More than 250 students at Melbourne’s Burwood Heights Primary School enjoyed a taste of what a STEM-based career has to offer, as AREEA and our members Newcrest Mining Limited, ExxonMobil Australia and MMG kicked-off the first of the 2019 Bright Future STEM events on June 17.

Based around the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) curriculum, AREEA’s Bright Future STEM program involves both hands-on interactive experiences as well as role model presentations from a number of AREEA member companies across the resources and energy industry.

In a bid to raise awareness and help build the future pipeline of home-grown skills amongst young Australians, the national school-based program engages 9-11 year old girls and boys on the opportunities of STEM and the resources and energy industry.

It provides exposure to STEM professionals, encourages an interest in STEM careers and gives an insight into future STEM employment in the Australian resources and energy industry.

“The feedback, questions and level of engagement among the students has been outstanding.  The students really enjoyed the inspiring and informative talks from our role models from Newcrest Mining, ExxonMobil and MMG, as well as the hands-on industry related STEM activities,” AREEA Director Operations Tara Diamond, said.

“This program highlights the wide range of opportunities available through pursuing a STEM career in our industry.”

The program also seeks to promote female role models in the resources and energy industry, sparking the interest of school-aged girls and ensuring they understand the broad range of opportunities.

“Women comprise just 16.7% of Australia’s resources industry workforce so there is a focus on breaking industry stereotypes by having female role models speak to the groups,” Ms Diamond continued.

“More broadly, while our industry does a great job in promoting careers to high school and university-level students, there is a real gap in getting to children at the primary school level. In particular, research has shown it is critical to engage students at 9-11 years of age, before they start thinking about the types of subjects they might pursue in high school and the sort of work they might see themselves doing as adults.

AREEA’s Bright Future STEM program will be rolled-out in Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania in 2019. AREEA encourages members to get involved by providing role models and/or coordinating a hands-on STEM activity.

AREEA especially thanks Newcrest Mining, MMG and ExxonMobil Australia for participating at the Burwood Heights event.

For more information, contact AREEA’s Program Manager at [email protected] or via 1800 627 771.