Choose Maths: Getting more girls into maths Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI)

Janine McIntosh AMSI Schools Manager

Choose Maths Program Director

In a year when the first Australian and the first woman, CSIRO's Amanda Barnard, has won the prestigious Feynman Prize for Nanotechnology, it is difficult not to be excited at the potential of STEM.

Yesterday on Twitter:

AMSI was established in November, 2002

We aim to improve the teaching of mathematics at primary and secondary level by joining with teachers, mathematics teacher associations and government agencies to develop a strategy to address issues such as teacher shortfalls and under-qualified teachers.

AMSI has 36 members including university mathematics departments, the Australian Mathematics Trust, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO.

Australia - We need to talk •  There is a shortage of mathematically

capable professionals •  Industry need staff with mathematics and

statistics skills •  We need more qualified teachers •  Increasing the number of women could go

some way to addressing this

Schools ICE-EM Mathematics Textbooks written and developed for the Australian mathematics curriculum Published by Cambridge University Press www.icemaths.org.au

Consultation for the Australian mathematics curriculum AMSI worked extensively with ACARA during the development of the Australian mathematics curriculum

OUTREACH Over 500 schools have participated in an outreach program of professional development and school visits directly with AMSI specialists since 2005.

Advocacy, Policy and Government Relations

AMSI’s work is driven by data: •  Discipline Profile of

the Mathematical Sciences

•  Policy Measures in the national interest

The state of school maths

Out of field teaching Table 5.17 Teachers teaching in selected areas: qualifications, experience and professional learning activities

Area currently teaching

Years of tertiary education in the area (%) Methodology training in the

area?

Yes (%)

>5 years teaching experience in the

area?

Yes (%)

Professional learning in past 12

months in the area?

Yes (%) 1 2 3+ Total with at

least 1 year

Primary

LOTE 12.6 4.5 47.4 64.5 52.9 52.8 41.5

Special Needs 10.4 7.1 44.4 61.9 57.9 51.5 54.7

Secondary

Chemistry 11-12 6.8 14.8 74.9 96.5 67.5 69.7 44.2

IT 7/8-10 10.5 8.5 33.8 52.8 42.5 46.1 47.3

IT 11-12 11.3 8.5 46.9 66.8 52.0 64.4 62.6

Maths 7/8-10 15.2 15.7 45.8 76.7 60.4 62.8 49.4

Maths 11-12 9.1 16.6 64.1 89.7 76.3 78.3 59.7

Physics 11-12 19.9 16.8 54.1 90.9 56.9 66.5 43.5

Note: The figures reported in this table are estimates of population values obtained from the SiAS sample. Each should be seen as an estimate, not as an exact measure of the population that it represents. See Section 2.6 and Table 2.10 for a guide to the likely precision of the estimates in the table.

Source: Staff in Australia’s Schools 2010, ACER

Decline in Year 12 enrolments

14.2 13.6 13.6 12.8 12.4 12.0 11.4 11.2 11.8 11.7 11.3 10.6 10.3 10.3 10.3 10.1 9.6 9.4

27.3 26.9 27.2 26.2 25.2 25.1 24.3 23.5 23.7 22.7 22.6 21.8 21.1 20.7 20.4 19.9 19.8 19.4

37 37 39 39

41

47 45 46 47 46 47 48 48 49 49 50

52 52

0

20

40

60

Perc

enta

ge o

f Yea

r 12

(%)

Year 12 mathematics students in Australia (1995-2012)

Advanced Intermediate Elementary (estimated)

Source: Barrington, F. (2013) Year 12 Mathematics Participation Rates in Australia

The state of school maths

Decline in Year 12 participation

Source: Barrington, F. (2013) Year 12 Mathematics Participation Rates in Australia

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Perc

enta

ge lo

ss p

er y

ear

Percentage decline advanced mathematics

The state of school maths

Gender imbalance

0

5

10

15

20

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Part

icip

atio

n ra

te (%

)

Year 12 Advanced mathematics students in Australia

% of Year 12 females % of Year 12 males

Source: Barrington, F. (2014) Year 12 Mathematics Participation Rates in Australia

