CANBERRA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Australia has "failed miserably" at getting women into science and mathematics, according to the country's top scientist.
Addressing the federal government's jobs summit on Thursday, Chief Scientist Cathy Foley said boosting female participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) was the way to meet increasing demand for workers in the industry.
She called for Ed Husic, minister for industry and science, to address the issue, saying the government should look at more people from Vocational Education and Training (VET) into those careers.
"That means we have to work out how to have more women in science, technology, engineering and maths," Foley said, according to Brisbane Times.
"I've been looking at this for 40 years and we've failed miserably. We probably need to consider how we can have a tech apprenticeship program that really is designed to be able to show our young people where the jobs and the futures are."
Thursday marked day one of the two-day jobs and skills summit, with conditions for women in the workplace and the gender pay gap as key issues.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised to bring government, employers, unions and business groups together for the summit to tackle economic challenges. ■
