STEM classes gaining steam in Queensland schools

By Stephen Clarke

Topic:Education

The number of Queensland students enrolling in STEM classes is rising. (ABC News: Stephen Clarke)

In short:

The number of Queensland students enrolling in some STEM subjects, including physics and specialist mathematics, has jumped by almost 50 per cent in the last six years.

In total, enrolments in STEM subjects in Queensland increased by just over 17 per cent.

What's next?

Queensland's Department of Education said it "supports student engagement and achievement in STEM".

The number of year 12 Queensland students enrolling in some STEM subjects, including physics and specialist mathematics, has jumped by almost 50 per cent over the last six years.

At a national level, the number of year 12 enrolments in STEM subjects peaked in 2015 with about 406,000 enrolments, but by 2024 the number had dropped to 376,000.

In Queensland, students appear to be bucking the trend.

Data from the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority shows a roughly 45 per cent increase in the number of students enrolling in year 12 physics between 2020 and 2025, from 5,817 enrolments to 8,453.

Over the same period, NSW recorded a 9.7 per cent increase while Victoria had a 13.3 per cent increase.

Other STEM subjects that have seen a jump in popularity among year 12 students include engineering, which recorded a 62 per cent increase, and specialist mathematics which jumped by 46 per cent.

In total, enrolments in STEM subjects in Queensland increased by just over 17 per cent.

CSIRO's Boston Dynamics robot is a drawcard for students interested in robotics and engineering. (ABC News: Stephen Clarke)

Subjects including environmental science, agricultural science and digital solutions all went backwards over the same period.

Increase is 'great' news

Susan Burchill from the CSIRO's Education and Outreach program is well aware of Queensland's increase in STEM participation.

"It's great," she said.

"It's so good to see enrolments increasing in Queensland and we hope they'll increase across the country."

Ms Burchill said it's important to get children interested in science from a young age.

"We really need to start earlier down that pipeline and inspire students in primary school and even early childhood to think about STEM and show them the opportunities," she said.

CSIRO Education and Outreach program delivery manager Susan Burchill said children generally have their first thoughts about careers in upper primary school. (ABC News)

On the outskirts of Brisbane, at CSIRO's robotics innovation centre, some of those kids are being shown real-world applications of STEM, through robots called Bluey and Bear.

"Robotics is real, it's hands-on and it's solving problems for Australia and the world.

"Some of these jobs that students will be doing post-university, they may not exist at the moment."

Year 9 student Annie Shuai said she loves engineering and maths and aims to continue her STEM learning later in high school.

"I think it's very interesting, it's creative and you get to explore so many fields," she said.

Year 9 student Annie enjoys maths and engineering at high school. (ABC News)

Theo Xu, 10, said he has been into coding for "about five years" and would like to build robots in the future.

"I like science because you can combine it with maths and technology to create this perfect sort of balance," he said.

"I really like how these two robots can work together, because I haven't seen many humans work together that well."

Gender imbalance

Girls continue to be under-represented in most STEM subjects, with a few exceptions.

Between 2020 and 2026 the share of Queensland girls in year 12 engineering classes grew by just over seven per cent, with girls this year representing about 17 per cent of students enrolled in engineering across the state.

In physics, female representation edged slightly upwards to 33 per cent, while in specialist mathematics girls made up just under 40 per cent of enrolments.

However, the figures are almost inverted in biology, where girls make up seven out of ten enrolments, and just over half of chemistry enrolments.

Professor Gillies said initiatives being undertaken are aiming at developing confidence in girls from a young age. (ABC News)

Professor Robyn Gillies from the University of Queensland's School of Education said universities and departments of education are "doing what they can" to attract women into STEM-related courses.

"There is a little bit of a concern that we'd like to see that gender gap narrow," she said.

"We're not getting the enrolments that we'd like, particularly in the hard sciences, maths, science, physics."

Professor Gillies said initiatives aim to develop confidence in girls from a young age.

"That's what we're trying to do with girls in particular, empowering girls to feel more confident, able to tackle these courses and be supported while they're doing so."

In a statement, a spokesperson for Queensland's Department of Education said it "supports student engagement and achievement in STEM" through a range of initiatives and programs.

The spokesperson said the proportion of students studying physics and mathematical methods increased by three percentage points between 2021 and 2025.

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