HomeThe Indigenous Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Project – Australia

The Indigenous Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Project – Australia

Context: The Aboriginal population of Australia is relatively young in comparison to the rest of the population. Data from the 2016 census shows that the median age of Aboriginal citizens was 23, compared with 38 for non-Aboriginal citizens (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). Despite a young and growing population, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island citizens are often disadvantaged, especially in terms of socioeconomic status and educational achievement. In 2017, the attendance rate of indigenous students in remote communities, at 64.6 per cent was lower than areas. Moreover, the attendance gap between indigenous and non-indigenous from remote communities was 26.3 per cent (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2018).

The report ‘Close the Gap’ (ibid, 59) highlights that the rate of indigenous students meeting the national minimum standard of reading, writing and numeracy is significantly lower than that of non-indigenous students. Indigenous people are underrepresented in universities, making up only 1.7 per cent of the student population, while they form 3.1 per cent of the Australian working-age population (ibid, 68). Only 40.5 per cent of indigenous students who started university in 2010 had completed a degree by 2015, compared to 66.4 per cent of non-indigenous students (Department of Education and Training, 2016). Indigenous communities in Australia are challenged by social issues, such as alcohol/substance abuse, domestic violence and marginalization. Research shows that increasing levels of educational achievement amongst indigenous students has great potential to alleviate social deprivation and other difficulties evident within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Self-belief amongst students regarding a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) varies depending on the race and ethnicity of a student. While indigenous students show greater interest in science compared to non-indigenous students (McConney, Oliver, Woods-McConney and Schibeci, 2011), they are less confident studying and applying STEM subjects (McKinley, 2016). Research indicates that pathways and additional assistance for indigenous students are significant contributing factors to academic success amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Australia (Lampert, Burnett, Patton, Lee Hong and Anderson, 2013).

Implementation of programme/ initiative: The Indigenous STEM Education Project is a partnership between the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), an Australian Federal Government agency, and the BHP Foundation, a non-profit independent charity. The project has been running from September 2014 and has received AUD 28 million in funding from the BHP foundation over the past five years.

The Indigenous STEM Project consists of six programmes. These are listed below, with numbers coming from 2017 data:

  1. Science Pathways for Indigenous Communities: This targets primary and middle school students in remote indigenous communities. The programme has spanned a total of nine schools in 11 communities and has involved 1,818 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
  2. Inquiry for Indigenous Science Students (I2S2): This targets middle school students in mainstream metropolitan and regional schools. The programme has been implemented in 87 schools and involved 7,697 students.
  3. PRIME Futures: PRIME Futures works with foundation to year nine students in metropolitan and regional schools. This programme has taken place in 70 schools and involved 7909 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
  4. Aboriginal Summer School for Excellence in Technology and Science (ASSETS). ASSETS works specifically with year ten Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. ASSETS has been part of 13 summer schools, and 430 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students attended.
  5. Indigenous STEM Awards: This recognizes and showcases the achievements of Indigenous Australian who have excelled in their studies or professional careers in STEM.
  6. Bachelor of Science (Extended): This provides a pathway for indigenous students to complete a four-year degree in STEM at the University of Melbourne.

The main objective of the Indigenous STEM Education Project is to increase student participation in STEM amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by providing tailored pathways to encourage greater numbers of indigenous students to pursue further studies and enter careers in STEM. In doing so, the BHP Foundation and CSIRO have aimed to improve problem-solving abilities and career opportunities for underrepresented groups to empower youth to better tackle key sustainable development issues.

Main challenges: One of the main challenges faced during the Indigenous STEM Education Project has been engaging with students in remote areas. Indigenous students in such locations often lack the minimum foundational skills required to progress and finish school. In addition, there is a high turnover of non-indigenous teachers in remote locations, which reduces the chances of maintaining a positive student-teacher rapport. Attracting indigenous students to pursue STEM degrees still remains a challenge in Australia, highlighted by the fact that the Bachelor of Science (Extended) programme has been unable to achieve its target number of enrolments per year. Further research is necessary to better understand how to increase the number of indigenous students in university.

Results achieved: Extensive evaluations have been undertaken to ensure outcome and impact are tracked. Some notable results are as follows:

  1. Of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who took part in the I2S2 programme, 38 per cent demonstrated an increase in academic achievement (the greatest change being amongst low-achieving students) and 34 per cent demonstrated higher levels of engagement.
  2. Over a recent 12-month period assessment of the PRIME Futures programme, a total of 90 per cent of teachers reported high levels of student engagement after 6 months and 70 per cent reported higher levels of understanding after 12 months, while 13 per cent of teachers reported stronger student interest in STEM subjects.
  3. Surveys conducted before and after the ASSETS summer school show that the desire to pursue a STEM subject at university increased from 63.7 to 84.8 per cent, whilst students wishing to start a career in STEM increased from 48.5 to 81.8 per cent.
  4. By recognizing the achievements of indigenous students, the Indigenous STEM Awards have been able to create a platform to showcase the talent and success stories within communities. The story of Taylah Griffin, winner of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tertiary Student STEM Achievement Award in 2018, the first Aboriginal person to graduate in honours in electrical and aerospace engineering and current system engineer for Boeing Defence Australia, serves as an inspiring role model to other students.

Moving Forward: To maximize youth engagement among underrepresented groups in STEM (and other fields), cultural perceptions within education (at all levels) and wider society must be changed. As it stands, students from indigenous backgrounds still believe that viable career pathways are not available to them in STEM fields. Research in this area indicates that a lack of self-belief relates to their performance. Students from underrepresented groups will continue to feel unwelcome in careers in STEM until institutional racism is addressed (CSIRO, 2017). In this context, more needs to be done in providing visible role models such as Taylah Griffin. Culture must not only change regarding the self-belief of students, teachers must also actively work on cognitive bias and being culturally aware and sensitive when engaging with indigenous students. On the whole, the results of this project have been successful in achieving their original goals of increasing the number of Indigenous students involved in STEM; to build further on this success, efforts should be made to secure increased funding so the project reach can be expanded.

Replicability: Whilst this project focuses predominantly on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, the model can be used as a guideline for increasing participation and engagement for students from underrepresented groups in other settings. Four key principles have been highlighted as being vital to the success of the Indigenous STEM Education Project and should be noted by other institutions that wish to learn from this example:

  1. Being place-based: Students are more likely to engage when they can apply their newfound knowledge practically to their local surroundings and culture.
  2. Featuring strong cultural engagement: The cultural backgrounds and values of indigenous and other disadvantaged students must be respected and taken into consideration in all aspects of the educational process. Students react positively to teachers showing an interest in their culture.
  3. Being strength-based: Students must be encouraged to feel resourceful and capable of achieving. Self-confidence and belief are essential to increasing academic success among students.
  4. Being built on high expectations: Students and teachers must be given adequate motivation so that they truly believe they are capable of achieving their potential and going above and beyond what is typically expected of them.

Acknowledgement:

This good practice was kindly prepared by Mr. Hakim Jamal Horton.

References: 

Project Details

Date: October 10, 2019

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