Curtin welcomes WA’s first STEM skills strategy for jobs of the future

Curtin University has welcomed Western Australia’s first State-wide STEM skills strategy, which aims to ensure the next generation is equipped to participate in the future workforce.

Minister for Science, Innovation and ICT, the Hon Dave Kelly MLA, today launched the new State Government strategy titled ‘Future Jobs, Future Skills: Driving STEM Skills in WA’.

Curtin University was represented on the STEM Advisory Panel, which helped guide the direction of the STEM skills strategy, through Professor Jo Ward, the Academic Lead for Curtin’s Athena SWAN program.

Curtin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said the new strategy aimed to ensure the current and future workforce was adequately trained to participate in a STEM future.

“Curtin is committed to developing industry-ready graduates who are equipped with the skills to drive WA’s technological future and this strategy creates an important framework to guide our workforce of the future,” Professor Terry said.

“As society and the economy increasingly relies on technology, there has never been a more important time to promote the role of STEM to the next generation, with a particular focus on encouraging female students to consider a career in the traditionally male-dominated sector.”

Curtin University’s Future of Work Institute has been awarded $150,000 from the State Government through the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation to carry out research with a particular focus on STEM-based industries in WA.

The research program, called ‘Public Policy in the Digital Age’, is being led by Professor John Phillimore, Executive Director of the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy (JCIPP), and aims to ensure WA remains competitive and generates high-value and high-wage jobs.

The five pillars of the new State-wide STEM skills strategy include skills for future jobs; STEM culture; school leadership and teacher excellence; diversity in STEM; and training and reskilling for jobs.

In 2018, Curtin was awarded bronze accreditation at the SAGE Athena SWAN Awards in recognition of the University’s commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine.

For more information about ‘Future Jobs, Future Skills: Driving STEM Skills in WA’, visit here.