The Age of STEM

Across the world, STEM (learning and work in Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics) has taken central importance in education and the economy in a
way that few other disciplines have. STEM competence has come to be seen as key to
higher productivity, technological adaptation and research-based innovation. No area
of educational provision has a greater current importance than the STEM disciplines
yet there is a surprising dearth of comprehensive and world-wide information about
STEM policy, participation, programmes and practice.
The Age of STEM is a state of the art survey of the global trends and major country
initiatives in STEM. It gives an international overview of issues such as:

x STEM strategy and coordination

x curricula, teaching and assessment
x women in STEM
x indigenous students
x research training
x STEM in the graduate labour markets
x STEM breadth and STEM depth.

The individual chapters give comparative international analysis as well as a global

overview, particularly focusing on the growing number of policies and practices in
mobilizing and developing talent in the STEM fields. The book will be of particular
interest to anyone involved in educational policy, those in education management and
leaders in both schooling and tertiary education. It will have a wider resonance among
practitioners in the STEM disciplines, particularly at university level, and for those
interested in contemporary public policy.

Brigid Freeman is Research Fellow at Melbourne Graduate School of Education,

University of Melbourne.

Simon Marginson is Professor of International Higher Education at the Institute of

Education, University of London, and Honorary Professorial Fellow at the Centre for
the Study of Higher Education, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University
of Melbourne.

Russell Tytler is Professor and Chair in Science Education at the Faculty of Arts and
Education, School of Education, Deakin University, Australia.
Routledge Research in Education

For a complete list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com.

108 The Politics of Pleasure in Sexuality Education

Pleasure Bound
Edited by Louisa Allen, Mary Lou Rasmussen, and Kathleen Quinlivan
109 Popular Culture, Pedagogy and Teacher Education
International Perspectives
Edited by Phil Benson and Alice Chik
110 Teacher Training and the Education of Black Children
Bringing Color into Difference
Uvanney Maylor
111 Secrecy and Tradecraft in Educational Administration
The covert side of educational life
Eugenie A. Samier
112 Affirming Language Diversity in Schools and Society
Beyond Linguistic Apartheid
Edited by Pierre Wilbert Orelus
113 Teacher Leadership: New Conceptions for Autonomous Student
Learning in the Age of the Internet
Kokila Roy Katyal and Colin Evers
114 Test Fraud
Statistical Detection and Methodology
Edited by Neal M. Kingston and Amy K. Clark
115 Literacy, Play and Globalization
Converging Imaginaries in Childrens Critical and
Cultural Performances
Carmen Liliana Medina and Karen E. Wohlwend
116 Biotechnology, Education and Life Politics
Debating Genetic Futures from School to Society
Pdraig Murphy
117 Vernaculars in the Classroom
Paradoxes, Pedagogy, Possibilities
Shondel Nero and Dohra Ahmad
118 Professional Uncertainty, Knowledge and Relationship in the Classroom
A psycho-social perspective
Joseph Mintz
119 Negotiating Privilege and Identity in Educational Contexts
Adam Howard, Aimee Polimeno, and Brianne Wheeler
120 Liberty and Education
A civic republican approach
Geoffrey Hinchliffe
121 Constructing Narratives of Continuity and Change
A transdisciplinary approach to researching lives
Edited by Hazel Reid and Linden West
122 Education, Philosophy and Wellbeing
New perspectives on the work of John White
Edited by Judith Suissa, Carrie Winstanley and Roger Marples
123 Chinese Students Writing in English Implications from a corpus-driven
study
Maria Leedham
124 9/11 and Collective Memory in US Classrooms
Teaching about Terror
Cheryl Lynn Duckworth
125 African Americans and Homeschooling
Motivations, Opportunities and Challenges
Ama Mazama and Garvey Musumunu
126 Lesson Study
Professional learning for our time
Edited by Peter Dudley
127 Refugee Women, Representation and Education
Creating a discourse of self-authorship and potential
Melinda McPherson
128 Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Schools
Examining the impact and opportunities within educational systems
Anit Somech and Izhar Oplatka
129 The Age of STEM
Educational policy and practice across the world in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics
Edited by Brigid Freeman, Simon Marginson and Russell Tytler
130 Mainstreams, Margins and the Spaces In-between
New possibilities for education research
Edited by Karen Trimmer, Ali Black and Stewart Riddle
This page intentionally left blank
The Age of STEM
Educational policy and practice across
the world in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics

Edited by Brigid Freeman,

Simon Marginson and Russell Tytler
First published 2015
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2015 Brigid Freeman, Simon Marginson and Russell Tytler
The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been
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Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN: 9781138785953 (hbk)

ISBN: 9781315767512 (ebk)

Typeset in Galliard
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
Contents

List of figures ix
List of tables xi
Notes on contributors xiii
Preface xviii
Acknowledgements xxi

1 Widening and deepening the STEM effect 1

BRIGID FREEMAN, SIMON MARGINSON AND RUSSELL TYTLER

2 What international comparisons can tell us 22

SIMON MARGINSON

3 From STEM to STEAM: achievements and challenges

in dynamic Korea 33
JAE-EUN JON AND HAE-IN CHUNG

4 An emerging giant of science: achievements and

challenges of STEM education in China 47
YUAN GAO

5 Invigorate the Asian Tiger: science education in Taiwan 67

YUAN GAO

6 Japan: restoring faith in science through competitive

STEM strategy 81
MAYUMI ISHIKAWA, ASHLYN MOEHLE AND SHOTA FUJII

7 STEM and STEM education in the United States 102

ADAM V. MALTESE, GEOFF POTVIN, FLORIN D. LUNG AND
CRAIG D. HOCHBEIN
viii Contents
8 Canada: decentralization, federalism and STEM 134
JULIAN WEINRIB AND GLEN A. JONES

9 Changing the shape of STEM: wisdom of grassroots

Indigenous movements in Canada 151
GLEN S. AIKENHEAD AND DAWN SUTHERLAND

10 United Kingdom: an example of the impact of high

stakes accountability regimes on STEM education 161
ANTHONY TOMEI, JUSTIN DILLON AND EMILY DAWSON

11 Federal and state STEM policies and programmes spanning

Australian education, training, science and innovation 178
BRIGID FREEMAN

12 New Zealand: towards inclusive STEM education

for all students 201
ELIZABETH McKINLEY, MARK GAN, CATHY BUNTTING AND ALISTER JONES

