TCA report says confidence levels a barrier to young women pursuing STEM
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The news: The Tech Council of Australia has released new research revealing that women make up only 20% of Australia's highly technical workforce, with confidence levels emerging as a significant barrier to young women pursuing engineering and technology careers.
The numbers: Women's participation in highly technical occupations has increased by just 2% over five years, from 18% to 20%. After age 40, the proportion drops to 16%, with women leaving the sector at almost twice the rate of men.
Girls' STEM confidence is 15% lower than boys despite similar academic performance. Only 20% of engineering and technology students in Australia are women, compared to 35% in Sweden.
The context: The report, "Women in Highly Technical Occupations: The Leaky Pipeline", developed with Commonwealth Bank, identifies three critical drop-out points affecting women's participation in technical roles. These are early high school subject choices, university degree enrolment, and mid-career retention.
The research comes as Australia aims to create 1.2 million tech workers by 2030.
Workplace culture emerges as a significant barrier, with 49% of women in STEM reporting harassment — five times the rate of men. Skilled migrants currently make up more than half of Australia's highly technical workforce, with women representing only 24% of that cohort.
What they said: "As a physicist and as Australia's former chief scientist, I have seen how science and technology transform lives, builds industries and safeguards our nation's future," said Cathy Foley, former chief scientist of Australia.
"But I have also seen how too often, women are held back, not by ability, but by barriers of confidence, culture and opportunity."
The source: Tech Council of Australia report
