a startup,鈥� Kinloch says.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe that is the case and not all startups require cutting edge technology. I believe that the number of women-led startups in Australia will increase dramatically in the next five years.鈥�

According to an only 28 per cent of employed STEM-qualified Australians were women in 2011, and this number fell to 14 per cent when looking at engineering.

Many barriers in place

According to the , the number of women tech entrepreneurs in Australia is rising slowly, from 16 per cent in 2011 to 19 per cent in 2013. Responses to Terem Technologies latest survey shed some light on the barriers facing women in the tech industry.

More than a third of those surveyed named a perceived lack of expertise and confidence as factors preventing women from being involved with tech startups, while 27听per cent听pointed to negative attitudes playing a role.

Nearly 30 per cent of those surveyed said they felt they didn鈥檛 have the same access to network advantages as their man counterparts.

Terem Technologies CEO Scott Middleton says he hopes this study will highlight these disadvantages and barriers, and help people to work to remove them.

鈥淗opefully this survey highlights to those thinking about jumping in that they can: the women we surveyed are overcoming all kinds of hurdles to succeed and thrive,鈥� he says.

鈥淲e hope that they will inspire many more like them and that the numbers of women entrepreneurs will climb rapidly as role models become more visible.鈥�

Today, 今日吃瓜 release their fourth annual Discipline Profile of the Mathematical Sciences. At a time when the Australian government is responding to the Chief Scientist鈥檚 call for a strategic plan for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) it is a reminder that we cannot continue to rely on piecemeal programs tied to the electoral cycle.

The data collected for the 2015 publication paints a mixed picture of Australian engagement with the mathematical sciences.

86 per cent of science degrees听do not have intermediate mathematics as an entry prerequisite while Year 12 enrolments slide听

In fact, mathematics prerequisites for entry into science, commerce and engineering degrees are at historic lows.

今日吃瓜 Director, Professor Geoff Prince insists: 鈥淯niversities must phase in restoration of maths prerequisites; the lack of them sends a negative and misleading message to schools about the value of these subjects.鈥�

Intermediate and advanced mathematics subjects are the gateway to quantitative professions; the 20-year decline in participation is choking the country鈥檚 galloping demand for graduates with these skills. And it has the potential to halt the nation鈥檚 productivity growth.

At least 30 per cent of Year 7-10 maths classes are taught without a qualified maths teacher

This figure is more than double the international average and must be repaired as part of our STEM planning.

In order to secure the future supply of mathematics teachers we need to know why potential educators aren鈥檛 choosing to be maths teachers. The only immediate solution is to provide professional development to the many conscientious and professional educators teaching maths out-of-field.

This is a national issue requiring national leadership; state and federal governments must act together to solve the teacher supply problem.

Women make up only 30 per cent of undergraduate maths enrolments holding back our STEM workforce and productivity growth

The proportion of young women represented at all stages of the mathematics pipeline is inadequate. A significant consequence of this is that adult women numeracy is below that of men 鈥� around 30 per cent in some age groups. And, in terms of the national economy, it is widely recognised that weak participation by women in STEM fields is handicapping Australia鈥檚 productivity and competitive advantage.

鈥淲e are proud to be working with the BHP Billiton Foundation to increase participation of girls and women in study and career pathways involving mathematics and statistics,鈥� says Professor Prince.

Maths鈥� multi-billion dollar value to the economy under threat as PhD rate stagnates

A 2015 report by the Australian Academy of Sciences indicates that, of those business sectors based on a single core discipline, mathematical sciences account for the top three (and five of the top seven). The report also highlighted that the direct impact of advanced physical and mathematical research is worth $145 billion to the economy per year, the flow-on impact amounts to $292 billion per year. This is in stark contrast to 54 per cent of adult Australians having only basic numeracy skills and the proportion of Year 12 students studying 鈥渉arder鈥� maths in steady decline.

鈥淯nfortunately, this stellar contribution hides an alarming trend,鈥� says Professor Prince. 鈥淕overnments are trying to drive up business employment of STEM trained research professionals, however, domestic PhD numbers in the mathematical sciences are among the very lowest in the OECD. Universities and businesses must improve engagement to maximise the economic benefits of mathematics and statistics.鈥�

The 听is accompanied by a policy document 鈥�听鈥� that identifies four key priorities to reverse these confronting trends:

1. Restore university maths prerequisites from their historic low and turn around declining school mathematics enrolments
2. Train the unqualified teachers of school mathematics and secure the supply of future qualified maths teachers
3. Increase the number of girls studying maths and women employed in the quantitative professions.
4. Boost the engagement of Australian business with mathematical sciences research