13 STEM education in France: pathways and obstacles to

greater participation 215
KELLY ROBERTS AND ELODIE DE OLIVEIRA

14 STEMming the tide: the Finnish way to a technologically

proficient workforce 234
IAN R. DOBSON

15 Between historical advantages and global challenges:

do the STEM disciplines matter in Russia? 249
ANNA SMOLENTSEVA

16 A keystone to the future of Brazil: fostering general and

STEM education for an inclusive development 266
HUGO HORTA AND PAULO NORONHA LISBOA FILHO

17 STEM education in the quest to build a new South Africa 278

MICHAEL KAHN

Index 292
Figures

3.1 Directions for educating global human resources in science and

technology, Korea 40
3.2 Korea STEAM: policy, research and education 43
4.1 Organization chart of the science system in China 49
4.2 Number of science teachers with different levels of
qualifications, China, 200510 51
4.3 Undergraduate enrolments in STEM fields, China, 200510 55
4.4 Postgraduate enrolments in STEM fields, China, 200510 56
4.5 Number of teachers in science-related fields by title, China,
200509 57
5.1 Number of higher education institutions by type, Taiwan,
200611 73
5.2 R&D personnel (FTE) by type, Taiwan, 200611 77
5.3 R&D personnel (FTE) by qualification, Taiwan, 200611 77
6.1 Total study hours of mathematics and sciences in Japanese
primary and secondary education, 19582008 84
6.2 Ratio of undergraduate students in STEM faculties,
Japan, 200111 87
6.3 Ratio of new employees entering professional or technical
jobs in 2012 by level of education, Japan 89
6.4 Ratio of Japanese private companies that employ masters
and doctoral graduates 90
6.5 Ratio of female researchers in selected developed countries 92
7.1 Long-term trend mathematics scores by gender and age,
United States, 19782012 104
7.2 PISA mathematics and science scale scores for the
United States and the OECD average score, 200009 108
7.3 Plot of PISA 2009 exam scores by GDP purchasing power
parity and scaled by each countrys youth population (age 524) 109
7.4 Percentage of high school graduates who completed
selected mathematics and science courses, United States, 2009 117
7.5 Number of degrees awarded in various STEM disciplines,
by rank of degree, United States, 201011 academic year 118
x Figures
7.6 Growth trends in post-secondary STEM degrees,
United States, 19702010 academic years 119
7.7 Percentage of bachelors degrees awarded to females in
various STEM disciplines, with non-STEM disciplines as
comparison, United States, 2010 120
7.8 Trends in employment of science and engineering graduates,
United States 122
13.1 Diagram representing the pathways and tracks through
French school education 216
13.2 Number of enrolled tertiary students by type of programme,
France, 19902012 220
13.3 The proportion of students enrolled or graduating from
STEM and STEM-related fields at ISCED levels 5 and 6 in France,
200210 222
13.4 The percentage of ISCED level 5 and 6 tertiary graduates by
STEM field in France, 200009 223
13.5 The number of science-related tertiary graduates in 2010 among
2534-year-olds in employment, per 100,000 of this cohort in
employment, France and OECD average 223
13.6 Percentage of time spent in unemployment by 2007 graduates
by course, France 224
13.7 The proportion of male and female graduates from ISCED
level 5 and 6 study in the fields of mathematics, science and
technology in France, 200210 227
13.8 The percentage of ISCED level 5 and 6 tertiary enrolments
by STEM field female versus all enrolments, France and
Australia, 2010 227
14.1 Doctoral students in science and technology fields in 2010 as
a percentage of the total population aged 2029 ranked
selected countries 244
15.1 Enrolments in STEM in higher education, bachelor/
specialist/masters programmes, Russia, 200510 254
15.2 Womens enrolments in STEM in higher education as a
proportion of all enrolments, by field, bachelor/specialist/
masters programmes (%), Russia 256
Tables

3.1 Proportion of student enrolment by fields of study in tertiary

education, Korea, 200512 34
4.1 Summary of national strategies for improving science education
in the higher education sector, China 62
6.1 Japan PISA rank (score), 200009 85
7.1 Mean NAEP science scale scores for American students,
by grade, gender and race/ethnicity, 19962011 106
7.2 TIMSS mathematics and science scale scores by grade,
United States, 19952011 107
7.3 Percentages of 8th-grade students who agreed with the
statement I like (subject), United States 111
7.4 Percentage of respondents who agree with statements
about science, by selected country 113
7.5 Breakdown of United States-born scientists and engineers
on United States economic sectors and sub-sectors 121
8.1 Proportions of men and women with earned doctorates,
Canada, 1993 to 2008 136
8.2 Percentage of 15-year-old boys and girls planning a
science-related career (Canada, Australia, OECD average) 142
8.3 Course enrolment as a percentage of total grade
12 enrolment, Canada 143
8.4 Canadian undergraduate graduates, by field of study, 200510 144
8.5 Graduation rates, advanced research programming (PhD),
by field of study, Canada, 200510 144
8.6 Enrolment by field of study, Canada and OECD, 2009 145
8.7 Doctoral graduation rates, select countries, 200509 146
8.8 Science-related graduates among 2534-year-olds in employment
(Canada, Australia, OECD average), 2009 148
11.1 Summary of university, R&D and innovation policies, reports and
strategies, Australia 194
14.1 Course completions: graduates from curriculum-based vocational
education (2011), university (2012) and polytechnic (2012)
by field of study, level and per cent women, Finland 243
xii Tables
14.2 Human resources in science and technology as a share of
labour force selected countries and years total per cent
ranked, 200011 245
15.1 Number of institutions and students in the Russian educational
system, 2011 251
15.2 Enrolments in STEM in secondary vocational education, thousands,
Russia, 200410 253
15.3 Enrolments in STEM in higher education, by field, bachelor/
specialist/masters programmes, Russia, 200510 255
15.4 Enrolments in STEM at postgraduate (Candidate of
Sciences/PhD) level, by field, Russia, 200511 257
15.5 Survey of parents of school students of Years 89 and
Years 1011, Russia 258
15.6 Distribution of workforce with higher education by
occupation, Russia, 2006 259
15.7 R&D expenditure by sectoral location of research,
Russia, 2010 260
15.8 Number of R&D staff by sector, Russia, 19952010 261
16.1 Number of enrolled students in Brazilian higher education,
2001 and 2011 270
17.1 Full-time equivalent (FTE) researchers and technicians,
by sector, South Africa, 1992 and 2008 281
17.2 Goals of the 2014 Action Plan, South Africa, 200924 281
17.3 Biology, mathematics, mathematical literacy and physical
science: entry and performance, South Africa, 200610 283
Contributors

