With numbers of young men and young women undertaking STEM subjects dropping year-on-year and an increased degree of difficulty in attracting young women into Year 12 advanced mathematics and physics subjects, something had to be done to help bridge the gap.
Enter: The sySTEMic Collaboration.
The model, undergoing its pilot year in 2018, is in response to the Engineers Make Things Happen Report, where the critical need for industry and education to work together for the future benefit of the community is highlighted.
The sySTEMic Collaboration establishes unique partnerships between industry, schools, and tertiary education providers and is designed to engage students in the pipeline of engineering careers and provide a reason for choosing higher-end STEM subjects in Year 11 and 12. The pilot has a particular focus on encouraging and supporting young people from groups that are under represented in STEM, such as Indigenous young people, women and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Eleven businesses in the NT committed to being part of the SySTEMic collaboration pilot year with their support ranging from the mentorship of the students, hosting site visits and excursions, and financial sponsorship.
A total of 17 students successfully applied to be part of the pilot year of the sySTEMic Collaboration; The cohort included 7 females and 3 Indigenous Australians.
Students participating in the sySTEMic collaboration undertook an advanced STEM learning program with support from industry partners, engaging in authentic work-based learning, receiving mentoring, and working on engineering projects with professionals in the industry.
Each student participated in two immersive site visits, a problem-solving day where innovative skills were required, and excursions to a mine site, a defence establishment, and a university campus.
Industry partners participated in a mentoring course tailored by Engineers Australia specifically for working with secondary school students. Mentors worked with teaching staff to help guide students through a problem solving exercise that extended their learning beyond the class room whilst building the students’ understanding of the requirements and expectations of the world of work.
A major part of the students’ assessment was to create their own project topic related to a relevant rural issue in the Northern Territory. Topics included solar-powering their school, setting up hydroponics for a remote community, designing transportable adventure activities that can travel to remote communities and house cooling designs.
Feedback from students and industry partners has been overwhelmingly positive, one female student concluding that “there is a place in engineering for everyone”.
Taminmin College has seen a marked increase in student enrolment in the STEM subjects of Advanced Maths, Physics, and Chemistry for the 2019 school year.
In 2019 we aim to scale the model across the NT.
The sySTEMic Collaboration thanks its financial partners: Territory Generation, Inpex, GHD, McArthur River Mine, ADG, and the NT Government Department of Education.