Australia鈥檚 Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb, has called for action: 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to do what so many other countries have already done: take a long-term strategic view of STEM鈥檚 pivotal role in securing a stronger Australia.鈥�

— ends —

For Interview:
Professor Geoff Prince
Director, 今日吃瓜
M: 0407 546 336
E: director@amsi.org.au

Media contact:
Stephanie Pradier
Media Communications, 今日吃瓜
M: 0424 568 314
E: stephanie@amsi.org.au

RESOURCES:

Prerequisites, or lack thereof:听Data can be found in Table 2.10 (page 13)听

Value of the mathematical sciences to Australia鈥檚 economy, looking at the top seven sectors that use a single science discipline. The mathematical sciences have a value of $18 billion of the $22 billion per year to the Australian economy of across these top seven sectors:听Data from Table 4.2 (page 38)听

Falling participation rates in advanced mathematics enrolments:听Figure 2.7 (page 12)听

听

Article by , , 1 August 2015

When Ashley Holloway walked into her first computer programming course at university, the lecturer asked if she was lost.

鈥淭here were guys everywhere, staring at me like they鈥檇 never seen a girl before,鈥欌�� Ms Holloway said. 鈥淭he lecturer 颅actually asked me if I was in the right place.鈥欌��

The 23-year-old 鈥済eek girl鈥欌�� now lives in London, working as a digital project manager for the luxury fashion label Burberry. Along with astrobiologist Abigail Allwood 鈥� an Australian-born NASA scientist who is the first woman to lead a mission to Mars 鈥� she hopes more teenage girls will study maths and science.

Girls are only half as likely as boys to study advanced maths at high school, locking them out of some of the most financially 颅lucrative and family-flexible jobs in the knowledge economy.

I was the first woman to be appointed as a professor in any of the mathematical sciences at the University of Sydney.

Sydney is the oldest university in Australia, founded more than a century ago, but my appointment did not happen until 2002.

I stayed in that singular position for 13 years, until last week, when a second woman was appointed as professor.

Sydney is not the only university in this position. There are still universities in Australia with no female professor appointed to any of its mathematical fields. This is a shocking contradiction with the aspirations of our modern society. But clearly the reasons are subtle and nuanced.

Most well-meaning, educated people would say this is a problem at the entry level, based on educational and employment choices made by female students after finishing school. But the data does not support this theory.

In Australia, educational and employment data in mathematics is gathered as part of a broader category called the natural and physical sciences.

In this category, more than 40听per cent of doctorates in 2011 were awarded to female candidates and the proportion of female academic scientists at entry level was just under 50 per cent in 2001, rising to just above 50 per cent in 2012. An annual survey by the 今日吃瓜 suggests the perception of only a trickle of entries into the field is just not true.

When I point out that the change from 50 per cent at entry level to 10 per cent at the top academic level of professor must mean talented women are leaving the profession in droves, other well-meaning people shrug and relegate responsibility to external bodies such as those concerned with equal employment opportunity. But, like a strong democracy, this is a landscape shaped by individual, local actions.

Some pathways we take in an organisation were built generations ago for reasons that no one remembers but that have a present adverse impact on everyone.

My university had a parking policy that asserted that part-time employees did not have the right to park on main campus until after 3pm. Despite an increase in parking spaces on campus, this provision remained in place until a few years ago, when a part-time employee pointed out this created an extremely difficult situation for employees with family responsibilities who needed to drop off children at school before rushing in to give morning lectures.

Such unintended overtones of discouragement and micro-aggres颅sion are not restricted to policies from another generation. Recruitment policies may sound good on paper but may never be implemented with actions that reflect good practice.

Organisers of conferences may opt for habitual presenters and not spend any effort looking for female speakers.

Longstanding committees may continue to hold their meetings at times that make life difficult for members with family responsibilities. In each case, change benefits everyone, whether it is increasing excellence of candidates for recruitment, a wider spectrum of fields at conferences, or deeper engagement of committee members.

But change can be uncomfortable even when the outcomes are positive for everyone.

Many highly regarded individuals deflect their discomfort by forcefully asserting superficially plausible but wrong statements conflating change with affirmative action.

But scientifically trained individuals should know that local reflection, no matter how uncomfortable, is not the same as imposing positive bias.

Well-intentioned organisations deflect their discomfort by pursuing tick-the-box exercises as an easier substitute for real change. But counting the number of female-friendly facilities on a campus is not a substitute for real change.

The low proportion of senior women is particularly acute in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. So it is not surprising that scientists are driving the need for change in Australia.