Glen S. Aikenhead, Professor Emeritus, University of Saskatchewan, Canada,

is engaged in cross-cultural school science for both Indigenous and non-
Indigenous students. His current focus concerns combining Indigenous
and scientific ways of understanding the physical world in curriculum devel-
opment, textbook production, professional development, and Indigenous
traditional knowledge fairs. Email: glen.aikenhead@usask.ca
Cathy Buntting is a senior researcher within the Wilf Malcolm Institute of
Educational Research at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Her research
interests are in science and technology education, including biotechnology
education, and she was responsible for managing the initial development of
the New Zealand Biotechnology Learning Hub. Her current research focus
is on how ICTs can enhance student learning in these subject areas. Email:
buntting@waikato.ac.nz
Hae-In Chung received her MA in Educational Administration at Seoul National
University and is a PhD student in the Department of Educational and
Organizational Leadership at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, United
States. Currently, she is working as a research assistant at the Higher Education
Research Institute at Korea University. Email: iamhaein@gmail.com
Emily Dawson is a lecturer in science engagement and communication at Kings
College London. Her research and teaching focuses on how people engage
with and learn about science, with an emphasis on equity, in particular the
construction of publics and non publics for science. Email: emily.dawson@
kcl.ac.uk
Elodie De Oliveira is a French and Portuguese national, and a London School of
Economics graduate in public sector management. She has been focusing her
professional career in the field of education, and currently works as a consult-
ant for the OECDs Education and Skills Directorate. Email: ellie.deoliveira@
gmail.com
Justin Dillon is Professor of Science and Environmental Education and head
of the Science and Technology Education Group at Kings College London.
xiv Contributors
His research interests focus on the learning and teaching of science with a par-
ticular focus on contexts beyond the classroom. Email: justin.dillon@kcl.ac.uk

Ian R. Dobson, now an honorary Research Fellow with the University of

Ballarat, spent his career in university administration. A co-resident of Australia
and Finland, he has been a freelance researcher since February 2005. He
also revises English-language texts, edits two higher education journals, and
is Helsinki correspondent for University World News. Email: ianrdobson@
optusnet.com.au

Brigid Freeman holds a Masters in Education Policy (International) from the

University of Melbourne, and is undertaking a PhD examining university gov-
ernance, policy and strategy. She is a Research Fellow with the Education Policy
and Leadership Unit, University of Melbourne. Brigid managed the STEM:
Country Comparisons Project for the Australian Council of Learned Academies
(ACOLA) and Australian Chief Scientist, including research examining
Australian STEM policy and practice. Email: brigid.freeman@unimelb.edu.au

Shota Fujii is a PhD candidate in modern Western history at the Graduate School
of Letters, Kyoto University, who specializes in the modern history of British
professional sports. He completed his Masters of Arts at Kyoto University and
received an MA in Sports History and Culture from De Montfort University,
UK. He currently works as a specially appointed researcher at the Department
of International Affairs, Osaka University and conducts research for the uni-
versitys international strategy and policy-making. Email: oippfujii@gmail.com

Mark Gan is a Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, New Zealand,

working for the Starpath Project for Tertiary Participation and Success. In the
Starpath Project, Marks research focuses on building schools data use and
capability, particularly in science departments. His current research interests
include developing teacher and learner engagement with feedback and the role
of peers in the feedback process. Email: m.gan@auckland.ac.nz

Yuan Gao is currently a PhD candidate at the Centre for the Study of Higher Education
(CSHE), University of Melbourne. She is conducting research in international
and comparative education, university internationalization and its measurement.
Previously, she was a programme coordinator with the International Office of
Nankai University in China. Email: karengao13@gmail.com

Craig D. Hochbein is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at Lehigh

University. He holds a doctorate in educational leadership. His research exam-
ines the processes associated with declining academic achievement and the
policies intended to improve school performance. Craig serves as an assistant
editor for the journal School Effectiveness and School Improvement. Email: craig.
hochbein@lehigh.edu

