Role models and international exchanges can help make a difference: Australian and Korean experts discuss Women in STEM
Female STEM
professionals from Australia and South Korea gathered virtually on 11 May 2021 to
discuss the challenges that women face in the fields of science, engineering,
technology, and mathematics and to explore the role that cross-border
connections can play in achieving change.
The webinar was hosted
by the Australian Embassy in Seoul and the Korean Center for Women in Science,
Engineering, and Technology (WISET), with the support of the Korea Australia
Researcher Network (KARN).
H.E. Ms Catherine Raper,
the Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, opened the webinar, noting
its contribution to the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations
between Australia and Korea. Pointing out the growing education, science, and research
exchanges between the two countries, she urged participants to look for cross-border
opportunities in STEM and “small ways we can help achieve change.”
The speakers made a
case for having more women in STEM, arguing that it had not only moral but
economic benefits.
“STEM sectors
contribute hundreds of billions of dollars to Australia’s economy,” said Professor
Lisa Harvey-Smith, Australia’s Women in STEM Ambassador. “But women only make
up 17 per cent of STEM qualified people. If just 1 per cent of Australian women
train into STEM, we would add billions of dollars to our economy.”
Dr. Ahn Hye-yeon, President
of WISET, a public body dedicated to gender equity in STEM under Korea’s Ministry
of Science and ICT, mentioned Korea’s low birthrate and shrinking labor force, pointing
out that having more women in STEM would “help ease Korea’s shortage of skilled
scientists and engineers.”
Then how can we inspire
more women and girls into STEM? The speakers were all clear about one important
factor: having positive role models.
“The most
effective way to attract female students to STEM is to inspire them through a
success story,” Dr. Ahn said. To that end, WISET last month launched W-Bridge, a
lifelong career guidance platform to support women and girls in their STEM
journey.
Professor
Harvey-Smith said her office started a campaign called Future You, an
online animated website for children aged 8 to 12 to help girls explore a range
of STEM careers.
One of the
discussants, Ms. Jade Bujeya, who is studying for a Master of Data Science at
La Trobe University in Melbourne, shared her personal experience of growing up
with very few female STEM teachers and how misrepresentations in popular
culture had distorted the perception of women in STEM, driving girls away from
what could be a rewarding profession. “Providing these positive role models to
young women would really help them believe this is something they can do and be
successful in,” she said.
Women
in STEM also need to take on more leadership roles, and that’s where mentorship
and networking can help.
To address the
sharp drop in the number of women in STEM as they go up the career ladder, Dr.
Ahn said WISET started connecting mid-level female workers with female senior
executives in various STEM sectors.
Another discussant,
Dr. Lee Myung Sun, Director of Ewha Institute for Leadership Development, shared
the example of Ewha-Luce International Seminar (ELIS), a program that helps
female STEM graduate students from Asia and the U.S. develop leadership skills.
The speakers said
there were plenty of opportunities for cross-border collaborations in STEM.
Professor
Harvey-Smith highlighted the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, an
intergovernmental effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope in
Australia and South Africa by 2027. She mentioned Korea as an important partner
country and said “there will be many opportunities for us to share our
expertise and have more women trained into STEM.”
Ms. Bujeya, who
studied at Sogang University in Seoul as an Australian Government New Colombo
Plan Scholar in 2019 and interned at the Korean Centre for Artificial
Photosynthesis, encouraged young women thinking about a career in STEM to reach
out to universities and look into government scholarships, adding that study
abroad programs are more feasible than they appear.
Both female and
male researchers can join KARN, a free
platform that shares information and facilitates links between researchers from
Australia and Korea. In addition, the Australian Academy of Science STEM Women database is an
excellent resource profiling women with science, technology, engineering and
mathematics skills.