The state of school maths

Extract from Table C3.3a Distribution of tertiary new entrants, by field of education

Engineering and construction

Sciences Life sciences

Physical sciences

Mathematics and statistics

Computing

OECD Note

Australia 1 9 12 4 2 n 4

Denmark 12 8 1 1 1 4

Finland 2 25 9 1 3 1 4

Germany 2 16 13 2 4 2 4

Ireland 2 11 15 4 2 n 6

New Zealand 6 16 5 3 3 6

Sweden 19 11 2 2 2 5

United Kingdom 8 14 5 4 2 4

OECD average 15 10 2 2 1 4

EU21 average 15 11 2 2 1 4

Notes: 1: Exclude tertiary-type B programmes. 2: Exclude advanced research programmes. n: Magnitude is either negligible or zero.

Source: selected data form Education at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators

Low graduation rates relative to OECD

The state of school maths

Low graduation rates relative to OECD Extract from Table A4.3b Distribution of tertiary-type A and advanced research programmes graduates, by field of education (2009)

Engineering, Manufacturing

and construction

Science Life sciences

Physical sciences

Mathematics and statistics

Computing

OECD Note (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12)

Australia 1 7.2 10.6 3.4 1.9 0.5 4.9

Canada 1 8.5 13.0 6.6 2.9 1.4 2.1

Denmark 11.1 8.2 1.9 1.9 1.1 3.3

Finland 20.6 7.6 1.5 2.0 0.9 3.0

Germany 12.3 16.5 3.6 5.1 3.0 4.8

Ireland 8.1 11.6 3.9 1.7 0.9 3.6

New Zealand 6.3 12.5 5.3 2.5 1.3 3.9

Sweden 16.4 7.4 2.8 1.6 0.7 2.3

United Kingdom 9.2 13.6 4.3 3.8 1.5 4.1

OECD average 12.0 9.3 2.8 2.2 1.0 3.3

EU21 average 11.4 8.7 2.5 2.0 0.9 3.2

Notes: 1: Year of reference 2008.

Source: selected data form Education at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators

The state of school maths

ADVOCACY AND OUTREACH

The mathematics pipeline

Outreach

•  Outreach in school - Professional Development for mathematics teachers

•  Resources for teachers supporting the national curriculum

•  Maths Ad(d)s •  Maths: Make Your

Career Count •  Public engagement

With Jean-Marie de Konincks - MITACS: Co-organising an International Outreach Meeting at the Banff International Research Station in November 2015

ATSE •  working on solar panel

classroom materials

Times Education Supplement Australia •  In its first six months to March 2014, the 100 AMSI

resources on TES shared received 6280 views. •  Since March the number has increased to 10 783

views.

Cambridge University Press •  links to TIMES and SAM

Modules in electronic versions of ICE-EM Mathematics

SUCCESSFUL USD$50 000 grant for careers in aviation events - thanks to Boeing

SUPPORTING TEACHERS TO IMPLEMENT THE CURRICULUM

•  Videos •  Modules

www.amsi.org.au/teachermodules

www.amsi.org.au/mathsdelivers

Supporting the curriculum

•  Career awareness

careers.amsi.org.au/mathsadds

Supporting the curriculum

CURRICULUM CHALLENGES

Maths and Biology “the most rewarding aspect of Bioinfosummer was the emphasis on the crossover between biology and informatics”

Maths and Computing “I work for the Australian Government Antarctic Division as a data miner. My job is to collaborate with the scientists who go to Antarctica under Australia’s research program.”

Curriculum challenges

Engaging with girls

http://theconversation.com/meet-the-winners-of-the-fields-medal-the-nobel-prize-of-maths-30411

•  Two-year development of the project proposal

•  Five- year program of intervention, information and reward

•  Fixed budget, outcomes and KPIs •  Multi-pronged approach •  AMSI Member involvement opportunities

at every stage

$22, 111, 636

•  There is no known neuropsychological difference between boys and girls with respect to ability in mathematics

Gender Report 2014 Available in the Publications section of the AMSI Website

Questions

Ms Janine McIntosh, Schools Manager

Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute Phone: (03) 8344 1790 Email: janine@amsi.org.au Web: www.amsi.org.au