Hugo Horta is the Deputy Director and Researcher at the Center for Innovation,
Technology and Policy Research IN+ at the Instituto Superior Tcnico,
 Contributors xv
Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal. His research is focused on higher
education and science and technology studies, encompassing national and
institutional comparative perspectives. Currently, he is researching the mobil-
ity patterns of doctorates and academics. Email: hugo.horta@ist.utl.pt
Mayumi Ishikawa is Professor of the Institute for Academic Initiatives, Osaka
University, Japan. With a PhD in anthropology from Osaka University, her
research interests include the globalization of higher education and science
policy, the mobility of students and scholars as well as power and the construc-
tions of knowledge. Email: ishikawa@iai.osaka-u.ac.jp
Jae-Eun Jon is a Research Professor at the Higher Education Research
Institute at Korea University. She received her PhD from the Comparative
and International Development Education programme at the University of
Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her research interests include comparative education
and international higher education focusing on international student mobility.
Email: jejon@korea.ac.kr
Alister Jones is a Research Professor and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University
of Waikato, New Zealand. He is Director of the New Zealand Science and
Biotechnology Learning Hubs and co-chairs an APEC working group on
science and mathematics education. He is also a Director for a number of
companies, including Cognition Education Limited, WaikatoLink and Priority
One and Managing Director of the Australasian Science Education Research
Association Limited. Email: a.jones@waikato.ac.nz
Glen A. Jones is the Ontario Research Chair in Postsecondary Education Policy
and Measurement and Professor of Higher Education at the Ontario Institute
for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. His research interests
include higher education systems, governance, academic work, and higher
education policy in Canada. Additional information on his research activities
can be found at www.glenjones.ca. Email: gjones@oise.utoronto.ca
Michael Kahn is an analyst consultant in the fields of research and innovation,
with a special interest in science and mathematics education. He holds PhD and
MA degrees from the University of London, and is Professor Extraordinaire at
Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Email: mjkahn@sun.ac.za
Paulo Noronha Lisboa Filho is Deputy Director at the Faculty of Sciences of
So Paulo State University (UNESP). He is a physicist, earned a Doctor of
Sciences degree at UFSCar in Brazil and works with Nanotechnology and
Science Teaching. From 2009 to 2013 he coordinated the Materials Science
and Technology Graduate Programme of UNESP. Email: plisboa@fc.unesp.br
Florin D. Lung is an instructor of physics at Mississippi State University. In
2011 he earned his doctorate in physics from Clemson University, where he
also did postdoctoral research in physics education. Before moving to the US
in 2005, he worked as a high school physics teacher and as a school psycholo-
gist in Romania. Email: florinlung@gmail.com
xvi Contributors
Adam V. Maltese is Assistant Professor of Science Education at Indiana
University. He holds a doctorate in science education from the University of
Virginia. His research focuses on student interest and engagement as well as
student learning in STEM. He is adjunct faculty in geological sciences and a
former middle school teacher. Email: amaltese@indiana.edu
Simon Marginson is Professor of International Higher Education at the Institute
of Higher Education, University of London, UK. Until October 2013 he
was Professor of Higher Education at the Centre for the Study of Higher
Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is joint editor-in-
chief of the academic journal Higher Education. His work focuses on higher
education and globalization. Email: s.marginson@ioe.ac.uk
Elizabeth McKinley, of Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa and Ngai Tahu descent,
has worked extensively in Maori education in New Zealand. She is currently
the Director of the Starpath Project for Tertiary Participation and Success, a
project aimed at transforming educational outcomes for Maori and Pacific stu-
dents, and students from low decile schools with academic ability and potential,
who are currently under-represented in degree-level tertiary education. Email:
e.mckinley@auckland.ac.nz
Ashlyn Moehle is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Language and
Culture, Osaka University, where she received her masters degree in Japanese
Studies. In 2011, Ashlyn began working as a research assistant for Osaka
Universitys Department of International Affairs, where her research focuses
on Japanese higher education and internationalization of the curriculum.
Email: ashlynmoehle@gmail.com
Geoff Potvin is Assistant Professor of Physics at Florida International University
and is affiliated with FIUs STEM Transformation Institute. He holds a doc-
torate in theoretical physics. His research interests include gender issues in the
physical sciences, socio-cultural studies of graduate education, and the recruit-
ment of future STEM practitioners. Email: gpotvin@clemson.edu
Kelly Roberts is currently finalizing her doctoral studies at the University of
Melbourne. She recently returned from working as a consultant at the OECD
in Paris, within the Innovation and Measuring Progress division. Earlier this
year, Kelly was involved in the STEM: Country Comparisons Project for the
Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA) and Australian Chief
Scientist. Email: kellyroberts25@gmail.com
Anna Smolentseva is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Education at
National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.
She is a sociologist of education focusing on issues of globalization and inter-
nationalization in higher education, research universities, educational inequality
and the academic profession. Email: asmolentseva@yahoo.com
Dawn Sutherland, PhD, is a Professor, University of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
and was awarded a Canada Research Chair in 2006. Dr Sutherland is exploring
 Contributors xvii
the relationship between culture and science education in a variety of settings
including First Nation, inner-city and rural. The appointment builds on her
expertise in teaching education students in the field of science by incorporat-
ing traditional Indigenous knowledge into her lessons. Dr Sutherland aims to
have Indigenous cultures integrated into school curricula so science education
is more meaningful, interesting, and relevant for Indigenous students. Email:
d.sutherland@uwinnipeg.ca
Anthony Tomei is a Visiting Professor at Kings College London. From 1995
to 2012 he was Director of the Nuffield Foundation, a charitable trust with
a long record of supporting research and development in science and math-
ematics education. He was appointed CBE in 2013, for services to Education.
Email: atomei@blueyonder.co.uk
Russell Tytler is Professor of Science Education at Deakin University. He has
researched and written extensively on student learning and reasoning in science,
pedagogical innovation and teacher learning, student attitudes and aspirations
to STEM, and curriculum policy and development. He is a member of the PISA
2015 science expert group. Email: russell.tytler@deakin.edu.au
Julian Weinrib is a Research Officer at the University of Toronto, Canada. His
work focuses on post-secondary education system design, the academic profes-
sion, globalization of higher education, and the scholarship of teaching and
learning. He has also worked as a Policy Advisor for the Ontario Ministry of
Training, Colleges and Universities, and holds a PhD in Higher Education
Studies from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the
University of Toronto. Email: jules.weinrib@gmail.com
Preface

The first origin of The Age of STEM was a policy research programme focused
on the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
It was initiated by the Australian governments Chief Scientist, Professor Ian
Chubb in 2012. The driving normative concern was to lift national performance
in the STEM disciplines, by increasing the level and distribution of STEM learn-
ing in upper secondary education, growing the number of students studying
STEM disciplines at university level, enhancing the use of STEM-related knowl-
edge and skills in the workplace, lifting the quantity and quality of research
science, and raising the profile of STEM in the public mind. Like many govern-
ments, the Australian government was sure that better national performance
in STEM was crucial to enhancing innovation in industry, and workforce pro-
ductivity, and in equipping the whole population for a future world in which
engineering, technology and public discussion of science problems were going
to be central and vital.
Australias planned programme of STEM-related work consisted of six discrete
projects. These were managed by the Australian Council of Learned Academies
(ACOLA) and included a project on STEM: Country comparisons. The project
was chaired by Simon Marginson, with Russell Tytler as deputy chair and Brigid
Freeman as project manager. We carried out this project from October 2012
to March 2013, with indispensable help from the ACOLA secretariat; from an
Expert Working Group (EWG) from the learned academies in science, engineer-
ing, social sciences and humanities; and from a team of consultants from around
the world who at our request prepared country studies of participation, poli-
cies and programmes in STEM. Much work of high quality was done in a com-
pressed time frame. We are most thankful to the EWG and to the consultants,
who responded so well to the impossible deadlines in this project.
The project report has been widely publicized and well received, attracting
some international attention. We are grateful to all the colleagues who worked
with us on this challenging and fascinating study. We would like to mention in
particular the chairs of the ACOLA STEM programme, Alan Finkel and Michael
Barber, ACOLA Executive Officer Jacques de vos Malan, and Lesley Johnson,
the President of ACOLA. We also thank the Office of the Chief Scientist, and
especially Ian Chubb, for making effective and timely use of the ideas developed
 Preface xix
in our project report (Chubb 2013). It has been an honour to work with Profes-
sor Chubb.
Following completion of the country reports and the main project reports
it was clear that we had a wealth of useful material about STEM programmes
around the world, that there was considerable policy interest everywhere in rela-
tion to STEM, and the comparative data were of special interest. The comparative
data enable a deeper understanding of the global context of trends in relation to
STEM, and open up a fascinating set of country studies, including path-breaking
policy initiatives in some jurisdictions. Clearly the usefulness of these country
reports, many of great quality, transcends their original purpose of providing
policy advice for Australia. STEM is like art, it is international, though always
nuanced within historical and national contexts. And many countries are pursuing
STEM upgrading programmes with great energy.
We were aware that the consultants reports were in the public domain but
were likely to remain largely unnoticed somewhere in a corner of the vast knowl-
edge bank we lightly call the Internet. The obvious thing to do was to develop
a book from the material we had in hand. A book that included all of the com-
missioned studies would be too long, however. Therefore, we wrote to those
consultants who had worked on country studies likely to be of greatest general
interest, and asked them if they could shorten their country reports into 5000
7000-word chapters, in a short-time, so the published material would be as up
to date as possible. We were delighted when everyone agreed and even more
delighted when each person delivered with awesome quality and speed.
The Age of STEM is the result. We hope that it will contribute to the expand-
ing ongoing international discussion about the STEM disciplines, their evolution,
their inclusion and many effects in economy and society; and that it will help us to
understand each other and learn from each other. The book is a contribution to
understanding the scale and nature of what has become a significant global move-
ment, understanding what is at stake, and understanding the shifting politics and
policy environment of STEM.
This book is dedicated to all those committed to widening and deepening
the contributions of STEM to our society, economy and common humanity as
part of the larger contribution of knowledge, learning, scholarship and research
in all fields.
We do not see the STEM disciplines as necessarily superior to other disci-
plines. We emphasize the need to lift the potency of the humanities, and enhance
the capacity of education systems in the social sciences, foreign language learning,
and professional and occupational training outside STEM. Ideally we would like
to see more students studying STEM to a later stage in their education, and also
see solely STEM-specialist students broadening their studies to engage deeply
in the humanities and social sciences. It should not be a case of either/or but
rather one of both and more (and also better). It should be possible to config-
ure educational structures and programmes to lift learning all round. We believe
that science must become more aware of society, and society must become more
intelligent about science.
xx Preface
Contents of the book
The first chapter summarizes general issues entailed in STEM policies and pro-
grammes as an introduction to the country chapters. Chapter 2 reflects on the
intellectual process of making international comparisons and global judgements,
and on what comparisons can and cannot tell us. Then the country studies fol-
low, beginning with the dynamic region of East Asia (Korea, China, Taiwan
and Japan), followed by the English-speaking countries (United States, Can-
ada, Canadian Indigenous, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand), Europe
(France, Finland and Russia) and emerging Brazil and South Africa.
In addition to the above thanks we express our sincere gratitude to Christina
Low, Commissioning Editor at Routledge, for her support and assistance.
Brigid Freeman, Simon Marginson, Russell Tytler
Melbourne, 1 November 2013

