Evolution and Future Growth of Stem Skills in the WA Workforce
Project Summary
The drive to increase science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills in the Australian workplace has featured regularly as part of the future of work narrative for the state and the nation. However, there are substantial deficiencies in the definition and measurement of STEM skills. In much of the empirical research the notion of what represents a ‘STEM job’ is binary – the job is categorised either as STEM or non-STEM.
In this project a methodology is developed to generate a continuous ‘STEM intensity’ measure of jobs by occupation, and that measure used to generate a more comprehensive picture of the STEM skills composition and likely evolution of job skills into the future across industry sectors in the WA economy. A report is currently under consideration by WA Government Department of Jobs Tourism, Science and Innovation.
The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre team acknowledges the Wadjuk Nyungar people as the traditional owners of the land on which the Centre is situated.