Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Jobs and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Hume for her question. It is a fact that women and girls face real challenges in the science sector. This is reflected in the data. For example, 16 per cent of university and VET graduates in STEM are women. Much of this gender imbalance unfortunately starts at school and continues through to tertiary studies. Many young girls struggle to see themselves in a science based career. An interesting fact is this: when asked to draw a scientist, two-thirds of children aged 9-11 draw a man.

This needs to change. We need to ensure we have opportunities and not obstacles. We need to ensure that the voices and stories of Australia's absolutely fantastic female scientists are heard and seen by the next generation. Many of us attended the Science meets Parliament 19th annual dinner last night in the Great Hall. I think we can all agree that the female scientists there, without a doubt, represented the best and the brightest in Australia.

As the cabinet minister responsible for science, I am making it a priority to tackle the issue of under-representation of women and girls in science education and careers. That's why yesterday I announced the expansion of the Superstars of STEM program. We are going to double the number of those in the program from 30 to 60, and we have guaranteed funding for the next four years. But there are other programs that the government has backed to get more women and girls into STEM. The SAGE program, the Science in Australia Gender Equity project, is exceeding expectations because it has the support of the sector to ensure that efforts are being made to get more women and girls into STEM.