Reference
Chubb, I. (2013). Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in the National
Interest: A strategic approach. Canberra: Office of the Chief Scientist, Department
of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Acknowledgements

The authors, editors and publishers gratefully acknowledge that this publication
has been developed on the basis of research commissioned by the Australian
Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA).
ACOLA is the interface of the four Learned Academies: Academy of the Social
Sciences in Australia, Australian Academy of the Humanities, Australian Academy
of Science and Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
ACOLA delivers inter-disciplinary research across key areas of public policy.
In the period 2012 to 2015, ACOLA manages the research programme Securing
Australias Future, an initiative of the Chief Scientist of Australia, funded through
the Australian Research Council and established to provide evidence-based
research to the Prime Ministers Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.
This page intentionally left blank
1 Widening and deepening the
STEM effect
Brigid Freeman, Simon Marginson
and Russell Tytler

Introduction
This book began as a policy research project instigated in 2012 by the Australian
governments Chief Scientist Professor Ian Chubb, working through the structure
of the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA). The four academies
cover scholar-researchers in Australia in science, engineering and technology,
social science and humanities. The project was titled STEM: Country compari-
sons. Its goal was to critically examine and compare approaches, in countries
and regions across the world, to capacity building in education in the STEM
disciplines: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The project also
focused on the take-up of STEM skills in the labour market.
The wheels of policy advice can turn slowly but not in this case. Within six
months the project had generated a main report (Marginson et al. 2013) and
24 appendixes, mostly in the form of reports by individual consultants prepared
especially for the project. These were STEM country and region reports, covering
most members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD), and other nations in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. STEM
programmes are active in almost all nations. In governments around the world
it is believed there is a relationship between, on the one hand, national invest-
ment in STEM-related skills, and the quality and quantity of the national skill
base, and, on the other hand, the economic productivity of the workforce. With
reason, it is also believed there is a relationship between the quantity and qual-
ity of high-level STEM skills and knowledge, and research-based innovations in
industry. There is no contemporary nation with an economy both vigorous and
well integrated that is not also strong in STEM.
Research conducted for the project investigated all levels of education except
early childhood learning, with emphasis on the senior secondary and tertiary years,
including doctoral education. It covered both academic education and technical/
vocational training, and the interface of each with employers, occupations/profes-
sions, the workplace and other education sectors. Special attention was given to
the participation of girls and women in STEM, and students from social groups
under-represented in STEM learning or STEM-related work. Indigenous partici-
pation was the subject of separate reports in two countries and discussed in other
national reports. In summary, the work focused on:
2 B. Freeman, S. Marginson and R. Tytler
t trends in STEM enrolments in all educational domains;
t access of STEM graduates to the labour market;
t the perceived relevance of STEM to economic growth and well-being;
t what countries are doing to address declining STEM uptake and its impact
on the workforce, and/or lifting national performance the strategies, poli-
cies and programmes used to enhance STEM at all levels of education; and
judgements concerning the outcomes of those programmes: whether the
measures were successful and how this was evaluated;
t whether the measures used by different countries could become translated
effectively across borders and where policy and professional practice might
need to be modified to enable such policy borrowing and adaptation.