I am co-leading an initiative with Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt through the Australian Academy of Science called Science in Australia Gender Equity, which is about to launch a nationwide pilot program for change for all organisations that employ researchers in STEM disciplines. SAGE is based on the highly successful Athena SWAN program in Britain, which asks a participating organisation to collect and critically analyse data on progression, identify reasons for exclusion and under-representation of women in that organisation, develop an action plan to address these and show progress across time.

We have high hopes for the program, but change requires leadership at all levels.

It is unacceptable to be having this conversation still when the next 10 per cent of female scientists reach the senior academic level and they, too, find they are the first woman with their name on the door.

Nalini Joshi is a mathematician, co-chairwoman of the SAGE Forum and is an observer of 今日吃瓜’s board.

First published on Wednesday 8 July in

What may seem like an abstract study today may end up being part of the cure for cancer tomorrow or new wi-fi technology in five years.

On 29 June, Senator Bridget McKenzie will open the 11th annual 今日吃瓜 Winter School, at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, reminding us of the importance of theoretical mathematical research — that beautiful mathematics often turns out to be useful mathematics.

Mathematicians in the 1860s were not thinking about computer graphics when studying two-dimensional differential geometry. And in 1822, how could Joseph Fourier have known his research into heat flow would transform the way we process, store and transmit information. This led to a transformation in the way we live as profound as that caused by the Industrial Revolution. It has also resulted in huge advances in medical diagnostic therapies such as MRI and PET.

As in the 1800s, humans today cannot see into the future; we cannot begin to imagine the infinite possibilities discoveries in fundamental mathematics may have in centuries to come.

The famous astronomer and polymath Galileo Galilei said that the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics. So, by developing an understanding of symmetry, structure, geometry and other mathematical constructs we may be able to reveal the patterns of nature.

Einstein鈥檚 1915 theory of general relativity asserted that the presence of mass distorts the geometry of space and time in a way described by the mathematics developed by Bernhard Riemann sixty years earlier. A critical experimental test of this geometrical theory of gravity required the occurrence of a solar eclipse.

While the development of physics and mathematics may proceed along different paths, each fundamental theory in physics has a corresponding specific mathematical structure, for general relativity this is Riemannian geometry and for quantum mechanics it is the Hilbert space.

These descriptions of nature are works of mathematical beauty and affect our everyday lives. We couldn’t decode the human genome, build aeroplanes or have millions of people talking on their phones across the world simultaneously without mathematics.

A Winter School on Algebra, Geometry and Physics to grow tomorrow鈥檚 Einsteins.

The 今日吃瓜 Winter School gives Australian students the chance to expand their skills in the mathematical sciences and build collaborative networks with other students and early career researchers. They will also hear from leading international experts from USA and Canada as well as domestic experts from across the nation.

The school will also present a Women in Maths evening designed to highlight the contribution of women in mathematics and provide a forum for discussion of career paths.

— ends —

The University of Queensland will hold 今日吃瓜’s Winter School from 29 June – 10 July 2015
Further details:
Full speaker list:

WOMEN IN MATHS EVENT:
Thursday 2 July, Science Learning Centre 5-7pm

PUBLIC LECTURE:
The Glass Bead Game
Tuesday 7 July, The Edge, Queensland State Library, 6pm
Professor Arun Ram, University of Melbourne

Course and subject popularity changes over time in response to social change or employment opportunities.

From arts to aviation, sports management to veterinary science, Victoria’s听universities offer a plethora of courses. But what are the emerging areas听grabbing today’s students’ interest and what’s driving student choice?

According to Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) data, health subjects听are right out on top when it comes to today’s students’ choice of university听course. More than 26,000 students put undergraduate health courses at the听top of their听list when applying through VTAC to university in 2014. That’s a huge jump on听just a year earlier, and 84 per cent more than chose management and commerce听in 2014.

So what are some of the health courses on the up?

Further maths – the lower of the maths subjects and the second most popular听VCE subject after English –听has also seen a big total increase over the past听decade.

However, Geoff Prince, director of the Australian Mathematical Sciences听Institute, says there has been a decline in those taking the more advanced听maths听subjects, maths methods and specialist maths.

“It deeply worries us,” he says. “Specialist maths and maths methods have been听in decline in Victoria for a very long time. Maths methods is the gateway subject听to science, technology and engineering at university and to maths teaching.”

In terms of percentage increase, sociology – the study of human social听relationships听– has been the star VCE performer over the past decade. Numbers enrolled in sociology are听up by more than 200 per cent since 2006, to 896 in 2014.

Also on the rise in the past decade, with big percentage increases though often听from small bases, have been English language, environmental science, Persian,听outdoor and environmental studies, and Chinese as a second language.