Dr Rebecca Vivian Receives Barbara Cail Stem Fellowship
Dr Rebecca Vivian has been awarded a Barbara Cail STEM Fellowship. The Fellowships are a highly prestigious award from the Australian Government, funded through a partnership between Chief Executive Women (CEW) and the Office for Women within the Commonwealth Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Only two awards are awarded nationally for this Fellowship scheme. Ms Sarah Chapman, a prize-winning Science educator from Townsville is the second recipient.
Dr Rebecca Vivian
Recipients will undertake research into best practice for promoting the participation of young people, particularly girls, in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics during their education and their eventual career. The program will support an agreed research study into the practices of other OECD countries that better inform young people (school age cohort) about the importance of STEM literacy for the jobs of the future and the significantly enhanced career opportunities for STEM literate people. The research will address how industry communicates its workforce needs for the future to young people and also to the key influencers of young people, namely parents, teachers and vocational counsellors.
Rebecca will be undertaking a series of trips across NZ, the US, the UK and Europe to talk with world leading experts on how to engage young people in STEM and particularly Technology fields, with a particular focus on gender diversity. The research will be published as a final report and key findings will be used to shape STEM education and engagement in Australia.