The emphasis on policy and strategy meant that the main focus was on national
and provincial government programmes dealing with STEM. Nevertheless, strategies
and programmes developed by education institutions and some non-government
organizations were also considered to be relevant (for example, foundations in
the United States), and the potential of joint industry-education bodies was seen
as significant.
While the government-generated policy research project was primarily focused on
whether the solutions developed in other countries could be usefully applied to STEM
provision in Australian education, and maintenance of a STEM-skilled workforce in
that country, on perusal of the country reports it was quickly apparent that the material
had a larger meaning that it would be of interest in all countries, not just Australia.
Not only are many countries doing new and interesting things in STEM at
school and university level, not only are some government programmes very effec-
tive, the country tales about barriers, difficulties and dilemmas also provide valuable
insights. We can all learn much from each other. There are significant parallels
and similarities between countries, in the educational and policy issues involved in
STEM, which has become strategically important to all. At the same time, when
STEM programmes work their way through the national and local contexts of each
system they encounter different traditions, customs and assumptions about profes-
sional roles and responsibilities. The consultants to the STEM project created a
rich set of individual cases from which general lessons can be drawn. This raised the
question of how best to communicate those lessons to the world.
The pick of the consultants reports for the policy research project have now
been turned into country chapters for this book. The result is a rich descrip-
tion of the country sites, across the broad range of educational stages and the
education/labour market interface. The country chapters can also be compared
with each other, and aggregated into a global picture. This broad and compara-
tive approach allows much data to be considered together, constituting what we
know of the age of STEM. At the same time, as we have been aware throughout
this work, the inclusive and comparative approach precludes detailed analysis of
the highly diversified, stratified, hierarchical and culturally specific character of
STEM policy and practice in each country. Much more could be said about each
national system and each deserves books in its own right. We hope though that
 Widening and deepening the STEM effect 3
the broad and inclusive overview provided in this book will trigger more detailed
inquiries and deeper learning.
Unfortunately we were unable to include all countries on a full-length basis as
the book would have been much too long for the publisher. We are indebted to
the project consultants for so quickly and so capably preparing their work in short
form for a wider readership. We are also indebted to ACOLA for its encourage-
ment and support for the publication of this material.

Definition of STEM
STEM is here defined as learning and/or work in the fields of Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics, including preliminary learning at school prior to
entry into the specific disciplines. The discipline grouping, and the term itself, are
not used uniformly in international educational policy or practice. For example,
STEM might or might not be held to include the health professions, agriculture,
environment and related fields, computing, and psychology. However, it appears
that in most jurisdictions, science, engineering and related technologies, and
mathematics, are the de facto core. The focus of this book is largely on learning
and student choice-making in relation to that core.

STEM in society
Attitudes to STEM
A number of the country chapters point to evidence of public awareness of the
value of STEM though often the same countries are concerned about inad-
equate numbers of students going on with high-value STEM programmes at
senior secondary or the tertiary stage.
In Korea, poll data suggest that public interest in science and technology has
increased, driven by interest in new scientific discoveries and awareness of the
relevance of science and technology in daily life. The media has been important
in popularizing science. In the United States, awareness of the benefits of science
and technology is particularly high among young people. Generally it is stronger
among men than women. Attitudes can vary between countries. For example, in
response to the survey proposition Because of science and technology there will
be more opportunities for the next generation, there was 91 per cent agreement
in the United States, 84 per cent in Korea, 82 per cent in China, 75 per cent in
the European Union but 66 per cent in Japan (Marginson et al. 2013).

The family
A positive attitude to science and technology does not always translate into
engagement in STEM learning and aspirations for STEM-based work. For exam-
ple, as explored in the chapter on Korea, while Koreans consider STEM important
for Korean society, they do not necessarily prefer STEM-related professions for
4 B. Freeman, S. Marginson and R. Tytler
themselves. Doctors, government officials and teachers enjoy higher prestige than
STEM workers. There are widespread perceptions that STEM careers are rela-
tively insecure and do not pay well. This might explain the partial retreat of too
many high-quality students from STEM studies, and it probably undercuts the
credibility of the STEM disciplines with many other students. The answer here is
not necessarily to make STEM more entertaining or reduce content demands. In
Japan, where mandatory hours and standards in STEM were successively lowered
for two decades and PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment)
performance declined, since 2008 there has been a return to stronger content
requirements and less open choice. This change has public and family support
and seems to be associated with a consolidation of STEM enrolments.
In many, if not all, countries parents are seen as key often it is they who will
decide whether socially positive attitudes to STEM lead to STEM study and work.
The family is especially important in East Asia and Singapore, through out of
school tutorials and extra classes. This additional learning helps to explain the
spectacular performance of the Post-Confucian systems (see Marginson 2014)
in the tests of 15-year-old achievement in mathematics, science and reading that
are conducted through the OECDs PISA (OECD 2013). The United Kingdom
focuses on informal education links with more broadly based initiatives on pub-
lic engagement with science, acknowledging the role of families in influencing
children through participation in informal science and mathematics activities. A
number of STEM initiatives in Europe involve schools linking with local commu-
nities, again acknowledging the importance of families. The research literature on
STEM achievement suggests that conjoint keys to student achievement in STEM
are (1) family cultural capital, and (2) student self-efficacy.
At the same time, not all students have family support. Not all have families.
Here the role of institutional education, including teachers, is not just important
but all-important.

Students
Regardless of family support, the attitude of students themselves can be crucial.
Research in Australia suggests that students experience and developing inten-
tions in primary education and the lower secondary years determine their inten-
tions to continue or not with STEM-related subjects and careers.
Research in many countries shows that there is a pattern of declining inter-
est in STEM in the middle secondary years and that girls are more likely to lose
interest than boys though gender factors vary from country to country. There is
also a shift from pure science to a growing awareness of the science-based profes-
sions such as engineering. In these years programmes designed to link students
to STEM professionals can be decisive.

Work and society

The STEM disciplines create direct economic benefits in that they help to form
skilled labour. Nevertheless it is doubtful if labour market demand, or rates of
 Widening and deepening the STEM effect 5
return to STEM graduates, constitute sufficiently powerful arguments alone to
justify expansion of STEM capabilities in the population; and in any case the
economic and social rationale for STEM is larger than this. The STEM disciplines
generate many benefits, individual and collective.
Even more than its role in science-based occupations, STEM has a generic role
in fostering productivity, technological innovation and workplace understanding
and flexibility. The widespread emphasis on universal STEM acquisition, through-
out the worlds schooling systems, reflects the ubiquitous role of science and
technology in work and living. Preparing students in STEM helps to prepare them
to be good citizens and persons able to shape the course of their own lives. Many
human activities and problems require at least a basic scientific and technological
knowledge and confidence, such as global warming, ecological transformation and
changing energy patterns; issues related to health and medical care; and the use of
communications and other digital technologies, especially their use as modes of
production and creativity. Design skills, underpinned by digital and quantitative
capacities, are required in many domains. A growing proportion of the workforce
needs quantitative and symbolic skills and basic scientific knowledge.
The line between the spreading role of STEM in employment, and the larger
formative role of STEM learning for individual and social capabilities, has become
blurred. However, the broadening of STEMs social and economic role towards
STEM for all does not mean that the required standard of STEM learning is
lower. The key to all STEM contributions is disciplinary content. There are no
short-cuts. Students need to acquire STEM in solid programmes of study taught
by teachers qualified in the specific discipline.

How wide and how deep?

The consensus of nearly all of the country chapters is that: (1) it is essential to
foster scientific and mathematical literacy in all students to middle school level;
(2) it is desirable to persuade all students to maintain some STEM programmes for
as long as possible; and (3) more students in higher education should be persuaded
to aspire to STEM learning and STEM-based careers, for example by shifting
from professional programmes in finance or law to STEM studies and professions.
Learning in STEM is not only economically and socially useful, and intrinsically
worthwhile, it is a powerful intellectual formation that is foundational to many
different kinds of individual achievement.
Some countries make mathematics compulsory to the end of schooling. In
others this conflicts with a high emphasis on student/family choice of subjects
or the use of mathematics and the hard sciences as the principal selector for
high-achievement tracks and hard to enter university programmes (not always
in STEM) in elite institutions. These are difficult issues. Another difficult issue
is the impact of extended STEM work on other disciplines. In principle lifting
participation and performance in STEM should not be seen as conflicting with
other educational goals such as improving reading, literacy, language acquisition,
knowledge of history, society and culture. STEM learning and non-STEM learn-
ing are complementary. For example, reading skills underlie all scientific work.
6 B. Freeman, S. Marginson and R. Tytler
These issues are handled differently from country to country because they
invoke deep-seated cultural norms and long historical practices. For example,
STEM-competent individuals are seen in varying ways. In China it is believed that
excellence comes through effort rather than innate talent. The process of selec-
tion of talented STEM students presumes that this achievement occurs through
effort, and all students are capable of high-quality work, compared to more indi-
vidualistic western cultures where it is believed that selection identifies innate
talent, as if students are pre-destined as worthy to succeed.
Arguably, the Post-Confucian assumption, that success derives from hard
work rather than talent, better reconciles deep STEM learning by some with
STEM for all. This assumption lies at the heart of both the Confucian approach
to STEM in the family, and modern learning and school reform programmes in
East Asia and Singapore. Perhaps it explains the broad-based nature of the suc-
cess of the Post-Confucian systems in PISA, the manner in which a large cohort
of high achievers exceptionally large in Shanghai is combined with a short
tail of low achievers and high average standards in the bottom group. The
PISA achievement in Shanghai, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan
suggest that there is not necessarily a tradeoff between STEM excellence and
the equity of distribution of STEM learning, and that all students are capable of
strong STEM learning.

National STEM policy and strategy

Many countries have established legislation or policy to provide a coherent frame-
work for initiatives focused on STEM, science and technology, education and
R&D. Such policy is frequently expressed in human capital terms, and aimed at
enhancing the STEM labour market and consequent economic outlook for the
respective country. Policy varies in terms of focus (STEM, science and technol-
ogy, innovation), target (science for all and science for elite, which may be
complementary or apparently mutually exclusive, as discussed), education level
(primary school, secondary school, vocational and higher education, research
higher degree) and other associated matters (curriculum, pedagogy, teacher edu-
cation). In some instances, STEM or science and mathematics policy objectives
appear to be in tension with other objectives such as literacy and numeracy.
Policy might aim to increase participation and performance in school-level sci-
ence and mathematics, vocational and higher education-level STEM disciplines or
STEM-based occupations. Alternatively, policy might be oriented towards equi-
table and quality education and poverty reduction, or increased representation in
research-driven university rankings. Policy may be focused on STEM and science
promotion and engagement, awareness raising (scientific method and literacy), or
addressing disparities based on gender, indigeneity, geographical location, socio-
economic status (SES) and ability. Policy commonly articulates a range of STEM
programmes, and establishes budget allocations and targets that explicitly aim to
achieve some of these outcomes (Marginson et al. 2013).
There are different policy approaches between English-speaking and Western
European countries, East Asian countries and developing countries. Many
 Widening and deepening the STEM effect 7
English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, and
Western European countries, including Germany, France and the Netherlands
(Eurydice 2011), characterized by relatively high-performing education sys-
tems, configure policy to address unmet labour market demand for STEM
occupations. The extent of government responsibility for example, federated
versus unitary structures can influence the assumptions and reach of such
policy frameworks.
The policy focus varies between English-speaking and Western European
countries. For example in France, policies focus on school-based pedagogy, cur-
riculum and testing, STEM activities and STEM-based research. In the United
States, the far-reaching No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 shaped the education
landscape, while STEM remains at the forefront of the policy agenda as illustrated
in Obamas 2011 State of the Union Address. In a small number of instances, such
as Finland, STEM has been mainstreamed such that it no longer forms the basis
of STEM-specific policy or programmes. In other instances, such as Australia and
New Zealand, a disparate range of policies and programmes are implemented to
address STEM and related matters. For example, New Zealands approach to
STEM is intertwined with policies regarding Maori and Pasifika student equal-
ity and school student literacy, while in Australia federal science and technology
policy is fragmented between a number of departments and programmes, and a
national STEM policy is yet to be developed (see Chapter 11).
East Asian countries, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China, characterized
by high-performing education systems, configure government science and tech-
nology policy around enhancing education/industry research and development
and innovation. In such countries, development typically involves long-term plan-
ning. In Japan, the Science and Technology Basic Law, legislated in 1995, provided
the basis for progressive five-year plans and the establishment of the Council for
Science and Technology Policy. Chinas Ministry of Educations National Mid-
and Long-term Education Reform and Development Framework (20102020),
and Guidelines to Strengthen Basic Research in Higher Education Sector, target
the co-development of education and industry through enhanced collaboration
between industry, higher education and research institutions. Koreas govern-
ment planning-driven economy has included STEM-related initiatives since the
1960s.
Developing and emerging countries (in this volume Brazil and, arguably,
South Africa), characterized by lower but increasing levels of education participa-
tion and comparatively poor performance at this stage, configure policy around
quality education and industry/technology development. Brazils Education
Development Plan 20112020 seeks to improve school education quality and par-
ticipation levels. In South Africa, despite a high-performing higher education
sector, government strategy focuses on addressing inequality by increasing educa-
tion participation and performance of those traditionally disadvantaged through
apartheid. Constitutional responsibility meant that government strategy focused
on the R&D sector was more successful, including the 2002 R&D Strategy and
Ten Year Innovation Plan. In education, efforts are continuing at the school level
through the implementation of the 2014 Action Plan.
8 B. Freeman, S. Marginson and R. Tytler
National coordination
Myriad coordination centres and instrumentalities have been established to
coordinate STEM or science and technology policy development and imple-
mentation. The objectives of coordination differ markedly, and include
advisory, communication, engagement, education and teaching quality,
enrichment, research and single issues. Coordination might focus specifically
on one issue (e.g. indigenous peoples, women), or more commonly, have
multiple objectives and foci. Such centres may be regional (e.g. European
Union), national or local; and governmental, quasi-governmental or inde-
pendent. They can also be a mix of all three.
In terms of government advisory structures, various examples are available in
each of the English-speaking, East Asian and developing countries. The United
States Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)
and National Academies Committee on Science, Education and Public Policy
(COSEPUP) represent key government science education-related advisory
bodies. Japans Council for Science and Technology Policy oversees the gov-
ernments policy and planning framework for science and technology. Koreas
National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) coordinates government pol-
icy, budgets and related ministerial initiatives. In Australia, the Prime Ministers
Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) is the federal govern-
ments peak science advisory body. In Brazil, the National Council for Scientific
and Technological Development administers government programmes. As such,
science and technology related government advisory structures are widely used.
Coordination structures and processes are also widely employed to communi-
cate science and increase public engagement and interest. For example, the Korea
Institute for the Advancement of Science and Creativity (KOFAC) encourages
greater public engagement through science and creativity-focused campaigns.
In France, the Universciences initiative and La main la Pte focus on increas-
ing accessibility of scientific culture and science and technology advancement,
respectively. These initiatives have a strong focus on scientific literacy and under-
standing of scientific methods.
Coordination with a specific focus on STEM education and teaching, includ-
ing teacher education and professional development, is widely used. For example,
the Japanese initiative Establishing Training Centres for Core Science Teachers,
established by the Japanese Science and Technology Agency, seeks to address
declining interest in science through enhancing student engagement and teach-
ing quality. In Finland, the LUMA Science Education Centre, operated from the
University of Helsinki, promotes science, mathematics and technology education
and learning across the school, university and industry sectors.
A large number of national and local centres are frequently involved with
the coordination of STEM enrichment activities including competitions such as
Olympiades, learning experiences outside the classroom (LEOTC) such as sci-
ence centres and museums, real-world science activities such as internships, and
support activities such as mentoring and clubs, and science networks.
 Widening and deepening the STEM effect 9
STEM-discipline research and research partnerships are coordinated in many
countries. For example, Taiwan promotes innovation-based partnerships between
universities and industry through Technology Transfer Centres, Technology
Trade Centres and incubators. In Canada, several of their federal research coun-
cils encompass STEM disciplines, including the Canadian Institutes of Health
Research (CIHR) and National Sciences and Engineering Research Council
(NSERC). In addition, Canadian Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) sup-
port research-driven university, industry and government partnerships, including
several that are STEM discipline based.
Research regarding STEM is undertaken by various national organizations. In
France, the Association Nationale pour la Recherche et la Technologie (ANRT)
and Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Autonomatique (INRIA)
undertake STEM research. Research and monitoring programmes regarding sci-
ence, mathematics, literacy and broader education matters include the OECDs
PISA, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and
Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality
(SACMEQ).
In other instances, coordination is focused on single-issue STEM educa-
tion matters (e.g. indigenous peoples, women). In Canada, the Idle No More
movement supports indigenous peoples political activism which involves a
new way of thinking about STEM education (see Chapter 9). In Korea, the
Korean Advanced Institute of Supporting Women in Science, Engineering and
Technology (WISET) seeks to address gender disparity in Korean science and
technology.
In some instances where STEM or science is institutionally embedded, science-
related organizations are ubiquitous, such as the top-down science system
involving government ministries, science academies, foundations and education
institutions in China (see Chapter 4, China). East Asian examples are likely to
exercise a strong influence in emerging countries in future because of the grow-
ing success of the Post-Confucian countries in relation to STEM and research
performance.

School curriculum and teaching

Curriculum reform agendas and programmes
The chapters in this book show us that in many countries it is an exciting time in
STEM curriculum and teaching and learning. Around the world there are many
vigorous initiatives, often driven from the top level of government but manifest
in local effort, aimed at enhancing both the spread and quality of science and
mathematics school education, and building scientific and mathematical literacy.
Interventions at primary and lower secondary levels are designed to engage all
students with science and mathematics, so as to build student numbers, including
numbers from under-represented groups, in upper secondary and higher educa-
tion programmes in STEM where almost all nations want to expand their effort.
10 B. Freeman, S. Marginson and R. Tytler
In most instances, science and mathematics reform, or whole-school curricu-
lum reform, is focused on both content revision and pedagogy. In cases such as
France and Japan, curriculum reform concentrates particularly on the develop-
ment in students of problem-based and procedural skills. In some countries such
as the United Kingdom and South Africa there has been structural reform at the
senior school level. Many new learning resources have been developed to support
reform, some web-based as is the case with Israels Matar portal.
In the chapters there are numerous examples of initiatives aimed at increas-
ing participation in upper secondary school mathematics and science, or higher
education-based STEM disciplines. Often the focus is on disadvantaged groups
as in the United States Engage to Excel programme, or in South Africa where
historically disadvantaged learners are being assisted through several strategies:
allowing students to re-enter STEM pathways; investigating student choices and
providing better information; predicting STEM labour market needs; student
contact with STEM professionals; and collaboration between stakeholders.
On the whole, the most successful countries have instituted active pro-
grammes of reform in curriculum and pedagogy focused on making science
and mathematics more engaging and practical, through problem-based and
inquiry-based learning, and emphases on creativity and critical thinking. The
main Korean programme for building participation and achievement in STEM
has incorporated the arts, to strengthen creativity and design elements. The
programme is titled STEAM and it has begun well. Other countries are watch-
ing Korea closely.
Designing a reform agenda is not a simple matter, however. The different
countries must strike a balance between competing choices:

t Curriculum focus: build knowledge of core disciplinary concepts, or build

generic competencies such as problem solving, and creativity?
t Inclusion: focus on all students or a STEM elite?
t Content or structure: transform curriculum content, or restructure curricu-
lum pathways?
t Pedagogy: traditional teacher-centred or student-centred pedagogies?
t Autonomy or accountability: will mathematics and science provision be more
effectively enhanced through regimes of high accountability, or by support-
ing local autonomy?

Curriculum focus
The curriculum initiatives described in these chapters vary between focus on core
disciplinary concepts in science and mathematics, and focus on competencies
such as problem solving, creativity and flexibility in thinking. The latter approach
dovetails with policy emphasis on research and development, industry innovation
and start-up strategies.
The Asian countries represented in this volume, all very successful in PISA and
holding disciplinary knowledge in high esteem, report a shift in focus towards